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Before he could stop me, I bolted in the direction I had come from. He quickly followed and grabbed my waist. “Let me go!” I shouted. He shushed me again and carried me back the way he’d come. “Sabbath, please!” He ignored me and continued to run in the opposite direction. “Put me down!”

He eventually threw me down and covered my mouth again. His dark eyes were wide, and I noticed the axe firmly in his grip, which told me just how serious this all was.

“Please,” he whispered. “Just try to keep your voice down.”

“Why do I have to keep quiet? Who were those people?” He eyed me closely. Why was he so afraid? Did he know who those people were? What they were doing? “Sabbath, is that your church?” He didn’t answer. “Sabbath!”

“Shh!” He listened for a few seconds. “Listen, I’ll tell you everything.

But first, can we please get out of here?

” I furrowed my brows and glared up at him, annoyed.

Sabbath stood and offered his hand out to me.

I slapped it away and crawled to my feet without his help.

He rolled his eyes and raised the axe to rest on his shoulder.

I waited for him to lead the way, but he only pointed to a small path ahead.

We didn’t speak and quietly walked away from the ancient redwood until the forest slowly morphed back to the mundane version that surrounded the camp.

I stopped in my tracks and turned to face him.

“This is far enough.” He stopped directly in front of me, and I stared up into his dark eyes. “Tell me everything. Now.”

Sabbath brushed his hair back with his free hand. “Why don’t you start by telling me what the hell you were doing way out there in the woods? You could’ve gotten lost, Rosie. Or worse.”

I scoffed. “Worse? Like what?” He didn’t answer. “You know I didn’t ask you to come rescue me. I’m not yours to save, Sabbath.”

He stepped closer, and I stumbled back. His hand gently pressed against my lower back as he pulled me towards him.

My hands reached out and landed against his chest. I felt flustered with how close we were.

“Yes, you did.” His fingers trailed under my shirt and up to my scar.

A light gasp escaped me as his fingertip pressed the raised skin.

“You reached out to me and asked me to come find you. So, I did.”

Wait. So it’s true? The scars—these marks—they connect us? He can really find me because of it?

I shook my head and stepped back from him. “You’re avoiding the point.”

“And you’re avoiding my question.” He raised a brow. “I thought you wanted me to leave you alone. So why reach out to me? Why were you out in the woods this late? And all alone?”

I crossed my arms. “I thought I saw something and decided to chase it down.” Sabbath made a face.

“I know, it sounds crazy! But I saw a plague doctor. Again! And I wanted to find out who it was and why I kept seeing them, so I followed it! Only, I lost it, and then it got dark, and yeah.” I turned away. “Go on. Call me crazy.”

He lowered the axe and sighed. “You’re not crazy. And you did see a plague doctor.” I spun to face him. Sabbath walked over to a large rock and sat down. He grabbed his head and groaned. “Fuck, why do you have to be so damn curious.”

Rude.

“Who were those people in that cave, Sabbath?” I walked over and sat next to him. “Please, none of this makes any sense.” His head rotated, and he looked up at me. “Are they from your church?”

Sabbath noticed me shivering and removed his jacket.

He wrapped it around me, and I settled into it, unintentionally inhaling his scent.

It was so warm and comforting. “You’re freezing.

We should get you back to camp. We can talk another time.

” He stood, and I made a face. “Fine,” he groaned and sat back down.

“The people you saw in the cavern are members of my church. Only, we’re not actually a church.

That’s just what we call it around, well, people like you. ”

I raised a brow. “People like me?”

He nodded. “Outsiders.”

“So you’re part of a cult.”

He didn’t seem to like the phrase. “We’re not a cult.

We’re called The Order of The Redwood.” What is with everyone’s obsession with these damn trees?

“As you can probably guess, the… group .” Cult.

“ Is based out of these woods. The old, ashen redwood tree you saw earlier? We call it The Ancient One. It possesses the entity we worship, The Redwood. What Foster made is called a Sapling and it’s more or less a small representation of The Redwood.

A tree-like entity that resides here in these woods.

” He paused for a moment. “The Redwood is an extension of The Ancient One and one cannot exist without the other.”

I blinked. “You worship an old tree?” Definitely a cult.

