The Fervor by Alma Katsu

Author:Alma Katsu [Katsu, Alma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2022-04-26T00:00:00+00:00

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By the time Archie arrived home, he wanted nothing more than to forget the entire night. He’d retrieved his car from Dutch’s garage (making sure it was deserted first) and driven home down empty roads. More than once, he almost drove to the sheriff’s station to tell him about the firebombing but then he’d have to confess he’d been there, too, and he’d surely lose his position at the church.

Tonight, the Loyal Sons were probably gathered at someone’s house, drinking beers and crowing about what they’d done. Others would be patting them on the back, admiring their resolve. They might not walk down Main Avenue bragging about firebombing the newspaper, but they weren’t ashamed. Archie wasn’t sure that he was ashamed of his part in it. Confused, but not ashamed. Maybe they weren’t wrong.

Maybe they weren’t in the minority in Bly. Maybe the Loyal Sons had more supporters than he thought.

He ended up talking himself out of it.

Maybe he was still on a wild ride of nightmares and hallucinations since Elsie’s death. Maybe he was sick. Maybe he had been injured in the explosion—he couldn’t rule that out.

He slammed the car keys on the kitchen counter and staggered to the parlor. It was dark and cheerless, the same as it had been every night since the explosion.

He felt Elsie’s gaze bore into his back from the wedding portrait on the shelf.

His wife, a martyr for the cause. Yes, she would like that.

The truth was, she had been no angel.

But neither was he.

Behind the portrait, a second photograph was silently judging him, silently confirming that he deserved every bad thing that happened to him.

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