Eliana tensed. A thick moment passed, and then she heard it: a rumbling vibration, a distant high shriek. Faint but unmissable. The air tightened, grew still. It was the moment before a storm broke open.
Behind Eliana, the others shifted nervously.
Ysabet marched forward, hands on hips, eyes narrowed. “She’s done something. Can you feel that? The stone is vibrating under our feet.” She jerked her head. “What have you done, angel?”
Beside Eliana, Simon shifted. She glanced at him. He would not look at her, but she sensed it was now for a different reason.
Ludivine gestured at the two acolytes flanking the door. At once, they began emptying the room—the chairs, the carpet, the pedestals on which the candles burned. Only the candles themselves remained, and Katell’s sheathed sword.
Remy silently came to Eliana’s side, found her free hand. The ache that now lived in her throat blossomed ruthlessly. If they did this, none of it would matter. Not Vaera Bashta, not Invictus, not the hard new glint of Remy’s eyes. He would be born to Ioseph and Rozen Ferracora and live a happy life in the city of Orline, writing stories and baking cakes. She refused to acknowledge any other possibility.
“This chamber lies at the heart of a labyrinth,” said Ludivine, very still as her acolytes bustled around her. “There are dozens of chambers, hundreds of passages. Some lead to rooms. Others lead nowhere. This will buy us some time. The cruciata are intelligent, but their bloodlust dulls their wits.”
Navi drew a sharp breath.
Just behind Eliana, Simon stood quietly, hands fisted at his sides.
Tentatively, Eliana reached for Ludivine’s mind. At once, Ludivine showed her the truth, her black eyes unblinking and unashamed.
“You’ve brought the cruciata underground,” Eliana whispered. Shrill, rasping cries, still distant, followed her words, as if the beasts had heard their name.
Someone behind her—Hob, she thought—muttered a sharp curse.
“Why?” Navi whispered harshly. “How?”
The chamber thrummed with rising vibrations. Something was approaching them, some ruthless marching weight. The beasts? Or worse?
Eliana’s stomach dropped. Clarity swept through her, heat chased by cold.
“Because the angels are coming for us,” she said, “and the cruciata will protect us.”
“Protect us?” Patrik scoffed, glaring at Ludivine. “They have no love for us, and now two enemies will soon be upon us, thanks to you.”
It had been so long since Eliana had seen Patrik that the sight of his furious pale face rested strangely on the surface of her mind, like oil topping water. He was familiar and yet not, flesh and blood and yet a memory. He glared at Ludivine, his ruined eye hidden behind a frayed black patch. And there was Hob, tall and frowning at his side, fresh scars on his dark-brown skin. Navi, her eyes bright with tears, her mouth thin with anger. Ysabet behind her, looking ready to tear out Ludivine’s throat with her teeth. Malik at the door, his face so like Navi’s—lovely straight nose, warm dark eyes. And crowding in the hallway, everyone Navi had brought with her across the ocean. Dozens of refugees and sailors and hardened fighters, all now trapped underground.
Looking at them, a slow tingle of horror spreading across her skin, Eliana understood why Ludivine had waited to guide her here. She had been waiting for Navi’s little army to arrive—a disposable infantry. Help is coming, the Prophet had told her. Help is close.
Ludivine smiled faintly at everyone gathered. “It’s time. Hurry. She needs you.”
One by one, their faces changed. A ripple of feeling passed through them like a shimmering wave of heat. Fear hardened into anger. Tears dried and mouths set. Patrik was the first to turn away and draw his sword, pushing past the others to hurry down the hallway. Hob followed shortly after him, then Malik, then Ysabet, with a ferocious growl.
Navi choked out a sob, pulled Eliana hard into her arms. A moment later, she was gone, the last of them to leave the chamber. Eliana stood frozen, the sounds of their war cries muffled by the blood pounding in her ears. Another breath, and her dread lifted. Sound came crashing back to her. She called Navi’s name, tried to run after them. Hands pulled her back against a strong chest. Too enraged to scream, she shoved Simon away with a burst of power from her castings. She didn’t realize she had tackled Ludivine to the ground and started punching her until Remy and Simon yanked her away.
“Every moment you helped me, every day you worked with me