“It’s not just a tree, Rosie,” he growled. “The Redwood is an ancient and old entity that’s lived on this earth longer than anything else. And while it may look like a normal tree to you, it’s not. It houses a powerful and evil spirit. A spirit that can do many things.”

A spirit? In a tree?

“Like what?” I asked.

Sabbath sighed. “Well, for one, it can heal people and extend their life.”

I grabbed his arm. “Like the fountain of youth?”

He shook his head and laughed. “No. It’s a bit more complicated than that. The Redwood can grant many things, but everything comes at a cost. A sacrifice.” I flinched at the word.

So he was a part of a cult.

“How does Foster play into all of this?”

Sabbath reached into one of the pockets of his leather jacket and pulled out the Sapling Foster had made earlier in the day. “Well, he’s the heir to The Order. The next in line to lead us to salvation.”

“Salvation?” I reached for the tiny handmade figure, but Sabbath pulled it away. “From what? The end of the world?”

He shook his head. “Not exactly. The end of our world maybe, but not yours.” He slowly began to unravel the figure Foster had made while he spoke.

“The Order wasn’t created until sometime in the seventeen hundreds.

Back when disease was rampant and pandemics were breaking out all across Europe.

Our ancestors fled to this country in hopes of outliving the outbreaks.

Only, they had no idea that the very ships that carried them away brought the very thing they tried to outrun.

Disease spread, and soon, entire towns were dying.

That’s where the plague doctors come in.

Our ancestors wore the masks of plague doctors purely in the hopes of surviving the outbreaks.

Only, they didn’t work. One day, they’d heard a story from the locals that the cure to the outbreak lay deep in the redwoods and inside the old, ashen tree.

But only one member per family could look for it.

So, the families gathered one person from each remaining home and sent them out into the redwoods.

Only, they didn’t realize that the cure they were looking for wasn’t a cure, but a curse.

Nineteen entered the woods and only thirteen made it out. ”

“A curse? What happened to the other six?” I asked. “And why did only thirteen survive?”

He grinned. “In a way, you already know why.” What?

“You see, thirteen is considered a holy number to us. While most of the world sees it as unlucky, we find it sacred. As for the six who didn’t survive…

” He dropped the unraveled pieces of the figure onto the ground.

“They were the sacrifice, killed by The Redwood. The price paid to protect the sacred thirteen.”

My stomach felt sick. “How did The Redwood kill them? And what for? So a group of people could not die from a fucking disease?”

Sabbath laughed. “You still don’t get it do you?

Those chosen few didn’t die over a disease.

They died to protect entire families. Everyone who shared the blood of the sacred thirteen was safe from the disease, but they were also safe from sickness.

Their lives were extended, and they were gifted abilities no other human can possess.

Our scars may bind us through a blood oath, but I can do more than that.

Much more, thanks to The Order. I can inflict pain, heal wounds faster than medicine, and many other things.

But my favorite thing to do is wait for your guard to fall so I can crawl into your mind and read your thoughts.

” He leaned close. “The same way I love to sneak into your dreams and see what it is you crave so bad.” I turned my head away.

“You turn away now, but like it or not, you’ve been a part of this ever since that night. ”

My eyes widened. “What?” My head turned, and I looked at him. “How?”

“Your blood. Or should I say, our blood.” He grabbed my face and pulled me close.

“My blood reaches far back to the original thirteen. The Sequoya family was not only part of the sacred thirteen, they were the ones who made the fateful deal with The Redwood.” His mouth hovered over mine.

“It’s only fitting you chose my last name when you arrived here. ”

I struggled to breathe. “Why is that?” I asked.

Sabbath pressed his nail into my scar, and my body arched into his.

He breathed my gasp and smiled at my pain.

“Because my blood runs in your veins. You are a Sequoya, Rosie.” He lifted his finger, and I noticed black liquid dripping down his finger.

The same as what dripped from Foster’s hand earlier.

“And this is proof.” His eyes locked with mine as he licked the dark blood from his flesh.

I wanted to vomit at what he was saying. I didn’t like it. Any of it. But he still didn’t answer all my questions.

“I still don’t understand. What was The Order doing in the woods earlier? Why were they wearing those masks?”

Sabbath pulled away. “That’s a bit more complicated.”

“Sabbath—”

“Drop it, Rosie.” he snarled at me. “There are some things in this world you’re better off not knowing. Trust me.”