Dark Need by Clarissa Wild

Chapter 41

Soren

When we allarrive at the village, it is nothing like I remember. There are many more huts than there were years ago, with plenty more families and children running around. At the clearing in the middle is a giant bonfire along with a statue for worship, with loads of people paying tribute with food or a blood offering. One of the guys I trained with is chopping wood, his waist seemingly free of the chains that bound me so long, while his maiden watches the children. A picture so vividly painted in my mind when I was younger of what I would be offered when I returned.

“Up here,” Arvid says, walking up the small hill in the establishment that leads to a big hut with wooden steps leading to a door. Arvid holds out his hand. “Your bag.”

After I’ve given it to him, he goes up to the hut and slides the tarp aside. “He’s here.”

I wait down on the ground for whoever is in there to come out.

But I go to my knees the second I spot two Elders come out, with the last one following suit. All three here to judge me, their stares boring a hole straight into my chest.

All the villagers have come up the hill, too, curious about what would be so important that it would garner attention from all three Elders. My dishonor will be on display for everyone to see. Still, I have no regrets, and as I close my eyes while waiting for judgment, I picture April’s face in front of me and those pretty pink lips of hers smiling away as she runs into her home.

The fiercest Elder comes down the steps and stands in front of me in her cloak of leaves and twigs. “Soren.”

I look up.

“Why are you back?”

I frown, confused why she’d ask.

“Say it out loud,” she hisses.

“I failed my duty.”

The villagers gasp in sync, and it stings.

“You failed your duty to your Owner.” The Elder starts to circle me. “To us. To your family. To yourself.” She pauses, then turns around again. “You were supposed to honor this village by committing yourself to your sole purpose, to complete your mission for our friends at the House, and be dismissed with honor. Instead, you were sent away like a dog.” She spits on the ground in front of me.

Instead, I close my eyes and blink away the dread.

“I am ashamed.”

“As you should be,” the other Elder says, walking down the stairs too now. “Our village prides itself on honor. Because if we do not have honor … we have nothing.” She stands in front of me with bare feet, her toes digging into the dirt, and I lean over to bury my head in the sand between her legs.

“Tell us why,” she says.

“I … fell for a girl.”

More gasps are audible, but I don’t care anymore.

“Agata. Elin. Step aside.”

I recognize that powerful voice from a long time ago, way back when the metal was first put onto my body, and it makes my bones feel weak.

The wisest Elder of all comes down the steps, the sound of her cane hitting the wood hitting louder than any of the floggings my trainer ever gave me.

It stops in front of me.

Sweat drops roll down my forehead.

She shoves the cane underneath my chin and forces me to look up.

“You fell … for a girl?”

My nostrils flare. “She is the reason I am here.”

She narrows her eyes. “What girl?”

“One from the House.”

More shocked gasps come from the people around us, and I try to block it out.

The Elder’s lip quirks up. “Up.”

I do what she commands, and she steps closer to inspect me. Her hand reaches in my pants to search for the metal, which is no longer there, and her eyes squint and become violent with rage.

“Where is your metal?”

“In the bag,” I say.

More gasps follow.

Arvid brings her the bag, and she takes out the metal and holds it up for everyone to see.

“The girl took it off,” I reply.

The Elder throws the metal onto the ground in front of me, like a mirror to reflect my sins.

“He’s cursed!” some of the women from the village say.

“Shh!” Agata, the fiercest Elder, silences them.

“Enough,” the wisest says as she turns away from me and walks to a hut nearby. “Follow me.”

The crowd parts to let us through. The Elder brings us to a home I’m all too familiar with. A home that still brings fear to my heart. I haven’t been here since I was given to my Trainer.

The Elder pushes the tarp aside and waits for me to step inside.

My mother is right there, sitting on a comfy chair, and she gets up the moment she sees me, clutching her hand close by her chest. The look of disappointment in her eyes is chilling.

She comes to me, placing her hands on my cheeks, and says, “Is it true? Did you take off your metal?”

I nod.

Her face turns sour, and she slaps me right across the face.

She steps away, farther and farther, the disdain only growing, and it stings more than the slap ever could. She fishes the key that belonged to my metal from her pocket and chucks it onto the ground like it’s worthless.

“How dare you. After everything we hoped for. Dreamed for. Sacrificed for. This is how you repay me?” she hisses. “How you repay her?”

She shoves aside another tarp that leads to the garden behind her hut. There’s a petite, curvy young woman with curly blond hair standing over some flowers with her back turned against me. She turns her head and looks at me, tears staining her eyes.

And then it hits me.

It’s her, the fair maiden promised to me.

The one my mother chose specifically for me.

The one that would’ve belonged to me if I had come back with honor and pride and had completed my duties.

“That key belonged to her.” My mother snarls, “You could’ve had all of this. But you squandered it all …”

On a girl who hates me.

“And for what?”

I shake my head, but I don’t know the answer.

All I know is that I felt the incredible urge to take what didn’t belong to me. To have what I shouldn’t crave. And even when I knew that it would cost me everything, I did it anyway.

“You’ve sinned,” the Elder whispers in my ear. “Now … accept your punishment.”

