Shattered Sanctuary: The First Luna's Severance novel · Chapter 17 of 24
Chapter 17: The Rite
The runner came back at dawn with a teapot in his hands.
It was Agnes's, the brown one with the chipped spout, and it had been smashed in the doorway of her cottage.
The door hung open.
The bed hadn't been slept in.
Under the table lay a strip of cream paper in a hand Rosalind knew from the speech she had read at the Stone.
The Stone, the last night of the moon, alone. Or the old woman pays.
She read it twice, folded it, and put it in her pocket.
"No," Hamish said.
He had been standing in the kitchen doorway since the runner came in.
"You don't know what I'm going to say."
"You're going to say you'll go. You're going to say I stay at the bridge."
"I'm going to say she wants me alone, and a woman who sets a trap wants me to bring someone to spring it on." She put her hand flat on his chest. "Bring the Ironridge wolves to the edge of the trees. Bring Edmund. Don't come in until you hear the Stone."
"And if I hear nothing?"
"Then come in anyway."
He covered her hand with his and held it there.
"I'll kill her," he said, very quietly.
"Not before I do."
She walked into Echo Hall's court that night with the blood moon coming up red behind her.
It was nearly empty.
The other packs had gone to the long tables in the hall, and the fires had burned down, and the cobbles shone.
Six southern guards stood in a half ring around the Stone.
Agnes sat bound in a chair at its foot, with the circlet on her lap and a rag tied in her mouth.
Keep reading free with an account. Start Shattered Sanctuary: The First Luna's Severance from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 16 · All chapters · Chapter 18 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend