She’d lit a match and watched to see how much I would burn before I would break.
Do not yield.
I could hear Quazar’s commanding voice in my mind now, breaking down my walls of fear. Barreling across every thought that would make me shrink back. That would make me back down. He would never stand for me cowering, especially to my Granmanmi. So I wouldn’t.
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees, refusing to break eye contact. Ellabeth stiffened next to me. Then she scooted closer. An act of solidarity. Granmanmi managed to catch the movement, and make note of it, without ever removing her eyes from me.
“My dear angels,” Granmanmi took up again. “Worry not. The Infinite remains on the side of the Farasee Order. On the side of his faithful servants who uphold the truths of the Temple and have dedicated their lives to making sure what has been established willneverbe undone.”
My hearts began freezing over. A tremor pulsed in my hand as the glass dais cracked open.
“The Infinite heard our prayers and quickly exposed our enemies who’d been hiding among us all along.”
Ellabeth began trembling next to me. I placed my hand on her knee.
“Do not yield,” I whispered to her, eyes still on Granmanmi.
I’d completely tuned out the whole of Titombwe. Since I was a youngling, Granmanmi spoke in riddles. She said it was an act of intelligence if we could decipher what she was saying without her ever making it plain.
Ellabeth took a few moments to relax, but she stopped trembling and sat straighter. She also leaned forward, trying to figure out Granmanmi’s game. But I had it figured out.
“They sent us into deadly trials with the Talons,” I began, my voice carrying loud enough for Seventh Choir to hear me. “We were supposed to end their lives. More than once. Each time, wespared them.” I could feel my rage mounting within me. “Then we grew closer to our bonded. Some of us became friends. Some of us became more.”
Isandra cleared her throat, as if she’d been caught in Vashari’s bed red-handed. I was in no place to judge. It took Quazar sharing my bed once, for us to sleep together every twinight since. He made me feel safe. Protected. Any chance I had to keep him close, I selfishly took it.
“Then we were given a…dawnoff.” I poured my sarcasm into the last word, realizing it wasn’t a moment of reprieve after all. It was a test. Another trial. We just didn’t need to cross a star gate to enter it.
And we all failed.
“And while we were busy refreshing ourselves and having a grand time, the Order was watching us. Since we stopped playing along, they changed the game. Stareaters never attacked the temple. They were just a way to get usoutof the temple. And the perfect rage bait for Titombwe.”
Ellabeth grew unnaturally still beside me. From her perch at the center of the dais, as if she’d heard every word clear as a new dawn, Granmanmi smiled in a way that made my hearts shrivel.
“Holystars,” Amayah whispered.
“Hèls-infested temple,” Kazemir hissed.
“This is a setup,” Daelun breathed. “And if we’re not the ones paying the price, then…”
Granmanmi grinned brilliantly, her stunning smile blinding even to me. She was as beautiful as she was cruel, I was beginning to learn.
“But Manna Order,” Isandra began, desperately trying to find a loophole in the truth.
“Look around you, Isa,” I said. “They’re all here. Manna Order was never attacked. The only Order that evacuated the temple, the only Order and the only Choirtoldto evacuate, wasIncense Order.” A beat. “And Seventh Choir. The temple-mates of Quazar Valoryen and his Talons.”
“Rot,” Omarion spat behind me, brewing with rage.
“Dear angels,” Granmanmi announced, already taking her victory lap. “We in the Order have told you many times before, the Infinite will always expose wickedness, and he will always provide a means for us to squash it into nothing so it can never oppose us again. Behold the traitors of your Holy Temple. Behold the traitors of the Ouanaviel Empyrean!”
Granmanmi thrust her open palms at the glass of the dais, pouring out starlight lined with an explosive energy throughout its blast. The dais split open, revealing a rising platform made of stone.
Life left my knees as I stumbled forward, falling off my cloudchair to land on the marbled floor of the arena. My eyes prickled with hot tears as I looked at the platform. At the center were the Talons of Xadari Legion shackled like animals, all half-dressed and chained to the stone. Their wings, hands, feet, and neck had been bound. They all stood proud, their chins lifted, fire burning in their jeweled eyes.
And at the center of his Talons was Quazar Valoryen. Bent over the stone, barely able to keep himself standing. He was bloodied, battered, and beaten within an inch of his life.
“No,” I breathed, my voice breaking.
“Angels of Ouanaviel!” Granmanmi cried. “What do we do with traitors?”
