Page 4 of Rite of Unity

“Vera Holt…”

My fingers splayed wide under the long sleeve of my white gown.

“Welcome to the age of eligibility.May you find a happy match before your twenty-eighth birthday.”

Chapter 1

Maryn

IwasawakebeforeIknew why.The air in the room had shifted.

Flat black eyes met mine less than five inches from my face.

A rattle started at its tail.

My breath caught.I held still, never looking away.

Under the covers, my hand moved slowly.

I snatched the creature around the neck and squeezed.

Diamondbacks weren’t native to Centrum, but they, like everything else that had survived the world war, had made their way to the last fertile place on Earth.After the war, only the bottom feeders had survived.And their predators.

Its tail whipped, body wriggling in my hold, but I held tight, moving on light feet to the kitchen.

“Mama, get a knife!”

She appeared, weapon in hand.I set it down on the counter; she swung, chopping it cleanly behind its head.

Its body coiled around the wound, a bloody trail following as it slid into the sink.

Mama grabbed a glass jar and I dropped the head inside, wiping my palm on the towel beside the sink.

Venomous fangs extended as it snapped at the glass, fighting to end its attacker even after it was already dead.

“Go wash up.I’ll take care of this.”

I nodded, kissing her cheek on my way out.

In the bathroom, I reached for the microbial cloth hanging beside the sink, wiping the blood from my hands until nothing remained.Water was too precious for this.

My hands were steady.My mind hadn’t caught up yet.

***

My rough nail, bitten down to the quick, scraped over a scab on my arm as I glanced at my mother.Her eyes were glued to the screen.The couch cushion beneath me had deflated years ago, the fabric worn thin at the armrest where my mother’s hand always rested.

Morning light filtered through the single window, gray and listless, washing out my mother’s orange throw.I turned just as Elias Hale leaned, looping a silk bow twice.Blue.They were always blue.The girl on screen looked elated.Who wouldn't be elated to be chosen by Elias Hale for the Rite?

Mama reached for me, hands wrapping tightly around mine.I looked at her.Her eyes were tired, wrinkles formed at the edges after so many years of worrying for me.She didn’t need to worry, though.

At twenty-one, I had time.The Covenant gave us until twenty-eight.Plenty of time.

I’d seen what happened to the women who weren’t chosen by twenty-eight.We all had.

But I had time.

Mama released my hands, standing and shuffling to the kitchen, stooping to pull out the black bamboo-handled teapot she saved for Mondays.Days when it was just the three of us.A day reserved for family—the Covenant’s reminder that the family unit was the foundation of everything.