Chapter 7:

Purification Ritual & Ownership

The Bishop’s heavy snores echoed faintly down the stone corridor from the guest quarters, only thirty paces from the main chapel. One wrong sound and everything would burn. Yet here I was, heart hammering, following Father Lucian through the moonlit nave toward the high altar like a moth drawn to unholy flame.

“Tonight we make it official,” he murmured, locking the heavy doors behind us. “No more pretending, Evangeline. On the altar.”

Candles flickered to life around the sacred table as I stripped out of my habit, folding it neatly at the base of the steps. Naked and trembling, I climbed onto the cold...