Page 3 of Fangs & Freaks
“Your service, your soul. To become what you’ve been accused of being,” she says coldly, as if they were just mere objects to give away and not something I hold precious.
“Will I be a monster?” I nod my head at the creatures at her feet.
“No, you’ll be so much more. There will be no boundaries to what you can become. You’ll become a legend that will have the strongest of men cowering at your feet.”
“And if I say no?”
“Then you die, your life will end, and you will have no justice.”
I sit there, biting my lip, pondering my options. My soul is all I have. Surely by morning, this will all be a dream and I’ll be sleeping peacefully in my bed—just a dream.
“Well, child, what is your answer? Your end is nearing.”
“I don’t think I can,” I whisper.
“If you change your mind, call my name three times and I’ll save you.”
I take a breath. “And your name, just in case?”
She lets out a laugh, her head falling back as if I’d just asked something humorous.
“Oh, my sweet child, such a pure soul. Lilith.”
She barely says the name and in a blink, I’m back on the rock under the insurmountable pressure of the weight on top of me.
How I’ve managed to make it through the night, still alive, is a mystery. My body trembles with exhaustion, with the strain of fighting for every small breath, and yet the pressure only increases. As the sun rises, the first rays of light spreading across my body, I’m ready to cave, to admit to any untruth if it will save me from the agony I’m currently feeling, but I know my admittance would truly mean death for me.
I hear the crowd as they begin to converge in the square. All gasping that I’m still breathing. I hear the whispers that it’s only possible because I used witchcraft.
“Bellonna Thorne, do you admit to being a witch?” Bishop Hale asks, stepping up to my side so I can see him as he peers down with scrutiny at me.
“No.” I can barely speak, my words no more than a pained whisper, taking all the energy and breath I have within me.
“Then, since you continue to lie, and your magic is preventing your death from pressing, it's time to burn.” He steps back, and only seconds later, I feel the cool liquid seepingthrough the stones coating my body, the intense odor of oil flooding my nostrils.
I could fight, but there’s no use. I’ll never win.
“May I address her, Bishop Hale? I want this witch to know that while she may have attempted to darken my soul, she did not succeed, that God’s purity outweighed her evil. I should be the one to enact her punishment, as she has been using her magic on me for years.” Rebecca speaks to him, her voice shaking, but it’s all a ruse.
“Very well, my child. I will approve your request.”
The bishop moves away and my best friend, my betrayer, steps up beside me, leaning over me, her mouth close to my ear.
“He wanted you. There was no way I was going to let that happen, so I told my father you were a witch. How you planned to defile our village and have children to carry on your magic. I even convinced him you had used your magic to seduce William away from me. It didn’t take much for our fathers to convince him of the story we told. Burn in hell, Bellonna.” She lowers the torch, placing it on my oil-covered body as the flames begin to take over.
Time is running out, and I know what I need to do. I thought there was goodness left in the world, but everyone I thought cared for me, betrayed me. Now it’s time for me to rise and show my strength. With my final breath, I call out her name.
“Lilith, Lilith, Lilith.” I utter the last word just as all the pain leaves my body. I’m left numb, and darkness takes over.
Chapter One
Tennessee Present Day
Warrick
The heavy oakdoor of the clubhouse slams against the wall as a dark-haired woman bursts into the dimly lit room. I can hear her heart pounding in her chest like a war drum. Her eyes dart around the clubhouse, taking in the space, and the men and women seated around it. She meets my gaze and storms toward me.
Something about her strikes me immediately. Not just the way her steps are too deliberate, as if each one is measured to hold back a deeper power, but the air around her itself feels charged. Supernatural, no doubt about it. Thoughwhatkind of supernatural remains unclear, and that alone has me intrigued.
