The High Priestess (7 page)

“I’m ready.” A lie, but one he allowed her. Fisk stepped back and motioned Marianna through the door. Then he led the way to the stairs. They descended in silence but for the echoing of their footsteps. The engine room was the same as last time she’d been through, the huge machine taking up most of the area, leaving only a narrow space to walk.

She wrapped her arms around herself as they approached the ramp leading out of the ship. Beyond the doorway, it was daytime, the light so bright it hurt her eyes even from this distance. Marianna wouldn’t allow herself to balk, though, and kept walking, head held high. Taking that last step into the outside world was one of the hardest of her life, but she pushed forward, refusing to let them see her fear.

They had set down in a shipyard, surrounded by other white warships. The entire area was paved, but on the outskirts of the lot, nature had already begun to fight back, weeds springing up between the cracks in the ground, the trees creating a wall of sorts, their roots opening the cracks even farther. A sweet wind kicked up to tease her hair from her face. Marianna closed her eyes and pretended it smelled of Keiluna, instead of this planet that had once been her people’s homeland. But Sanctify had poisoned that in much the same way they poisoned everything they touched. Those monsters killed every man, woman, and child they could get their hands on and drove the rest of the Diviners to the far corners of the universe.

A hand in the middle of her back shoved her forward, sending her tumbling. She landed on her knees, cuffed hands barely coming up in time to keep her from skinning her face. She turned her head sideways in time to see a boot raised to kick.

Something snapped deep in her soul. Marianna gave a hiss to do any reptile proud and lunged, hitting her attacker around the waist. He cursed as they went over the side of the ramp and fell a full meter before hitting the ground. She reared up, catching sight of Adam’s murderous look, brought her cuffed hands over her head, and slammed them down on that snarling mouth.

No more. She would submit no longer. Marianna managed two more hits before he flipped them and lifted his fist.

Then Gerard was there, tackling the blond man before his fist could make contact. Marianna scrambled to her feet, ready to assist, but Blaine and Fisk grabbed her upper arms, trapping her between them.

Helpless, she was forced to watch Gerard and Adam roll around on the ground as they exchanged blows. Blood flew with each impact. The sheer violence of it drained away her own desire to inflict as much pain as possible on her captors. What had she been thinking to attack? It made her no better than the monsters who wanted her dead. Marianna bit her lip and struggled against the ridiculous urge to cry. Tears would solve her problems no more than violence had.

Truth be told, there was only one way out of this mess and he was now striding toward her, blood oozing from a cut above his right eye and another on his lip. She wanted to wipe it away, but the scathing look he sent her killed that foolish notion. Gerard nodded at Fisk. “Get her situated in one of the cells—
unharmed
. I will make my report to the High Priest and meet you afterward.”

“Yes, sir.”

He and Blaine turned her around and marched toward the low white building on the other side of the shipyard. It was nondescript, its edges rounded as if it stood here so long, the wind and rain had beaten even that much originality from it. But that was merely a fanciful thought—a few hundred years wasn’t long enough to see that kind of elemental change.

Two white-robed guards stood near the entrance. Both perked up when they saw Fisk, seconds before their attention zeroed in on her.

“Ba’al be damned, Fisk, tell me that’s not a Diviner?” The speaker was tall and lanky, not yet old enough to move past the awkward stage of adolescence. Beneath his black skin, his Adam’s apple bobbed madly.

“Mind your own business, Drew.”

Instead of obeying, Drew moved toward them. On closer inspection, she noticed his skin actually had blue highlights. He was really quite pretty—if she ignored the zealous gleam in his eyes. He ducked down, face centimeters from Marianna’s. “Never seen one of them in real life before. Is it true they actually believe they can tell the future?”

“We can.”

She realized her mistake when his lips thinned. “No, you can’t, you little bitch. Only Ba’al’s High Priest has that ability. It was given to him—and only him—as a demonstration of Ba’al’s love for us.”

Marianna blinked, temporarily sidetracked. “Is that really what you believe?” Why in the Lady’s name would a god restrict the future to only one person in the entire universe? It was the ultimate act of selfishness.

“It’s the
truth
.”

“Step back, Drew. Now.”

For a moment, she didn’t think he’d obey, but then he moved away, his gaze never leaving her eyes. She would do well to remember that most of these men weren’t like her reluctant captor—they truly wanted her dead.

Fisk and Blaine guided her past the desks and down a long hallway devoid of any decoration. The unrelenting white raised the small hairs on the back of her neck, and the feeling only got worse as they descended a narrow set of stairs. Twenty-seven steps later, they reached a landing and turned left, the hall finally ending in a row of cells. Or that’s what she assumed they were, judging from the unblinking red lights on each of the palm locks.

The last one on the right was her destination. Fisk nodded at Blaine and the redhead left them alone. He looked her up and down and sighed. “I’ll have some clothes brought down for you—you can’t wear that when the High Priest sees you.”

“I’m to meet the High Priest?”

“Maybe.” He shrugged, the move carrying a world of tension. “Maybe not. It could be that he’ll wait to see you until the day of the purification.”

The world started to sway, but she dug her nails into her palm until it righted itself. “I see.”

“Everything else aside, I truly am sorry it has to be this way.”

