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Maddie’s sleepy voice rescued reen eyes tired and rimmed with dark circles Maddie had always been aas in her heart For the past feeeks, we had been the sole occupants of these quarters Most days were spent in silence, both of us lost in thought and neither of us sharing our deepest fears

"Why are you dressed so early? Dawn has barely broken," she asked

Sighing nervously, I replied, "I ae today Ame about this outside world"

The reaction in rew al for ulped inainst the headboard, and asked, "Then why are you to be schooled?"

Staring at a wooden knot in a loose floorboard, I replied, "Because of o out there, Lilah!"

"I know," I whispered in e the bed sheet up to the lower part of her throat, Maddie asked, "And what do these listen and she added, "Will they… will they take us, punish us as the elders did?"

Heart beating furiously in my chest, I replied, "I do not know"

"No," Maddie suddenly said, shaking her head "Mae would not allow this Her Styx, he would not let theaped at her trust "Maddie, they are sinners They openly worship the devil They are capable of anything"

"I do not think they worship the devil, Lilah I have seen no such ceremony or service from my studies out of theThey siainst the Lord when he ordered his angels to bon to his greatness"

My eyes narrowed "They are willingly letting in the occult by wearing the devil’s face on their backs! This is a mortal sin, most certainly not the e live our life I do not trust them, and I am fairly positive Mae has lost her senses and her moral core"

Maddie’s eyes roved down my body, and she said, "If you do not trust these men, why are you ready so early?"