this was worse than she’d expected. Before she had been confident that she could convince her father to hear Serefin out. Now she knew that would not be the case. Her father was too devout and trusted Magdalena far too much. While Katya had expected the Matriarch to be a slight point of difficulty, she hadn’t expected an enemy. She should have. How many conversations had she had with Nadya about the things the Church had withheld? She had been honest about her worries and Katya had brushed her off.
Had they known this whole time what Nadya was? Magdalena certainly made it sound like they had. But how? She’d grown up a world away in a monastery.
Katya pounded on Viktor’s door, pushing past a servant. Viktor stepped into the main hall, looking flustered.
“I don’t have time,” she said, holding up a hand. “Are the Akolans here?”
“Of course. Katya, love, what’s going on?”
“A mess. Parj! I need your help!”
Parijahan poked her head out of the sitting room, followed by Rashid. Katya explained as quickly as she could. Parijahan had been in a different part of the city during the attack, she hadn’t seen the hatred in the Matriarch’s eyes. They must beat her to Nadya.
Parijahan’s expression was wan. “I thought you had it handled!”
“Yes, well, not this time.”
Noticing Anna hovering at a distance, Rashid waved. Anna’s face broke out in a grin. Katya did not have time to consider that, either.
“We need to get them out and fast.”
Parijahan glanced at Rashid, a slow smile flickering on her face. “Well,” she said. “Ostyia and Rashid spent some time recently figuring out just what good Akolan magic can do.”
What? Katya frowned.
“They’re all together?” Rashid asked.
“In the same block, not the same room. We had to isolate the Black Vulture at the king’s request.”
“Malachiasz is here?”
“Why are we surprised?” Katya said wearily. “More importantly, you have magic? Do you want to be the distraction, then?” she asked Parijahan.
The Akolan girl grinned. “I would love to.”
“I’ll help,” Anna said.
Katya looked to Rashid. “Let me raid Viktor’s cabinets for the ingredients I’ll need. I’m going with you.”
He nodded, flipping a dagger between long brown fingers. He was entirely relaxed for someone who had unlocked his own magic that day.
“Well, then, time to make ourselves enemies of the Church.”
36
NADEZHDA LAPTEVA
Blood pooled at every point her hands touched.
—Anonymous account written about Celestyna Privalova
Every part of Nadya was in agony and all she wanted was to hear Malachiasz’s voice. Żaneta was in the other corner, eyes closed. Tentatively, Nadya tugged on the fragile thread of magic that bound her to him.
She felt him jolt.
You don’t have to talk to me if you don’t want to, she said. I understand. I just …
“Are you all right?”
Me? She almost laughed. I have some broken ribs, I think. And apparently I’m mad and have never heard the gods. I’ve been better.
“Nadezhda…”
She wished she could see him, touch him. She wished he was closer.
I’m sorry. About everything. I never got the chance to tell you. It was a mistake.
He was quiet. It wasn’t hard to picture him sitting against the wall, head tilted back, cuticles picked at and bleeding.
“When I woke up, I thought it would be better if you never knew I was alive. Better to let it have ended on the mountain.”
She hugged herself tightly. His words dug into her heart. She deserved it.
“And you’re not mad, towy dżimyka. Any more than I am.”
Not a comforting metric.
“What we’ve done to each other isn’t as simple as words can fix.”
No, it’s not.
It didn’t feel real, talking to him. He was going to be ripped away again and she would return to that cold unfathomable blank of living past his death.
“Nadya?”
I’m here.
“Don’t go,” he said, his voice sounding so very small. “I’m scared. I don’t think there’s any way out of this. We’ve used up all our chances.”
Her heart broke anew for the monster boy who had been beaten down by so much.
I’ve missed you.
“Honestly, once I got past the frustration of being betrayed so thoroughly, I had to admit, I liked your style. It was very well done.”
She couldn’t tell if she was going to laugh or cry. I learned from the best.
“That you did. I missed you too, towy dżimyka.”
They were interrupted by the clank of her cell doors opening. She didn’t have time to shut off the bond before she was roughly yanked out, Malachiasz’s panic flashing through her. They knew where this would end.
She wasn’t going to come back