Page 6 of Their Lethal Pet

A dozen Offerings were required the year Serapina was chosen. Hers had been the final name drawn out of thatominous Chalice.

Most years only demand five or six Offerings, but not that fated Day of the Choosing.

I clear my throat. “You have nothing to worry about, Sage. I’ll be fine.”

“What if they pick you?” she asks in a rush, her bare feet whispering over the ground as my sandals clip annoyingly. “You gave us so many meals, so much water, all at your own expense. If they choose you?—”

“It’ll be because I wanted to be chosen,” I interject. “Don’t you dare feel guilty, Sage. I used you and your mom as a cover for my own desires.” I’ve told her this before, that Iwantto be an Offering. But she thinks I’m lying, that I’m only telling her that to make her feel better.

“Lina,” she breathes, her hand finding mine as she forces me to stop walking. “I know what you’ve done for us. I appreciate it. But you don’t need to lie to me.”

“I’m not lying,” I promise her.

She shakes her head. “You are. No one wants to be chosen. No one wants to suffer Monsters Night.”

“I do,” I insist.

Her blue eyes harden, her characteristic softness melting away to reveal the fierce woman beneath the porcelain exterior. “Stop trying to assuage my guilt, Lina. I’m not nearly as naïve as you think I am.”

Sighing, I pull my hand from hers and wrap my arm around her shoulders instead. “I’m not trying toassuageanything, Sage. I’m telling the truth.”

She huffs, clearly ready to push me away.

And I realize this may be the last time I’ll ever see her. Because if I’m selected today, I’ll be immediately escorted to theLightrailer—yet another stupid name created by our Viscount.

It’s a train, I’ve wanted to correct him several times.A. Damn. Train.

It just happens to move very quickly.

Regardless of the name or its intended destination, the reality is that I’m leaving. Or rather, I hope to be leaving. Which means this is my chance to say goodbye to Sage, and I really don’t want to leave her like this.

“Sage,” I say softly, holding on to her as she tries to squirm away from me. It’s a very sisterly thing to do, which instantly makes me think of Serapina and how I used to do this very thing to her whenever we argued over something trivial. Being two years older provided me with some additional strength.

At least, that’s what I used to jokingly say to her.

But as Sage is proving now, age is just a number.

“Let’s just go,” she snaps, her fiery side out in full force.She rarely shows it to anyone in public, mostly because it’s notallowed.

Women are meant to be submissive. The perfect brides. That’s all our studies teach us, anyway. Because we’ll be mated to either a monster or a man in the village. Regardless, we are destined to beowned.

Unless we run, I think, my teeth grinding together. “There’s an Elite City,” I mutter, causing Sage to freeze.

“What?” She blinks at me.

“Serapina…” I glance around, ensuring we’re nowhere near any buildings where recording devices might overhear our conversation. They’re tricky little instruments used by the Village Protectors to spy on us. I’m not sure how they work, or what they even look like, but I’ve heard rumors of their existence.

However, we’re nearly to the road now, the only stalls around us filled with empty bins meant for fruits and vegetables.

“Serapina left me a note last year.”

Sage’s eyes widen. “A note?”

I nod. “During the ceremony.”

“How?”

“I don’t know,” I admit. “But it was her handwriting.” So I have to believe it was real. To consider anything else just isn’t feasible.She’s alive. I’m going to find her. We’ll be together again. Somewhere. Somehow. Someway.