Page 113 of Forged in Deception

She remembered that according to Lily, Amira had wanted to talk. To tell her everything. The thought made her sick. Maybe if she’d been paying more attention, the poor woman would have had a chance. Maybe she could have saved her.

But there was no point now dwelling on what could have been. It was far too late for that.

“For what it’s worth, I thought we should just let her go and wait for someone else who was willing, but Mother didn’t agree. She told me that if Amira took back her willing offering of her blood, I would have to kill her.”

“How big of you to disagree with the snake demon,” Axel cut in, his muscles tensing beneath Karlin’s fingertips.

Lily ignored him.

“By this point, the retreat had ended, and Amira went home. I started to formulate a plan for how I would complete the sacrifice without implicating the community or myself, but I never got the chance. Amira took the third option. She killed herself.”

ASHER

Asher reached out a hand to steady Karlin beside him.

Lily’s words had stunned everyone into a momentary silence as the full weight of what happened all those years ago began to sink in.

Even Cora looked a little disturbed, and he couldn’t help but to wonder just how many of the gritty details she knew about the mess she’d chosen to get herself involved in. He could sympathize with her a little, but then again, if he let himself go very far down that road, he’d be making excuses for Lily, too.

He doubted she’d woken up one day and decided to follow the commands of Mother, either. Someone–probably the Professor–had passed this dark knowledge down to her.

Either way, at the moment, both she and Cora had made their choices.

So had Amira.

As horrific as her death was, and as much as she may have been failed by Senera and by Karlin, she’d been failed even worse by the demon masquerading as a savior and by the people she chose to do her bidding.

All he wanted now was to understand why.

Just as he was going to ask one of the several questions competing in his mind, however, he heard the sound of sirens outside.

Finally, help was coming.

The answers he wanted would have to wait. For the moment, he didn’t care.

All he wanted was a warm bed, some food and water, and to know that Karlin was finally safe.

Somewhere behind him, he heard the sound of footsteps. He shifted his position just a little, intending to beckon the first responder over to where they stood, but the half-second distraction was all that it took.

Cora jumped down from the table.

“No!” Karlin screamed, but it was too late.

Asher watched helplessly as the woman picked up the knife from the floor, held it firmly, and plunged it into her chest.

CHAPTER

FORTY-EIGHT

KARLIN

TWO WEEKS LATER

Karlin wrinkled her nose as the lingering fumes of harsh disinfectant filled her nostrils.

She hated that smell, and every hospital seemed to share it.

It always reminded her of the days and weeks after John’s overdose, when she woke up every day in a cold sweat, unsure if his brain would be able to recover from the damage he’d inflicted.

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