Free The Sowing (The Torch Keeper) by Steven dos Santos Page B

chron’s hiding place. “I worry for the fate of your immortal soul, young Spark. I hope you aren’t lying to me about being ill. Lies are the instruments of sin. I would hate to think of what would happen to such a naughty child in the afterlife.” He shakes his head in mock sorrow. “Fire and pain for all of eternity.”
    All my muscles tense. If he touches Cole again, I’ll kill him.
    The Prior stands up. “Actually, I came to inform you that you’ll be leaving us very soon. It seems there are great plans for you. However, I believe you’ve been treacherous, and a cleansing of your mind and body is in order.”
    Delvecchio pauses. The only sounds are the thudding of my own heart in my ears and the moaning wind, setting the windows creaking and melding with Cole’s soft breaths. Time is running out. I have to get back before Arrah and Valerian question my absence.
    Delvecchio sighs. “During the remainder of your stay here, you will be remanded to a regimen of fasting, coupled with increased chores and the sting of the lash. This will do wonders to clear the mists that can shroud one’s conscience.” He strides toward the exit and turns. “We shall see just what it takes to purge the evil from your young heart.”
    Then he’s gone.
    I wait a few minutes just to make sure it’s clear. Arrah must be wondering what’s taking me so long by now. Creeping from my hiding place, I slink back to my brother’s bed.
    He buries his head against my chest. “Please don’t go,” he whispers.
    “I’ll be back for you tomorrow, Cole. I promise,” I whisper back, tucking the sheet in around him like I always used to.
    I kiss his forehead and steal down, excited that I’ll soon take him far away from this hell.

    A few minutes later I’ve made my way through the maze of echoing hallways and staircases, folded my robe and hidden it just in case I need it again, and am back outside tramping through the snow, my breaths puffing out like bursts of exhaust as I rush to meet up with Arrah. All the while trying to formulate our escape plan.
    Late tonight, I’ll sneak out of my bunk at the Citadel and make contact with one of the barge operators at the port. He owes me a favor for freeing his brother from the mines in a railway crash I caused. Tomorrow, after the Ascension Ceremony, I’ll pick up Cole and we’ll hide aboard the ship. Once we’ve sailed beyond the Parish limits, we’ll debark and head west. I’ve saved enough money that we should be good for a while. Not what I had planned, but with Cole scheduled for this mysterious U.I.P. treatment instead of Haven, I have no choice.
    I turn into the alley, just in time to see a figure emerge from the shadows behind Arrah and reach out for her.
    “Arrah! Look out!” I sprint and leap, soaring through the air and crashing into them.
    Next thing I know, I’m rolling in a heap of tangled limbs, banging against trash bins, spinning in garbage. When we come to a stop, I’m straddling the figure beneath me.
    It’s a girl around my age. Fair-skinned, with brown hair strangled into a long braid. She’s clutching something in her hand and I snatch it from her.
    It’s a cluster of fake IDs. I’ve seen this before—she’s a Worm. Someone so desperate they’ll assume the identity of potential Recruits’ loved ones and risk dying as an Incentive, just to have enough money to survive. I’ll never forget the screams of the last Worm I encountered, begging for his life as that slobbering Canid tore him apart limb from limb.
    I turn away from the girl and look back at Arrah. “Are you okay?”
    Arrah’s face is rigid. “She came out of nowhere. I never saw … ”
    The girl’s face brims with desperation and fear. Her body is trembling.
    I can’t turn her in. The punishment for being a Worm is public execution. But if I let her go, Arrah will know.
    Cassius’s words taunt me. You’re no better than anyone else. No better than I am.
    “What’s your name?” I ask