He turned, leaned forward and let out another roar. Everyone knew to step out of his way. The priest was frozen in place, blinking through the blood she’d spat on him. He looked like he was coming out of a nightmare and plunging straight into another.
Rune carried her across the courtyard and out through the gate. He turned in place a few times, tilted his head this way and that, and eventually took the path that led to the house on the hill, where Seraphina knew Briar’s mother lived. She’d never seen Sister Margaret, didn’t know what she looked like. She wanted to ask Rune why he was taking her there, opened hermouth before remembering no coherent words would come out. She clung to him and sobbed.
“I have you,” he said. “I have you.”
The hand that supported her back came forward so he could orient himself and avoid the trees, so Seraphina wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. After a few minutes, she saw Sister Blandina up on the path. She was sitting in the snow, massaging her ankle.
“I went to bring them,” she said when she saw Seraphina. “I did, but they were already running down the hill. They were faster than me. I fell and couldn’t get up. I tried…”
Seraphina shook her head. She would’ve told Blandina that it was all right and not to torture herself over the failed task. She couldn’t.
Rune ignored the nun and pushed forward through the trees, avoiding them at the last moment, straying from the path then getting back on it.
Seraphina dug her nails into his shoulder blades, buried her face in his neck, inhaled. He smelled like blood and winter. Wildflowers and home.
Chapter Twenty
The man had never been hers to care for, get close to, touch, kiss…
Briar’s first instinct was to run after them. She pushed herself off the ground and swayed on her feet. The slush under her boots made it difficult to keep her balance. She took a few steps toward the open gate, but the sister who was jumping cut her path. Briar caught one of her flailing arms, trying to stop her.
“I can’t,” the sister said. “I’m trying, but I can’t.” She had a maniacal expression on her face.
“What is happening?” Briar whispered, letting her go.
She turned and looked around the courtyard. The Mother Superior was running toward the main building – Briar guessed she was headed for her chambers. Father Anton was shaking and mumbling something under his breath as a sister was wiping blood off his face. Two sisters were trying to convince the one standing on one leg to put the other foot down, but the nun was refusing between tears. The sister who was singing was close to losing her voice, and the one who was dancing was covered in mud up to her waist but still didn’t cease.
Briar felt someone pull at her arm. She turned her head and met her mother’s dark brown eyes, so much like hers. The only difference was that her mother didn’t have three flecks of gold in her left iris. She placed a hand on Briar’s cheek, shook her head, and dragged her to the side, away from the chaos.
“What happened here? Why didn’t you try to stop it?”
The corners of the woman’s lips turned downward, but she didn’t answer.
“Are you Briar?” came a man’s voice.
Briar saw a young man with dark skin and eyes that were almost black walking toward them. He stopped at a respectable distance and bowed.
“Are you Briar?” he asked again.
“Yes. Who’s asking?”
“My name is Idris Gharbi. I’ve traveled here with Seraphina.”
His name sounded familiar.
“Seraphina told me about a naturalist colleague and friend at Krähenstein Academy. Are you him?”
“Yes, I am. And she told me about her best friend Briar at Saint Vivia’s Convent.”
Briar nodded.
Taking her gesture as a signal that it was safe to approach, Idris stepped closer and started speaking fast, in a lower tone.
“Seraphina trusts you. She said so many times, and by extension, I trust you. You must know that the sisters, as well-intentioned as they are, got it wrong, and Seraphina is in no way possessed. All that happened is that she used an apex relic that has the ability to put people in thrall. She didn’t mean to hurt anyone. Sometimes she…” He hesitated, closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them. He fixed Briar with an intense gaze. “The relic’s toll is great. She hasn’t been herself lately. Sometimes she pushes limits that shouldn’t be pushed.”
“She could die,” Briar said. “All that blood…”
“A cut tongue bleeds more than one would think, but I assure you that Seraphina will be all right. The apex relic is implanted. Most likely, it has already healed the open wound.”
