A Web So Dark and Deadly

Epilogue

Two months later.

Mirrors surround me on all sides in the women's dressing room. Even the tables have reflective surfaces. Perhaps they want me to reflect on all the things that drove me to this point.

I lift the back of my curls to fasten a red necklace under them. Red, like my robe for the ceremony. It isn't nearly as stylish as the clothes Tabitha provided me with. In fact, it hangs over me like a triangle with bell-sleeves flopping around my wrists.

Red, the color of blood. Red, the color that seals my oath.

In less than an hour, my fate will be sealed.

I collapse in a nearby plastic chair. Though my wounds are basically healed, I still feel exhausted, emotionally and physically. Saige has been weighing more heavily on my mind, too. She probably thinks I'm dead. Either that or she's filed a missing person's report and has a million people searching for me.

Probably both.

The order is sending me back to Georgia to retrace Tabitha's steps. Although I long to reconnect with my friend, to have her reassurance that everything is okay, I don't want to entangle her in this organization. It's too dangerous. I can't ruin her life the way I've ruined mine.

I peer up at the mirror. The order provided me with some basic items, clothes, food, hygienic items, and makeup. My foundation does little to hide the bags under my eyes, the way my cheeks have sunken into my face.

No energy. No luxury.

And certainly no power. I'm about to be chained to the order.

But I will regain it, one way or another, or die trying.

I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment. That's the problem, isn't it? No matter what, someone dies.

And if I fail, that person will be me.