THE SACRIFICE

CHAPTER 1

VICTORIA

The square burned with torches, the air heavy with smoke and chanting.

“Tonight,” the High Priest boomed, his voice echoing over the restless crowd, “we offer what is most precious to appease the God of the Deep Caverns. So that he may not bring ruin upon our homes, our fields, our children.”

The villagers bowed their heads. Women wept. Men pressed fists to their chests. Children clung to skirts, wide-eyed.

And me—Victoria—bound in white cloth, ...