Ger stiffened in her embrace.
“The archivist,” he said, after a reluctant beat. “He refused to destroy some old journals that Avette wanted gone. Said he’d never even seen them. She didn’t believe it, so—”
Adeline’s heart dropped.
An old man who’d done nothing but fulfil his duties, tending to the library and the archives for longer than she’d been alive. Snuffed out on a whim, like so many others. She closed her eyes;she didn’t feel the shock or even the despair she might once have—but he deserved the moment of silence, of reflection. They all did. They deserved anger.
They deserved justice.
Adeline set her jaw and stepped back from the indulgence of her friend’s warmth.
“Where are the others?”
“This way.”
And with his elbow threaded through hers, Ger led the way through the dark.
The blackness shifted before long, thinned by moonlight and the faint glow of a single small lantern on one of the tables set between the endless aisles. Three figures huddled over the light, their voices low. At their approach, the tallest of those shadows peeled away and reached for her. They moved together like magnets, her hand in his before her eyes had even adjusted enough to take in his face.
When they did, she smiled and reached up to cup his cheek.
“Hello,” she whispered.
He laid his hand over her own.
“Hello,” Kai returned softly.
A simple exchange, but it told her plenty. He was surviving. He was here, he was present. He was grim, but he was ready. And for now, that would have to be enough.
Time was not on their side.
She didn’t release his hand as she turned to face the others across the table—and startled at the sight of Imogen.
“Are you alright?”
Even in the dark, her rich brown skin was wan. Her eyes appeared almost sunken, her frame rounded over the table as though it was all she could do to stay upright. Perhaps she wouldn’t have managed if it weren’t for Mareda’s arms around her like a brace, circling and supporting her.
Imogen gave an unconvincing nod, shallow as her own breath.
“She will be,” said Mareda quietly.
“What doesthatmean?”
“It means you called us here to find a way to stop Avette,” said Imogen, attempting a breathless smile. “And I happen to have a way.”
Her smile flickered, pain rippling over her brow as she sucked in a breath, Mareda gathering her closer. Adeline glanced around at the others, but Ger only shrugged, his brow just as knotted as she knew her own must be. Kai, on the other hand, met her gaze steadily.
“Imogen holds the Pearl,” he said.
Adeline whipped around. “You stole it back?”
She shook her head, Marry mirroring her.
“She never gave it to her.”
“Itcan’tbe given,” said Kai. “We misunderstood, all of us. The Mother’s gift isn’t bestowed upon the person who owns the Pearl. It belongs to the person who holds it.”
“Literally,” Imogen rasped weakly.
