Worship Me by Kel Carpenter & Kel Carpenter

Author:Kel Carpenter & Kel Carpenter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Raging Hippo

Chapter 8

Adora

I could smell the water before we arrived. That delightful crisp and fresh scent reached my nose, and I inhaled, taking it all in and imagining what it would be like to feel clean again.

I was so over this day.

I’d started to question my instincts. Did peacocks have good instincts? I didn’t know. I’d always trusted myself. Danni had trusted me. Now I wasn’t so sure.

Nothing was right in Arcadia. Of course, we’d already known that on our side of the portal, but not to such an extent. I would have never guessed it was filled with mutant, half-shifted inhabitants that had become feral and attacked without provocation. I thought that was the worst of it, but walking into the temple ruins tore at my soul.

My entire life, I’d put on a strong face. Where Dannika wore her heart on her sleeve, I hid behind a mask of indifference. I showed people what I wanted them to see. It wasn’t false. It just wasn’t all of me. Dannika was kinder, and I was meaner; there was no doubt about it. I stabbed first and asked questions later, while she weighed her options—but we both felt deeply. Maybe it had something to do with us being born during the Great Sacrifice—a night when my entire race was slaughtered, and her father was murdered. Maybe a piece of that pain and suffering our loved ones endured had become ingrained within us somehow.

Still, even with all my practice, there was no way to disguise my emotions when I held those tiny bones in my hand. I sensed an inexplicable familiarity in the ruins. The air was thick with sorrow and loss, so much so it was hard to breathe. The truth was that it was almost unbearable. It was easy to see why Arcadians would say it was haunted and no one dared to enter. I had a better understanding of why Pan didn’t want to go there either. If I felt it, he surely did as well.

A deeper part of me wanted to avenge them. I just didn’t know why. I wouldn’t pretend that I was benevolent, or that I didn’t hold grudges. I kept a list of those who’d done my family wrong, and some of them deserved to end up on the pointy end of a blade given the chance, but not for something as stupid and trivial as them not liking me. Not worshipping me. I was disgusted by the goddess that had inflicted pain and destruction on so many innocents for such a slight.

As we descended the staircase at the back of the temple, I made a silent vow to the souls of those murdered children: if I found the one responsible, I’d do everything in my power to put an end to her. To make sure she could never harm anyone ever again.

Reaching into my pocket, I touched the tiny bone I’d picked up. A metacarpal, as best as I could tell. Maybe a finger, depending on the age of the child.

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