Unable to look upon his guilt, she turned away. “I know.” But sorry wasn’t going to help her. “Will I see Gerard again before the…purification?”

“He’s free to come and go as he pleases.”

“I see.” She could only hope and pray that he would come to talk to her sometime before then. As it was, her chances weren’t looking good.

Fisk’s footsteps started for the door. “Good-bye, Marianna.”

“Good-bye, Fisk.” She waited until the door slid shut behind him to whisper, “Lady bless you and keep you.”

Heat built beneath Gerard’s skin, and he was sure his face had turned a mottled red. He gritted his teeth. “Yes, sir.”

“I believe we shall make an event of her purification. The autumn festival is in seven days. That shall be enough time to create quite the spectacle. Don’t you agree?”

Seven days wasn’t nearly long enough. Gerard bit back his knee-jerk response. Protesting wouldn’t do anything at this point. Hells, it never did anything when it came to the High Priest. Gerard need only to think of his blood coating the stones outside the barracks while the High Priest droned on about the importance of expansion to be reminded of the fact. He refused to take that road again. The High Priest wasn’t one to give second chances and next time it was sure to be significantly bloodier.

If only there was another way…

He shut down the line of thinking before it could go any further. “As you say.”

“That’s right, boy, as
I
say. Do not think I overlooked your previous disobedience. You disappointed me greatly.” He gave a heavy sigh. “Rise.”

Gerard carefully schooled his face before rising. The High Priest was well past his prime, shoulders beginning to stoop, his graying hair receding another centimeter or two a year. The lines that had once seemed to indicate a life lived with strength now were deeper and screamed weakness. Still, it was unlikely he’d die anytime soon. “High Priest.”

“Go. Rest. We shall speak again before the purification ceremony.”

Gerard turned and left the room before the man could change his mind. Darkness had fallen while he was kept waiting, cooling his heels while the High Priest did whatever it was he did when not meeting with his lieutenants. Gerard didn’t stop until he passed the twin buildings where the dorms were located, rage rising with each step he took. He’d hand-delivered a damned Diviner to the High Priest and all he got was another reminder of his past punishment. He should have realized his disobedience wouldn’t be so easily forgotten—no sin was ever forgotten in this place. If this encounter were any indication, it would be years before he could earn the trust of the High Priest again.

Which meant he’d sentenced Marianna to death for
nothing
.

Gerard doused the thought and its accompanying guilt. There was only one person he wanted to see right now, and he’d find him in the only pub the High Priest allowed to conduct business near the barracks.

Sure enough, Fisk was sitting in his customary seat, alone at a corner table the lights didn’t quite reach. Gerard dropped into the empty chair across from him and ran his hands through his hair. “I talked to him.”

“And?” Fisk’s voice was completely devoid of emotion, which meant he was trying like crazy to keep something hidden.

“The…purification…is set for the autumn equinox.”

“Seven days.” Fisk drained his glass and set it on the table with a
thump
. He motioned the bartender without even looking. “A week.”

“Generally there are seven days in a week.” Gerard eyed the glass set in front of him. Three fingers of the best alcohol brewed on Keiluna. Ba’al be damned, did everything come back to Marianna? She was like a curse he couldn’t shake, burrowing under his skin and wrapping around his mind until it was difficult to think of anything else.

“It’s not all that long.” Fisk lifted his drink and considered it, the amber liquid sloshing this way and that. “Are you prepared to watch Marianna tortured and burned to death?”

Gerard cast a quick look around, but the nearest patron was three tables away, well out of hearing range. “Purified.”

“Pretty it up all you want, but that doesn’t change the reality of the situation. She will be cut apart, joint by joint, each wound cauterized so she won’t bleed out.” Fisk leaned forward, lowering his voice until Gerard had to strain to hear, even though hearing was the last thing he wanted. “She will try to be strong at first and, knowing Marianna, she will last longer than the others. But then something in her will break, and she will beg and plead and, eventually, all she will do is scream.”

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“You can’t even talk about it and you expect to be able to watch it?” Fisk shook his head, staring off toward the door.

No, he didn’t expect to be able to watch it and be unaffected. Even thinking about Marianna being hurt made a pit open up in his stomach, a dark place that he wasn’t sure he could come back from. Gerard downed his drink in one shot, the liquid burning its way to his stomach. Sitting with Fisk hadn’t settled him the way he’d hoped it would. “I’m going to get some sleep.”

“If you can stomach it. I don’t know that I can.”

Gerard stood and wove his way through the tables, nodding at the men who met his gaze. There weren’t many who would after watching Gerard whipped until he couldn’t so much as stand on his own. Some refused to be seen as aligning themselves with him for fear that he would fall completely out of favor and bring them down as well. Others had lost all respect for him after seeing the public humiliation.

The night pressed against Gerard as he strode down the walkway, trying to outrun the demons chasing at his heels. It didn’t work, but then, he hadn’t expected it to. He never should have brought Marianna here. Hells, Gerard couldn’t even bear to
think
about what was to come, let alone what his life would be like afterward.

His life.
Something he hadn’t spent much time contemplating as he grew older. Now, though, it stretched before him, blacker than the deepest abyss.

A figure detached itself from the nearest building and sauntered toward him. Gerard looked at the sky, wondering why Ba’al had chosen today of all days to make the world fall apart around him.