No one moves.
“His eyes are open.”Midnight moves towards him.“Why are his eyes open?”she asks, her voice high and unnatural in tone.
She crumples to her knees.“Bastien?”she whispers this time, as if her volume might hurt him.
She pulls him into her arms, but he’s a dead weight and she struggles to grasp him.
“Why is he so heavy?Come on, Bas, help a girl out… Look at me.”
My voice breaks, a whimper slips out, my cheeks already wet.It’s the only sound echoing around the decimated courtyard.
I suck in a breath that judders through my entire body.Midnight clutches him to her chest and rocks, pleading with the gods to help.
But she’s met with silence.
“The gods have forgotten us,” Architecti says.“He’s gone.”
“No!”Midnight shouts and hums his name quietly over and over again.He continues to lie unnaturally still.
It’s only when Lex squeezes her shoulder that she stops.Lex lifts her hand and points to where Alistair is sealing the final tear.
Two shades walk hand in hand.
Bastien and Calyx.A brother and a sister, reunited, at last.
And it’s that knowledge that cuts me in two all over again.
Forty years, I’ve lived on campus, and the things I didn’t know include the fact that gargoyles are surprisingly hard to kill.
The following morning, House Inferos had repaired its crumbled door, and much to Midnight’s surprise, Vetch was sat looking rather cleaner and brighter than before.Apparently, under extreme circumstances, they can door jump.Finis’s magic dissolves them and reconstitutes them on the nearest available door.
“Morning, Vetch,” I say as Midnight and I leave House Inferos.
He grumbles indecipherable syllables and Midnight rolls her eyes.
“Still annoying, then,” she says.
Vetch growls at her, spitting stone dust at her back.
We make our way to the medical ward.I was only allowed back to my own bed last night because when they tried to force me to the ward, my runes lit up like sparklers.I promised to go for a full workup in the morning.
And here we are.
My body is strange.Too heavy and too dark.There is more of me, and I am certain Interitus left something behind.A piece of her.
There are urges that weren’t there yesterday.A need to break.To destroy.
I rub a hand over my face to rid myself of the odd thoughts.
“You okay?”Midnight asks as we enter the wardroom Lex stayed in.The doctors gave her a sedative in the end last night because she couldn’t stop crying.
“Yeah… It sounds weird but I think there’s a piece of Interitus inside me as well as Architecti.”
Midnight raises an eyebrow but there’s no time to talk.Several people pile into Lex’s room as we arrive.It’s loud, dozens of voices mumble, none of them discernible.
Mortem is nestled next to Lex’s belly, snoring softly.Lex peels her eyes open, they’re red raw.Neither Midnight nor I are faring much better.Even Mortem looks dishevelled.
Lex digs her hands into Mortem’s fur.He’s more solid than normal and her hands actually run through his coat.He nestles closer into her.