* * *

April

It tookme days to find a flight that would take me across the ocean and even longer to find a boat willing to sail me to the island in question. I’ve spent literally all the cash I could afford, and now I’m in a country I don’t know anything about with little regard as to how I’m going to get back. But I keep going because I know Soren is out there, somewhere, all by himself, taking the blame for something I did.

I can’t let him sacrifice himself. Not for me.

So I wait until nightfall when the sailor is finally willing to take me to his island in the middle of the night. The water is creepy when there’s nothing but the moon to light our path. It reminds me of the first time Soren and I traveled together when he took me onto his jet ski, and we raced across the water. It seems like such a long time ago.

Still, none of that made my heart pound as it does right now as we approach the island. The trees looming in the distance look ominous, like a defense tower overseeing those who might approach. No wonder Soren felt so at home in the forests beyond the House. He was raised in them.

I swallow to try to get rid of my nerves as we get closer and closer. The cold of the night doesn’t bother me as much as the sounds coming from that island. It sounds like a devilish cry mixed with a stampede. What is going on?

The sailor stops before we reach the shore. “I’m not going any farther.”

I nod at him. “Thanks for bringing me here.”

“Sure. But I’m not sticking around.”

He flicks his hand as though he wants me to get off quickly before he’s discovered, so I take off my clothes and tuck them in my waterproof bag before I jump off. The cold water turns my body into frost instantly, the sudden cold making my teeth clatter. Still, I push on, swimming through the water to reach the shore. The water sloshes against the island's harsh stones, but I manage to climb up a slope and rest for a moment. Lying on the ground, I turn my head to watch the sailor boat away.

This is it. No way back now.

I steady my heart rate and focus on the journey ahead like Soren would.

I peer up at the trees to see if anyone is watching me, but it appears there’s no one around. Maybe they haven’t seen us, maybe I’ve gotten lucky.

That’s when I notice the plume of smoke rising above the treetops.

Maybe they’re busy with something else.

When I think the coast is clear, I crawl up and run as fast as I can, disappearing into the woods. Not far up ahead a blazing fire catches my attention. It doesn’t take me long to notice all the huts in the area, and the sight of people dancing to the flames has me mesmerized. All the men wear shorts with bare chests, while the women wear lavish white dresses fancied up with flowers and leaves. Some of them are on a raised plateau, with men bringing them food and drinks and worshiping the very chair they sit on.

And I can’t help but be in awe at the sheer power those women exude, especially the older three, who wear crowns of branches on their heads. The one in the middle has a cane, and she looks over the crowd with displeasure in her eyes. Is she … the leader of this … cult?

Whatever it is, I can’t even put my finger on what it’s supposed to be. But the fact alone that it bears so much resemblance to the Holy Ground makes my skin crawl. No wonder they have relations with the House.

I hide behind a tree to stay unnoticed while I search for a clue to Soren’s whereabouts.

They must not have been happy to see him if he got sent back here without his metal.

Maybe he’s not allowed to join the party or whatever it is they’re doing.

I search the grounds, trying to understand the layout and see if I can find Soren, when I notice a big and sturdy-looking wooden hut in the back, hidden behind the trees, away from the others. There are thick metal bars in front of the small windows, making the whole thing look like … a prison.

My heart skips a beat as I jolt away from the tree to get closer, but every step I take must be a calculated one. I can’t get noticed, can’t be seen, so I have to be very careful about every move I make. One wrong one and I’ll end up dead on that blazing pyre.

Sweat drops trickle down my back as I hop from tree to tree while watching the people dance, hoping they don’t notice me. It only takes one set of keen eyes and then the game is over. I’m lucky today is apparently a day for celebrations because they’re far too busy toasting and eating and dancing and … burning the corpse of an animal.

The sudden shock makes me gasp, and I quickly jump behind a tree and cover my mouth to stop the bile from rising.

Why did I have to see that?

I turn my head again, only to see one of the men cut their arms and bleed all over a cloth, which is also thrown into the fire.

What are they doing?

Sacrificing blood?

For what?

I slap myself to stay in the here and now. No point in trying to decipher their rituals. I just need to find Soren and get the hell out of here before the whole thing turns into a bust.

I make my way to the seemingly abandoned loner hut in the far end of the village and check the surrounding area to make sure no one’s here to guard the damn thing. After I’m sure it’s safe, I sneak up to the hut and go inside through a thick wooden back door, closing it behind me to make sure no one saw me.

But when I turn around, I almost shriek.

Soren is right there, in the middle of the room, tied to a post on the ground, his hands above his head, his feet chained to the floor, and his face is covered in bruises.

His own people … locked him up?

Wounded him?

Why?

Is it because of failing the House … or because his belt is gone?

A shiver runs up and down my spine as I step closer, but he refuses to look up. Does he even realize I’m here? I’m so close now I can hear the droplets of blood fall onto the floor, and I reach out for him.

“Soren?” I mutter in complete shock.

As my fingers touch his face, he flinches.

He’s never flinched.

Only when I peer over at him do I notice the welts on his back.

Tears form in my eyes, but I push them away as I go to my knees in front of him, grab his face, and look directly into his eyes. “Soren. I’m here.”

And when he finally sees me, truly sees me, a small spark lights up in those eyes that show nothing but a deep, dark abyss. And I know right then and there that I made the right decision to come and find him. And that I will not stop before I’ve saved him from this hell.