Page 188 of Ripped Veil (Ripped Bratva)

“Elyssa, you would never do something like that without a reason,” she says with complete conviction. “Now, I wasn’t there that night. I don’t know what happened exactly. But I do know that you wouldn’t have done anything that violent unless he deserved it.”

I stare at her in disbelief. “I murdered a man, Charity.”

She shrugs. “One less misogynistic fucker that we have to deal with.”

“But… you don’t think less of me?”

She laughs, much to my surprise. “Actually, I think more of you. You’re right—I have underestimated you all this time. You’ve got fucking balls, babe.”

It’d be a lie to say I feel completely relieved. There’s still too much fear and suppressed memory left in me for that to be true. It’s more like I’ve spent a year living in pitch black darkness—and Charity’s proud grin is the first crack of light I’ve seen in all that time.

“I don’t know what I did to deserve a friend like you,” I say with complete sincerity.

Charity laughs. “Something sinful, clearly.”

Her chuckle fades away, lapsing the room back into silence.

And it takes with it that little spark of joy.

The truth is that this isn’t over like I thought it was. As a matter of fact, it’s just beginning.

I take a deep, shuddering breath. “I thought they’d forget me. I thought theyhadforgotten me,” I continue. “But I’ve just been fooling myself this entire time.”

Charity squeezes my arm. “What are you gonna do? Scratch that—what arewegonna do?”

“I don’t know yet,” I say, shaking my head. “But I do know that I can’t hide anymore. And I certainly can’t run.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I need to deal with this, Charity. I need to deal with them. Otherwise, I’ll never be free.”

“This isn’t like ‘the prodigal daughter returneth,’ Elyssa. If what you’re saying is true, you killed a man. I understand you had good reasons. But not everyone else will appreciate that nuance. Stay with me. Stay with Theo.”

“My parents won’t turn me in, Charity.”

“How do you know? They gave you away to a psychopath.”

“It wasn’t like that,” I protest. “Charity, I… I chose him, too. I accepted him.”

“Because you were brainwashed into believing he was the ultimate catch! Clearly, he wasn’t.”

She sounds so sure. But how can she be? She has no idea what the Sanctuary was like. What my parents or Josiah or my life were like. She’s just making assumptions.

No—I’m the only one who knows what it was like to be raised in that community.

Except that at the moment, I can’t trust my own feelings. Or my recollections. Over the past year, I’ve questioned certain habits, certain ingrained perspectives. But I never allowed myself to delve too deep into the ifs and whys.

I didn’t want to understand—I wanted to forget.

But now, I understand how foolish and naïve I’ve been.

Because you can’t outrun the kind of demons I fled from. They’re inside me, screaming to be set free.

“I need to figure out why they made contact,” I say softly. “I have to find out what they want.”

Charity looks skeptical. “Elyssa, I don’t like the sound of that. How are you going to find them?”

I laugh without humor. “Finding them was never the problem. They’ll be in the same place they’ve been for the last several decades. The Sanctuary doesn’t move.”

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