Chapter 56 - The Husband I Buried

Now

‘Rebecca?’ I said, shocked, when she stepped into the room.

You’ll be late for your meeting. Her words from just before I left came back to me.

‘What’s going on?’ I asked. ‘Weren’t you being transferred?’

‘Welcome to the Coterie Institute, Mackenzie,’ she said, ignoring my question. Her voice was calm, pleasant. Like this was a formality she’d been looking forward to.

The room felt smaller with her in it. Charged. Like the air itself had changed.

I looked at Luis. He’d stepped subtly in front of me, not blocking me exactly, but close enough that I could feel the heat of his body at my back. Protective. Possessive.

‘She’s not ready,’ he told Rebecca.

‘Ready? No one ever is,’ she replied. She smiled at him. Not kindly. My stomach dropped.

‘We should leave,’ Keith interjected, gesturing for me to walk toward the door.

Luis’s eyes found Keith.

The reaction was instant. His jaw tightened. His shoulders went rigid.

Whatever he was about to say died on his lips as Rebecca took a step forward, filling the space between them.

‘You really don’t see it, do you?’ she asked, speaking to Luis.

‘There’s another way. I’ve told her—’ started Luis, stealing a look back at Keith.

‘It’s already decided. I proved myself with Brad, now it’s your turn.’

Brad.

‘What is she talking about?’ Keith asked. But looking at him, I wondered if he already knew.

‘Proved yourself?’ I asked.

Rebecca didn’t respond, but I was pretty sure I knew what she meant. She had proven herself by killing him.

Dr. Avery folded his hands. ‘Every stage of renewal requires sacrifice,’ he said. ‘But here, you can have everything you ever wanted. They show you how. They introduce you to the right people. They build you to be exactly how you were supposed to be.’

‘You intercepted the transfer vehicle? That’s how Rebecca got here?’ I asked.

Dr. Avery smiled, like a kid proudly showing off their favorite toy. ‘We didn’t need to.’

It took me a second to catch up, but then it came to me. ‘The driver was one of you?’

‘A member,’ corrected Dr. Avery. ‘The final stage, Rubedo, demands proof.’

‘Proof of what?’ I asked.

Rebecca’s eyes never left mine. ‘Of acceptance,’ she said. ‘Of willingness.’

The room spun slightly. I thought of the circle on the invitation. The twisted snakes.

‘You don’t want me here to become a part of this,’ I said slowly. ‘You want me here as a sacrifice. You want Luis to prove himself by letting me go.’

I wasn’t the reward for his devotion. I was the collateral damage.

Rebecca’s smile widened, just a fraction. ‘You make it sound so dramatic.’

I laughed once. It came out broken. ‘You want him to kill me.’

‘No,’ Luis snapped. ‘That’s not—’

He stopped instantly when Rebecca raised a hand.

I looked between them. This place had shaped Luis, but was he brainwashed enough to go through with what Rebecca wanted? The Luis I knew would never have agreed to this.

My phone buzzed. I slid it out of my pocket, aware that they were watching me, waiting to see what I’d do.

There was another message from Carl. I read it.

The Coterie Institute is definitely a cult. They get you in ways you wouldn’t imagine. They know exactly what they’re doing. Be careful. They have recruited hundreds, maybe thousands of people. They’re better at it than you think.

Carl knew I would go to them.

Rebecca’s voice snapped me back into the moment.

‘He wouldn’t be killing you,’ she said softly. ‘He’d be choosing to make all his dreams come true.’

I looked over at Luis. His jaw was clenched. His hands flexed at his sides. He looked like a man being torn in two.

‘They take something,’ he said hoarsely. ‘From everyone. I didn’t want it to be this.’

Didn’t want it to be me, he meant.

‘You don’t have a choice in this, then?’ Keith asked him, clearly calling bullshit.

I felt cold all over.

Luis met my eyes. There was love there. Real love. Painful in its sincerity.

‘This is why I didn’t bring you here,’ he said. ‘You had every right to be mad at me, but I wanted to keep you safe until I could come to some kind of agreement with the Institute.’

Keith moved then. Just a step – but Luis’s head snapped toward him.

‘Keith,’ I said in quiet warning.

‘Keith?’ laughed Luis. ‘Is that who you told her you were?’

The air in the room had changed, thick with something I couldn’t name. My chest tightened, the hairs on my arms prickling as if the atmosphere knew a storm was coming.

Luis took a slow step forward, toward Keith, disbelief flickering across his face. ‘You’re just a ghost,’ he said softly.

I turned to Keith, searching his face for an explanation. ‘Keith? What’s he talking about?’

Luis’s voice dropped to something cold and dangerous. ‘Ask him what his real name is,’ he said. ‘Because it isn’t Keith.’