Page 58 of His Elder

The door opened.

Eli walked out.

My head snapped up. Our eyes met for half a heartbeat, and I saw something in his face that made my stomach drop. A resolution. A terrible, final calm.

He looked at me like he was memorizing me. Like he'd never see me again.

Then he kept walking, following Sister Roig down the hallway toward the conference rooms.

No.

I wanted to stand, to call after him, but President Dalton stood in the doorway.

"Elder Price. Come back inside, please."

I stumbled back into the office. President Dalton closed the door and returned to his desk, his expression grave.

"Elder Price, I've spoken with Elder Vance about what happened between you."

My throat closed. "What did he say?"

"He's taken full responsibility for initiating the sexual contact. For manipulating you emotionally and spiritually." President Dalton's voice gentled. "He admitted to exploiting your vulnerability, to telling you the Church's doctrine waswrong, to persistently pursuing you despite your attempts to resist."

The room tilted.

No. No, that's not—

"Elder Vance has a troubled record," President Dalton continued. "Multiple companion conflicts in Madrid. Reports of disobedience and lack of commitment. And now this—a deliberate seduction of a faithful companion." He paused. "I want you to understand, Elder Price, that while you bear responsibility for your choices, there are mitigating factors here. You were targeted by someone who had no intention of honouring his covenants with the Lord."

"That's not true." My voice came out strangled. "He didn't—he didn't manipulate me. I went to him. I wanted—"

"Elder Price." President Dalton's tone firmed. "I know you feel loyalty to your companion. That's only natural. But Elder Vance has confessed to seducing you. To wearing down your resistance over time. To telling you things about the Church and its doctrine that directly contradicted your testimony, to weaken your commitment."

Eli had said that. Had confessed toseducingme.

He'd lied. Taken the blame. Made himself the sexual predator so I could be the victim.

"He's protecting me," I whispered.

"No." President Dalton leaned forward. "He's accepting the consequences of his actions. As he should."

My hands shook in my lap. Because I understood now what Eli had done. What he'd sacrificed. He'd painted himself as the villain—the faithless, predatory companion—so the Area Presidency would go easier on me. So I'd have a path back to the Light.

He'd destroyed himself to save me.

"Elder Vance will be sent home tomorrow morning," PresidentDalton said. "His case will be referred to his stake president for Church discipline. Given the severity of his actions, excommunication is likely."

Excommunication.The word landed like a stone in my chest. Not just sent home. Completely cut off. Cast out.

"Your situation is different," President Dalton continued. "You've admitted to serious sin, and there will be consequences. But your record of faithful service, your genuine remorse, and the coercive nature of Elder Vance's pursuit—these are factors the Area Presidency will consider."

"I wasn't coerced." The words scraped out. "I chose—"

"You were manipulated by someone you trusted. Someone who held authority as your senior companion." President Dalton's voice gentled again. "Elder Price, same-sex attraction is a difficult trial. One of the adversary's most cunning deceptions. You've been fighting it faithfully. But Elder Vance told you to stop fighting. Told you to give in. That's spiritual abuse."

I wanted to scream. To flip the desk. To tell President Dalton that Eli was the only person who'd ever told me I wasn't broken, wasn't damned, wasn't a mistake God needed to fix.

But the machinery had already started grinding. The narrative was set. And if I fought it now—if I insisted Eli hadn't manipulated me—we'd both be destroyed in its gears and machinations.