Page 190 of Rite of Unity

“Elias,” Sera’s strangled cry made him turn back to her.“I’ll die.If I don’t finish the Rite, they’ll kill me.”

I couldn’t see his face.

“Sera, if you compete in Trial Eleven, you’ll die anyway.”

“I might not.”Her words were a whisper.

“You can’t think I’d put Maryn in that kind of danger.”

From my vantage point, only her hands, twisted together in a knot, were visible.

“It's better than outside the wall.”

Silence filled the air.

My stomach twisted.Images of execution day flashing through my mind.

Finally, Elias spoke.“I’m sorry, Sera.”

I smoothed my expression, staring ahead as Elias slid into his seat, buckling his belt.

Sera dropped to her knees, her tear-streaked face stained with mascara lines.“The nation will never accept her.”

Elias still hadn’t looked at me, but Sera did.“Tell him, Maryn.Tell him the only way this marriage happens is if you complete the Rite.”

Her eyes were wide, true terror in them.I had spent this entire Rite watching Sera Cannon perform.Her practiced smile and perfectly styled hair.

But this wasn’t performance.

This was a woman who had followed every rule the Covenant gave her and would die for it, just like the rest of us.Something inside me cracked.

I turned to Elias and touched his arm.

He swiveled toward me.“I won’t risk you,” he said, not waiting for me to speak.

“She’s right.You can’t go against the law for me.”

“I’ll change the law.”

I squeezed his forearm.“That law has fifty years of tradition behind it.Parents have lost daughters, brothers have lost sisters.If you defy it now, they will never accept you.Accept me.”

The vulnerability from that morning was back on his face.He stared at me like I wassomething precious to him, something worth defying a nation for.“I can’t lose you.”

“You won’t.”

He twisted to Sera.“Tomorrow.”

She nodded, climbing to her feet.

Elias slammed the door, and we sped away, leaving her staring after us.

Chapter 47

Maryn

Elias’shousehadbecomethe hub of the president’s central operation—the new president.

His council was in a state of chaos.They couldn’t wait for his Rite to conclude or for him to plan a speech.He was going live in five.