Between Burning Worlds (System Divine #2) - Jessica Brody Page 0,247

you.”

Marcellus could feel his irrational resolve slipping. He pulled his gaze from the door and focused back on Laurel. There were two of her and she was swaying.

“I can’t abandon her,” he said, his voice cracking like a child’s.

“You’re not,” Laurel said. And maybe it was the tone of her voice or the honesty in her eyes or the promise of her help, but for some outlandish, indescribable reason, in that moment, he believed her.

He took a deep breath and allowed his head to fall into a nod. He allowed himself to be guided back to the infirmerie. And, as he lay down on an empty cot next to the unconscious form of Laterre’s most infamous rebel leader, he allowed himself to believe that any minute now, Alouette would come walking through that Refuge door.

- CHAPTER 77 - CHATINE

EVERYTHING ABOUT HIM WAS FAMILIAR. His chin. His eyelashes. His cheeks. The way his lips moved ever so slightly while he dreamed. As she watched him sleep, curled up in a tiny ball under the blankets just like he used to do when he was a baby, Chatine felt foolish for not seeing it before. For not recognizing him the moment she first laid eyes on him.

The resemblance seemed too obvious to miss now.

But she, of all people, knew how the heart could play evil tricks on the mind. And that the eyes could be as devious and deceitful as a pair of crocs.

None of that mattered now, though. All that mattered was that he was here. And she was here. And they were together. The two lost Renard children finally reunited. And she would never lose him again.

The door to the small bedroom creaked open, and Chatine looked up to see Marcellus standing in the doorway. She straightened up in the chair next to the bed, where she’d been sitting for the past few hours, and beckoned him inside. “How are you?” she asked.

With a wince, he lowered himself onto the edge of the bed. “Apparently, I’m going to live.”

Chatine chuckled softly. “That’s good. I’d be pretty bummed if you didn’t.”

Marcellus nodded toward Henri, still fast asleep. “How is he?”

Chatine allowed her eyes to drift back toward her brother. Her brother. It felt so good to finally hold that word in her mind again and not be plagued with guilt and fear and crushing sadness. “He’s fine. More than fine, actually. Talked my ear off for twenty minutes about his bravery during what he’s calling the Great Bastille Escape of 505.” She snorted and adjusted the blankets under his chin, a delicate smile playing on her lips. “I used to watch him sleep when he was a baby. He slept the exact same way. I just can’t believe they brought him back to me.”

“The Vangarde?” Marcellus asked.

She shook her head. “The Sols.”

Chatine could feel Marcellus’s eyes on her, warm and inquisitive. “Yes, they can certainly be mysterious like that.”

With a contented sigh, Chatine finally pulled her gaze from Henri and glanced around the room. It was modest and bare, with uneven walls, a nightstand next to the bed, and a small closet cut into the bedrock and covered with a simple black curtain.

“I think this is Alouette’s room,” Chatine said quietly. She wasn’t sure if she should mention her name. The sisters still hadn’t given any indication that she’d been located, and Chatine was starting to worry that something had gone very wrong.

A flicker of uneasiness flashed in Marcellus’s eyes, but he quickly concealed it. “How do you know?”

“Because I found this.” Chatine reached under her chair and pulled out an old, faded doll with long, silky hair and a tattered yellow dress. She stood it up on her lap and stared into its glassy gray eyes, feeling the same haunting sensation she’d felt when she’d first discovered it laying on the bed. It was like looking into a mirror that warped time, and the reflection staring back at her was some younger, forgotten version of herself.

She swallowed and ran her fingers through the doll’s dark nylon curls. “For the longest time this doll represented everything I wanted to be and never could. Funny how it’s been right here, so close this whole time, and I never knew.”

“I don’t understand,” Marcellus said, his brow furrowed. “Have you seen it before?”

“Not only have I seen it, I took a souvenir.” She pivoted the doll on her lap so Marcellus could see the empty sleeve hanging loose from the dress. Chatine pushed it