Burn Bright - By Marianne de Pierres Page 0,63

the Register. And other times. But I was the only one who could hear him.’

‘The Night Creatures have our ability to place sound. It is not usual that they use words, though.’

Naif thought about how Lenoir’s voice seemed so close to her when he was speaking to a crowd. ‘H-how m-many c-creatures are out th-there?’

Lenoir lifted her as if her weight counted for nothing and began to carry her back along the path. ‘There are many and their form varies.’

He didn’t look at her or speak again after that.

As they climbed closer to Agios, Naif’s adrenaline faded and pain replaced it. Her ankle began to throb and the cuts and scrapes on her skin stung. She clamped her lips together so as not to moan.

The music grew louder – not Markes playing, but a fast, discordant sound – and Lenoir’s arms involuntarily tightened around her. ‘What were you doing out here, Naif?’

She tried to think before she answered. Despite her anger at Joel, she would never betray her brother to anyone. But Lenoir was clever and she was not practised at lies.

‘I came outside to talk to Markes – the musician. We … argued and I walked away. I lost sight of Agios when I passed the rocks. Then the path faded.’

‘Leyste,’ he said the name grimly, almost as though he was angry with himself. ‘He found a way to tamper with the light relays. I had not thought him clever enough. Nor any of them. Not unless …’

Naif lifted her head from his chest. They’d reached the side door that she and Markes had used, but Lenoir walked straight past it, along the high stone wall, towards the rear of the church.

‘Neither of us can go inside Agios looking like this. I’ll take you to Vank. Charlonge will clean your wounds.’

‘You think that Graselle has probably seen enough of me?’ Naif gave a soft, humourless laugh.

‘It is not safe in the Dominion while the vote –’ He cut off his sentence as they turned around the corner of the church.

A dull, metallic, octagonal compartment half the size of a cable kar and lit by its own spotlights sat alone on a flat piece of ground. Test leaned against it, frowning. When she saw Lenoir she straightened and opened a door in the side of the compartment.

She stood back then, arms folded, legs astride, her whole stance disapproving.

Lenoir didn’t acknowledge Test at all. Instead he lifted Naif inside onto a softly upholstered seat and climbed in after her.

A rush of memories hit her: the brass trimmings of the interior, the deep scent of the leather seats. It could have been one of the Grave Elders’ horse-drawn carriages. She’d travelled in them with Father to probation hearings, his anger like a priest’s grille between them, her shirt damp still from her mother’s tears.

A sudden jerking movement forced her to grasp hold of the seat.

‘The carriage is merely unfolding its legs. In a moment you’ll feel nothing,’ said Lenoir.

Naif held on until the rocking sensation stopped.

After a couple of reassuring glances out of the window, she settled against the seat and let her eyes close. She drifted to a place where neither thought nor action dwelt; an in-between place of nothing – away from the pain.

‘Naif!’ Lenoir roused her from petite nuit with a rough hand. ‘Take this now or the pain will harm you.’ He pressed a pod into her hand.

Remembering what Graselle had said to her about healing, she didn’t argue. She chewed it carefully and waited for the effects.

It wasn’t long before heaviness crept into her limbs, dulling everything including her reticence. Her head felt woozy but in a more pleasant way.

She glanced over at Lenoir. He stared moodily out of the window, his lips pursed. His beautiful hair matted by dark blood.

She wanted to ask him about Leyste but other words came out of her mouth. ‘Why was the party for me? You said that before when we were in the gallery,’ she asked.

Lenoir didn’t look at her. ‘If the vote goes against me things will change. I will not be able to do the things I choose. I wanted you to see how beautiful parties can be, how elegant.’

Naif gave a spontaneous smile. ‘That got messed up, didn’t it?’

He shrugged dismissively. ‘We are here.’

Naif sat up straighter, wondering if the pod had distorted her senses. ‘We’ve only been moving for a few minutes.’

He turned to her now, his face almost unsightly, streaked with blood and wearing an