Masque of Death (Kormak Book Nine) (The Kormak Saga 9) by William King Read Free Book Online

my death may have some useful purpose, some meaning.”
    “That is an admirable impulse. There may be hope that your soul can be saved. Perhaps your body too. Pray, continue.”
    “Of course, I learned nothing immediately.”
    The first sacrifice had only been a test to see how far she was prepared to go. There had been more sacrifices, each performed by her hand. She had taken drugs and wine to steady her hand. Each was a step down a dark road. Each made her investment in time and willpower more important. Each made it harder to turn back. It had all felt so inevitable once she was locked inside it.
    She was avoiding what she had done. She did not want to think about it. Even now she could not imagine how she had done it, but now she was more or less sober. At the time, she had been on powerful drugs. She had distanced herself from what she was doing. She had told herself it was all a hallucination or a dream. It had not been.
    She could not bring herself to speak of it. The words stuck in her throat. The Guardian appeared to understand.
    “They accepted you in the end. You did whatever it was that was required of you to make them do that.”
    “Yes, I did it.” Why could she not say what she had done? She had done it after all. How could such an evil deed be easier to perform than to talk about?
    “And then what happened?”
    She had not been let into the secrets of immortality. Not even after she had made the necessary sacrifice. She had done other things for the alchemist. She had seduced powerful men, taken lovers. She had driven her husband mad with jealousy so that he would kill them in duels. She had held the threat of telling him over the heads of others. She had wheedled information from some and stolen things from others. She had helped neutralise Balthazar’s enemies and advance his friends. She had not then known it was all part of a much larger plan.
    She was not proud of herself, but she had done it. She had received rewards too. Small rewards at first. Potions that had made her feel young and happy, that had countered the guilt and depression she so often felt when she was not taking them. She had drunk too much and taken too many lovers, including those she had not been told to take.
    She lost control of herself. She began to drink too much and talk too much. There had been crying jags and spells of wild exultation. And recently she had come to realise that the other members of the cult were looking at her oddly. They were worried about her behaviour. It came to her that was dangerous because she knew now how dangerous these glittering friendly people could be.
    They worshipped not just the Old Ones but Old Ones who had given themselves to the Shadow. They plotted rebellion against the state and the Church. They killed people, and they worked dark magic. She realised that she stayed drunk and high not just from guilt but from fear. There was no one she dared tell.
    “You were afraid of these people, I understand, but why not go to the Church. Frater Ramon would have helped you. He and the Governor would have hunted down the people who had deceived you.”
    “You don’t understand. Frater Ramon is sick, and the Governor is a weak and fearful man.”
    “So you have not talked to anyone about this,” said Kormak.
    “No.”
    The Guardian nodded and paused for a moment as if he were thinking about something. He gazed around the room. The silence grew longer. Her dread mounted. Her fate was entirely in his hands. Still, she felt as if a vast weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
    “It is still possible you might be saved. If you do exactly what I tell you and everything I ask.”
    She saw a small glimmer of hope. Perhaps she could escape from this with her life.
    “You can give me the names of all these people.”
    “Yes.”
    “You are willing to testify under oath and sign your name to a confession?”
    “Yes.”
    “You will betray them even though you have sworn oaths to them and sacrificed