Page 103 of The Chosen
I should have paid attention. Should have tracked which gun each woman selected. But I’d been too focused on Henry. On the horrifying possibility that, any moment, one of those chambers would fire and I’d watch as he drew his last breath.
Now I had no idea which gun held the best odds.
“Seraphine,” Josiah warned, his tone hardening. “Choose or I’ll choose for you, and I guarantee you won’t like the outcome.”
I reached for one with trembling fingers, lifting it from the table.
The metal felt heavy.
Cold.
Ominous.
Tears blurred my vision as I raised the gun toward Henry, the chapel fading around me until there was only Henry staring back with the same tenderness he’d always bestowed on me.
Even now.
Even knowing I might kill him.
“Do it!” someone shouted from behind me.
“Deliver judgment!” another yelled.
“You heard them, Seraphine,” Josiah encouraged. “Deliver judgment, or I’ll do it for you.”
I shifted my gaze toward him as a conniving smile tugged at his lips. Like he already knew what was about to happen and couldn’t wait.
A chill swept through me as I rested my finger on the trigger, my heart racing in my chest.
Henry gave me a small nod, as if resigned to his fate.
But I wasn’t.
At the very last second, I swung the revolver toward Josiah and pulled the trigger.
Click.
Silence detonated through the chapel, everything still for one stunned heartbeat.
Then a chorus of shouts erupted from the women as Josiah rushed toward me, seizing me violently before I could react, wrenching my arms behind me so hard I couldn’t help but cry out, the gun clattering to the floor. All the while, Henry looked on with terror in his eyes, fighting against the restraints on his wrists and ankles.
“You see?” Josiah called to the women, breathing heavily. “You see how quickly corruption spreads? With one look, this man has been able to poison your sister, Seraphine. That’s the danger you all have to be mindful of. The danger I’m trying so hard to protect you from.”
Several women closed their eyes, mouthing words of thanks as they folded their hands in front of their bodies.
Josiah dragged me up the altar and shoved me onto my knees beside Henry, pain exploding through me.
“This woman attempted to murder me,” Josiah announced.
Several of the women shouted for him to kill, stone, or punish me.
Josiah raised a hand, and they were immediately silenced.
“I admire your passion, my lambs. Truly. Your devotion to me is a gift I will never take for granted. But we must remember. Seraphine is still getting accustomed to our ways. She has spent so long being subjected to corruption and sin. She isn’t strong like you. Not yet. But perhaps we can put it in the Lord’s hands. See if He still deems her worthy.”
My pulse sped up, my mind racing with possibilities about what he planned to do.
“After all,” he crooned, walking toward the revolver I’d dropped and picking it up. “Our Lord believes in justice.” He flipped open the chamber, revealing a single bullet. He spun the chamber around, the sound echoing in the chapel before snapping it shut again.
