Sister Margaret looked up at Seraphina. There was confusion in her eyes, then anxiety. She shook her head and opened her mouth to protest. Seraphina fixed her with an unwavering gaze. There was no choice to be made here, no discussion. The sister swallowed heavily and nodded. She pushed herself to her feet, brushed her hand over her daughter’s cheek, then crossed herself and backed away, toward the exit. There were a few more sisters milling around, watching Idris with fascination, and Seraphina asked them to leave as well, and to close the door behind them. She requested not to be disturbed for the next half hour.
She supposed she didn’t need more time than that.
She went to sit with Rune. He didn’t react. She placed a hand over his. His skin was cold and flaky with crusted blood.
“It’s not your fault,” she said. “You didn’t do this.”
He blinked, kept staring ahead.
Seraphina reached behind him and unpinned the Obedience Lattice still attached to his cloak. She folded it neatly and laid it on the seat next to hers.
“Rune, will you look at me?”
He turned his head. The sight of his golden eyes made Seraphina inhale sharply. She controlled her reaction andcupped his cheek with her hand. He closed his eyes halfway, and that made it more bearable to look at him. There was something about this particular pair of eyes that unsettled her. They were human, but more. There had been something in the Sentinel’s constitution that had made his eyes glow in the dark. Maybe something beastly added to the human make-up, and just the thought of it made Seraphina shudder.
“You didn’t do this,” she repeated.
“All right.”
“Don’t say it for my sake. Say it because you believe it.”
“She saved me many times,” he said. “She should’ve left me behind. I told her. She didn’t listen. She should’ve left me at the bottom of that lake.”
“What lake?”
“I killed her.”
“You didn’t.”
“Her blood is on my hands.”
“And on mine, because it should’ve been me.”
His eyes widened, and he flinched away from her. Seraphina mentally cursed herself. What had possessed her to remind him? She reached for him again, her hands gripping the collar of his shirt to pull him closer. His resistance was brief. She stood up and pressed her forehead to his.
“It’s you and me,” she said. “We will never be apart again.”
“It’s a mistake,” he said. “You shouldn’t want to be with me. Don’t you see how easily I can be turned into a weapon? Turned against you… For as long as I live, I will be a danger to you and to those you love.”
“No. For as long as the High Harvester lives. It’s not about you, or even about the other revenants. It’s about him. If we end this war… If we end him… You are free. That is the only way. I see it now. I was so absorbed by my own thirst for revenge, but this is bigger than me.”
“The men who hurt you…”
“I will get them, don’t worry. But it’s time to aim higher.”
He stared into her eyes. From this up close, she felt like she was drowning in a sea of molten gold. It was pulling her under; there was no escape. She drew back and closed her eyes for a moment to anchor herself.
“I will follow you anywhere,” he said. “If you want me to. But if you change your mind, at any point, say the word.”
Seraphina shook her head. “I will never change my mind about you. I promise.”
He didn’t seem convinced. No matter. She would just have to prove it to him every day.
“Come.”
She took his hand and led him to the front of the church, where Idris was washing Briar’s body. He’d removed her clothes and covered her with a white sheet to preserve her modesty.
Seraphina took Briar’s cold hand in hers. Rune hung back, as if believing himself unworthy of approaching.
