“No one’s seen him or Teresa since last night,” a woman with a crazed look in her eyes called out. “Do you think Coronado got them?”
I looked at Dane. He knew it, too. Spencer used Teresa to get through the corn one last time. He wasn’t coming back.
“Spencer discovered I was the vessel last night when he tried to slit my throat. He’s long gone by now. He used Teresa, who was a cornwalker, to deliver the Larkins to Coronado.”
I scanned the crowd, desperately searching for some sign of comprehension on their faces. “Katia will never make you immortal. You were only breeders to her.”
They just kept praying.
“Listen to me.” I shook Lou, but it was like she was looking right through me. “You can leave!” I yelled as I walked through the gathering. “You can walk out of Quivira and start a new life.”
No one moved a muscle. They all stared up at me like I’d just spoken a completely different language.
“If she’s the vessel, she needs her intended,” a woman with a newborn clutched to her chest called in a panic.
That’s when I noticed Brennon, pale, flanked by his parents. He took a reluctant step forward and the flock parted, as if making way for a king. He looked up at me with bloodshot eyes as he reached out to take my hand. “I’m prepared to walk the corn with you. It’s my duty. My honor.”
I couldn’t believe he was willing to go through with this after everything I’d just said. “There’s nothing honorable about giving your body to a madwoman.”
The people of Quivira only prayed more fervently, as if what I’d just said was sacrilege.
“Brennon, I’m sorry.” I released his hand. “But I’ve chosen someone else.”
Brennon let out a huge sigh of relief as Lauren ran to him, embracing him.
The realization burst inside of me. Lauren and Brennon were in love. That’s why Lauren treated me the way she did and why Brennon was so cagey around me. His duty to his family, to Katia, had been the only thing standing in their way.
“You should all run while you still have a chance. You will never be immortal.”
The community broke out in agitated whispers. “Who is it, then? Who will be Alonso’s vessel?”
They weren’t listening to me. Finding the vessel, completing the ritual had been their one common goal for so long, they’d become blind to everything else.
Dane stepped forward and took my hand. “I will be Alonso’s vessel.”
Brennon’s mom started sobbing. “Katia will never allow it.”
“We have to kill him before she arrives,” Lou said.
The mob swept Dane up. I knew they couldn’t kill him, but a venomous feeling rose up inside me. “Let him go.” I glowered. “My blood has already chosen him.”
The crowd went silent. They dropped their hold on Dane and backed away in fear.
But they weren’t looking at me.
I turned to see Katia standing before the corn.
She was even more beautiful than I remembered. With the sun blazing down on her, she looked as if she were carved from soft gold. Dane wrapped his arm around my waist protectively.
“Clever girl,” Katia said with a smile, but I could feel her displeasure.
“But he’s a Mixed,” someone called out.
“Inferior blood,” Brennon’s mom cried.
“She’s given me no choice,” Katia spat. “I should’ve drowned Coronado’s children to begin with.” She scanned the crowd. “Where’s Spencer Mendoza?”
“He ran,” I said, hoping to provoke her, distract her from the ceremony. “He betrayed you. He’s been delivering the Larkins to Coronado for years. If you hurry, you can still catch him.”
A flash of anger passed over her eyes, but she quickly buried it. “I’ll deal with him later,” she said as she clutched her golden blade by her side.
The people of Quivira just cowered before her. They’d been suckling off Katia’s poisonous teat for too long. They’d even sacrificed their own children for a chance at immortality.
“I know you killed Marie,” I blurted.
Katia turned on me with such hatred that my body shuddered beneath her gaze.
“You don’t have to do this.” I softened my tone. “You can let me and Dane go.” I squeezed his hand before I took two careful steps forward. “We’re in love. You of all people know what it’s like to have that taken away from you.”
Katia smiled. “You think love would save you?” Her heady scent intoxicated me as she passed. “The love you feel for each other will only make the binding stronger,” she said as she circled Dane, running her hand across his back. “You’ve done me a great favor.”
I started to protest when her eyes settled on me and a blistering pain ripped through my body, grinding me to my knees.
Dane tried to move toward me, but she stepped in front of him.
“Hold still now and I’ll let her go.”
Dane stood up straight, clenching his jaw.
And Katia released me.