3. The Deal

Chapter three

The Deal

I blink a few more times, and my eyes adjust. The boys are gone, and I’m not in the bathroom anymore. It’s a larger room, and darker, with no windows, but some dim, flickering candles lit around the edges of the room. I’m standing between two rows of bookshelves.

Shapes start to look familiar - the shelves, and study nooks lining the walls. It could be the library where I meet the professor to study, but the shelves are older and dustier.

There’s a computer screen on at the end of the row of shelves between two armchairs. It’s on a desk covered with candles.

“Where am I?” I breathe. But nobody is there to answer me. I find the answer on a plaque on the end of one of the shelves near the armchairs. It IS the library where I meet the professor, but in a room I’ve never been to before. The books look old, so it must be the reserved section that requires special access.

And I’m here by magic, of course. The realization makes my skin goosebump. I was raised to believe magic existed, but I’ve never seen evidence of it before now. Some part of me believed, but some part of me thought the zodiac ‘monster’ I was going to meet tonight would be an older member of my sect in disguise.

There was a part of me that was relieved when the police knocked on the door at the party. If I was delayed in any way by the police, I might not have made my appointment. I might not have had to go through with it. But I knew deep down mine isn’t a duty I can put off.

My hands curl involuntarily into fists as I approach the laptop. My breathing is loud in the still air. There’s a bottle of champagne and three glasses beside it. Three? It reminds me of how little I know about what’s going to happen to me tonight.

But I know more than most sacrifices do. Since before I knew what a virginity was, I knew mine was promised to a monster - a zodiac god. Being aware of it changed my life. I dreamed of a kind god when I was younger. I would try to guess which one it would be. But as I got older, I resented staying pure for my sacrifice. I’ve never even had a first kiss. I’m glad that in a few hours, it will be done. Let’s get this over with.

Two women are visible on screen - a pretty young blonde in a tight, black knee-length dress, and an older woman with dark curls in a long, floral summer dress.

The older woman waggles her fingers. “Hi. It’s Sofie, isn’t it? It’s so good to meet you! I’m Kate, and this is Tamara. I know you’re probably nervous but I can tell you, both our experiences were beyond positive.” She smiles warmly at me through the screen and glances at Tamara.

Her voice rings out strangely in the silent and dusty library, her cheer out of place for the setting, and the weight of dread settling into my chest.

I know who they are - the two women on screen are the first two sacrifices, here to prepare me - to make me feel comfortable. Everyone in the zodiac sect knows the ones who are chosen.

Tamara, the blonde, is more reserved. “I believe your zodiac god is going to meet you where you are. You only have to wait for him. Before he arrives, do you have questions for us?”

I shake my head. “No. I was raised knowing the rules. I understand my role.” My tone is wooden and rings loudly in the quiet library. I don’t bother keeping it down. I know nobody will find me until the god is done with me.

The women exchange a glance, and Kate speaks carefully. “I can’t speak for every zodiac, but I know they prefer their partners willing. My husband tells me yours...”

“I don’t care which monster I have,” I cut in. They exchange looks again. “I don’t care which monster will claim me. It won’t matter after tonight.”

These women chose their fates. I didn’t choose mine. They were lucky, their zodiac god monsters were kind, and they wish to tell me I’ll have the same experience. But I don’t get to choose, and even if my monster is cruel, even if it hurts, I will go through with what’s expected of me.

My family has accepted many down-payments on my sacrifice already, including the house I grew up in, the money for my college tuition and my father’s medical bills. I don’t tell them that. I don’t talk about my family.

“Sofie,” Tamara says. “The Zodiac Association told me you’ve known about the sacrifices since you were a kid. So this is a different experience to what Kate and I had,” Tamara says. She looks at Kate, who nods. “We can only tell you about our experiences. But I will say, even though you know the zodiacs aren’t human, don’t think you know what to expect. They’re likely to surprise you.”

“And you might surprise yourself,” Kate says, with a knowing smirked eyebrow at Tamara. A small smile plays on Tamara’s lips before she turns back to Sofie.

Our situations are different, and their words don’t reassure me. But I know they mean well. “Thank you,” I say, and close the laptop.

When it shuts, it’s just me and the empty library.

I stand and pour myself a glass of champagne, swallow a mouthful, and hold in the flood of emotions that makes my hands shake.

Anger - that’s the first one. Pent up rage at my family for selling me to a monster like a piece of meat.

And then when the anger fades, the fear rolls in. Knowing this night was coming has had me on edge for months, and it all culminates tonight - now. In less than an hour.

I think about what it was like to stand between Professor Ariti and Tom tonight, breathing in their ocean scents. I close my eyes and imagine myself back there, before the magic ripped me away.

When I open my eyes, the monster is before me.

I was ready for anything. Except this.