The Maiden (The Cloister Trilogy 1)

The cool air washes over me as we exit into the sunny day, and it’s as if I can finally breathe again. No more cloying perfume or the thick scent of sex.

As we start walking the road back to the Cloister, I glance behind us. No guard. That must have been his gun by the door. He’s still inside the Chapel, one of the many faceless users I’d heard as I walked through.

Chastity hurries up the rise. I almost have to run to keep up, and I want to ask her to slow down, to enjoy the freedom for as long as we can, but when we’re out of view of the Chapel, she whirls on me.

Grabbing my coat, she pulls me face to face. “You will say nothing about what you saw and heard today.”

“I wouldn’t.” I try to square this fierce Chastity to the meek one from the Cloister. “I’m your friend.” My words aren’t a manipulation. They’re true. Ever since the night with Newell, I’ve known that Chastity was different than the other Spinners. I just didn’t know how different until I saw her interactions with Jez.

She loosens her grip. “It’s just, I don’t want Jez to—”

“Get in trouble. I understand.” I grip the back of her hands and put my heart into my words. “I’d never do something to hurt you.” She’d already been hurt enough, judging by the scar on her forehead and the feelings she swallowed when we were in the Chapel.

“Thank you.” She releases me and steps back, then lets out a shuddering breath. Playing the heavy isn’t her style, but she definitely gets her point across when she wants to. “We better go.”

We walk elbow to elbow, not hurried but not slow, down the tree-lined road back to the Cloister.

“Can I ask you something?”

She tenses.

“Not about that.” I jerk my chin toward the Chapel. “Something else.”

“Sure.” Her answer is guarded, but I take what I can get.

“When were you a Maiden?” If she was in Georgia’s “class,” I may finally be able to get some answers.

“Three years ago. Why?”

Shit. She was one year before Georgia. “So, when your year was up—”

“That’s not something I want to discuss.”

My heart sinks farther, deeper, and flirts with despair. “I was just wondering about a Maiden that was here after you. The one that got hurt…” I take a deep breath. “Got killed.”

“We are forbidden from speaking about her.” Her words are curt, signaling the end of whatever confidences just passed between us.

The Cloister comes into view, the prison bars beckoning us closer. We walk in silence, heads down, and the breeze loses some of its clarity, the landscape no longer giving me heart to go on.

When we’re a few yards from our jail, Chastity puts out a hand and stops me.

I turn to her, the blue of her eyes brilliant even against the backdrop of the azure sky. “What?”

She chews on her lip, then says so softly that I almost miss it. “She talked about you.”

“Who?”

The door hinge creaks, and the Head Spinner walks out of the back of the Cloister, her raptor-like gaze landing on us with eerie focus.

Chapter 25

Delilah

“Right where you belong.” He walks in and tosses his jacket to the floor next to me before sitting on the bed.

This isn’t where anyone belongs, but I swallow my criticism. “You’re late.”

“Am I, little lamb?” He pulls my face up to his. “Does this mean you missed me?”

“No.” Had I missed him? I shake off the question. “I mean, I was wondering if you sent that video to my mom, is all.”

He turns his neck and cracks it with unnerving precision. “I did.”

“And?”

“Why so worried?” He peers down at me, a furrow forming between his dark brows.

“I just—” I shrug and come out with the most plausible explanation “—I know how Heavenly deals with outsiders.”

“Oh, I see.” He smiles, slow and poisonous. “She’s alive and well. On her way back home.”

“Really?” I didn’t expect my mom to give up so quick. Then again, if Adam spoke her language… “Did you pay her to go?”

“Of course. She’s an addict. Something you failed to mention.” His nostrils flare.

My insides crumple that she caved, but relief tempers the disappointment—she seemed to have kept her mouth shut about Georgia. Adam wouldn’t be in such a good mood if she’d spilled.

And maybe I’m making progress. I haven’t been able to speak to Chastity since this afternoon, but I have to believe that she meant Georgia when she’d said ‘she talked about you.’ I’ve been holding onto that flame of hope, letting it fuel me for the rest of the day. I snap my attention back to Adam. Not that it’s difficult. He looks like some sort of dark CEO in his deep gray suit and tie. “Heroin makes her a different person. I didn’t want you to know.”