Read Online Antebellum Awakening by Katie Cross - Free Book Online Page B

hide from the blistering sun. Buckets of dates, coconuts, and long white robes were scattered through most of the market. This had to be Custos, the largest city in the Western Network.
    Above us soared more red rock, honed and refined into the smooth, waving walls of a castle. Skinny threads of red, yellow, and orange color ran through the layers of rock. Pictures of dragons and desert serpents were carved around the windows and painted black. The castle walls extended up several stories more and then blended into the mountain.
    The Arck, I thought. The legendary castle of the Western Network. It was the only castle in all the Networks built into a mountainside like this. Legend stated that a waterfall fell five stories through the middle of the High Priest’s chambers and supplied the witches with their only constant water source. Judging by her sprawling chambers here, Miss Mabel was no servant. I wondered how much power she held. Almack, the Western High Priest, had been deathly sick for months now. Was Miss Mabel trying to take over upon his death?
    “Do you see what I command now?” she asked when I came up next to her, staying out of arms reach. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
    Whether she spoke of her rule over the city, or the city itself, I couldn’t decide.
    “You command?” I asked instead, trying to play it cool. “I don’t remember Almack empowering you as High Priestess.”
    “Trivialities,” she said, brushing me off. “I was destined for it, Bianca.”
    “What about Dane? He comes to power when Almack dies.”
    Her eyes glittered with a smile, making her look nearly mad.
    “Perhaps.”
    The magic had grown so frantic that my usual analytical abilities failed. When the lightest of tingles started in my fingertips, and the pressure of keeping the power contained began to cause me pain, I knew I had to get out.
    “Let’s get this over with,” I said. “What’s the task?”
    “You’re much braver than you used to be. You certainly never demanded anything of me at school.”
    If bravery meant uncontrollable power, a churning gut, and a skittish heart, then yes. I had a bit more of that.
    “Living through your worst nightmare tends to make etiquette less important,” I muttered.
    “Very well,” she said, opening the Book of Contracts . “I will set your task.”
    “How do I know that the task you assign me is the one that will fulfill the contract?”
    “The binding responds, you see?”
    The Book of Contracts had flipped through its pages and now lay open to mine. The ink of her smeared thumbprint gleamed a blood-red color on the bottom of the parchment, seeming fresh.
    What if I ripped the contract out? I thought. Could I destroy it?
    “Your task,” she began, interrupting my thoughts, “is to kill the next High Priest of the Central Network before you turn seventeen. Should you fail to accomplish this assignment, you will die. Should you succeed, your Inheritance Curse will be removed, and you shall live.”
    The words appeared on the contract as she spoke them.
    Your task is to kill the High Priest.
    This unexpected turn was more confusing than shocking. I blinked several times, staring at the page. We didn’t even have a High Priest. What advantage would she gain?
    “The High Priest?” I repeated. “We don’t have one right now.”
    “Not yet, but Mildred is searching. The Central Network has never gone into a war without full leadership. Not even Mildred would break that tradition.” She looked at me from the corner of her eye with a sly grin. “Although she has broken another rather important tradition, hasn’t she?”
    My heart pounded, filling my ears with the sound of rushing blood. I wouldn’t do it.
    “I’ll never kill anyone for you,” I said in a hiss, loathing her more and more with every word. The magic was breaking through the already weak guards in my heart. Any minute now and I’d lose control.
    She shrugged.
    “Fine. Then you’ll die. It’s up to