“Leave in peace?” Wilhelm repeated, stepping closer to the two of us. Her entire demeanor had shifted as if a switch had flipped. Her movements no longer short, authoritative bursts, but a fluid grace that demanded my attention. “Tell me, Lightbringer, after all that the Revered have done in your perverted name, do you think they deserve grace?”
Lightbringer? How did Wilhelm know of the Source’s name?
“Wilhelm?” Bastien took a step toward her, but the line of guards drew their glittering blades, halting him in his tracks.
“Are you in there, Light? The stench of your righteousness lingers on the boy’s skin. Won’t you come out and face me? It’s been too long since we’ve had a chance to speak plainly.”
Shit. Things had just gone from bad to catastrophic.
“You’re not Wilhelm,” I concluded, grabbing onto Bastien’s elbow and pulling him away from the imposter. “Which of the Enduring do we speak with?”
A flash of amusement struck the imposter’s golden eyes. “You’ve been speaking with my siblings, it would seem. What a clever thing you are, Cirian Findlay.”
“What is happening?” Bastien hissed in my ear.
I shook my head, refusing to take my gaze off the thing that wore Wilhelm’s flesh. Reaching for Bastien’s hand, the faint tether that lingered between us solidified, and I passed a message down the line.
“You need to be ready to run when I give the word.”
A squeeze of my hand was his reply.
The Enduring paused their amused pacing, their eyes going wide as they stared at the tether between Bastien and me.
Could they see it, too?
“Ah, I see now how you were able to survive your encounter with Decay. That primitive magic will not save you from what’s coming, Cirian. The Veil has already thinned. Humanity has exhausted its stay. The Second Awakening has called us here to usher their departure?—”
“I have to stop you right there,” I raised my voice over their ramblings. Still holding onto Bastien, I shifted our position, maneuvering him closer to the countertop where the compendium lay hidden. “You’ve ignored my previous question, and I’m afraid that we really can’t continue this conversation without knowing just who it is that we’re addressing.
“I’ll ask it again to make sure there’s no confusion. Which of the Enduring do we have the pleasure of speaking with?”
The darkness behind Wilhelm’s eyes flashed once more, growing till it swallowed the golden irises and poured over their eyelids, dripping black ichor down their coat.
“Do you truly wish to meet me, face-to-face?”
Their voice had twisted, pitched down with distortion that made the hair on my neck stand up.
The heat in my chest flared once more, a small voice sounding in my mind.
“My sibling, Vengeance.”
Vengeance. No wonder it had taken hold of the leader of the Reviled. Who across the Expanse had a greater need for retribution? They would easily find their fill.
“What an unfortunate choice you’ve made, Lightbringer.” Wilhelm’s voice was almost entirely swallowed by the mire, that ichor still seeping from the space around their void-like eyes. “I do not share Decay’s disdain for you, yet this human’s need for vengeance is too great to ignore. It called to me from behind the Veil, sweet like nectar. She welcomed me in with little fuss, once I promised her the retribution she sought.”
That certainly didn’t sound like they were going to let us leave.
I was in no position to hold my own against another of the Enduring. Our tussle under the Cradle, as well as Tobias’s resurrection, had left me completely tapped. Bastien would be in the same position. Our only option was to run. And even that seemed a long shot if we couldn’t escape Paradise. The entire force of the Paradisian guard was at Wilhelm’s disposal, and from what Amelia told us, they were already watching the city exits.
Once again, we were rightly fucked. Yet, beautiful Bastien wasn’t going down willingly.
“Follow my lead,”his voice drifted down the tether.
Breaking away from my grasp, Bastien stepped in front of me, facing the Enduring down with zero fear. “Vengeance won’t bring back what we’ve lost, Wilhelm. You know this. Why would you let this creature convince you otherwise?”
Vengeance turned its featureless face of ichor toward Bastien. “Your words fall on deaf ears, Seeker. But I assure you, this hate in her heart does not originate beyond the Veil. She holds it close. Cherishes it in the dark, when no one is watching. She wishes nothing more than to give in to that need for equilibrium. To inflict pain on those who have caused so much suffering.”
“I don’t believe you,” Bastien argued, his voice rising. “I’ve seen the way your kind operate. Felt the squirm of you inside my head. You twist that which is true, warp it until it supports your wants.”
