Jacen tapped his bandaged forearm. “The Church, the High Lord—they use them to track us.” Before Seth could express any further confusion, Jacen waved a hand at the shortening stretch of track above them. “Quickly.”
Jacen sat on the bench, inviting Seth to do the same, and motioned at his sheathed dagger. “Yours is still clean.”
Seth sighed. “You’re lucky I trust you implicitly.” He passed Jacen the dagger and rolled up his left sleeve. He leaned forward, bracing his exposed forearm on his knee.
As he pulled Seth’s thick, muscled forearm onto his thigh, Jacen felt as if he were about to cross a boundary. Seth’s pulse thrummed beneath his fingertips, steady and sure. Jacen ran his hands over sun-darkened brown skin and soft black hair, searching for the tiny consecration scar. He took a breath, then made the cut.
Seth sucked air between his teeth, muscles tensing. But he held still as Jacen worked, much more neatly than he had on himself, and extracted the squirming metal device. He held it up to the light, marveling despite himself at the intricacy.
Capabilities you’ve never dreamt of,Akkani had said.We cannot comprehend them.
Seth squinted at the tracker as he put pressure on his wound. “If I wasn’t curious before, I certainly am now.” He tugged his shirt out from under his armor, tore off a strip with his teeth, and used it to wrap his forearm. “Nines?—”
Something clattered to the ground.
Nines clutched her forearm, staring in revulsion at the device she’d just cut out. Jaw clenched, she picked it up and pitched it over the edge. She met Jacen’s eyes and nodded firmly.
The funicular creaked to a stop. Jacen tossed Seth’s device into the depths, and they disembarked together. The docking area had a muffled, clandestine quality to it, cut off from the rest of the Cathedral.
“There are three behind the door,” Nines whispered. “Cathedral guards.”
Seth rolled his shoulders and drew his sword. There was a glint in his eyes, an unmistakable air of purpose buzzing about him. He flipped his sword around in his grip and kicked the door open.
He seized the first guard by the neck and slammed him face-first against the wall. The other two charged. Seth shoved the dazed one, sending him toppling into his fellow. He stepped past both, wrenched a dagger from one man’s belt, and hurled it at the third. In the time it took for that one to fall, dagger buried to the hilt in his eye socket, Seth killed the other two.
More footsteps approached at a run.
At the same time, Jacen and Nines both said, “Stop.”
Seth lowered his sword. A grey-robed girl—a novitiate—staggered to a halt as she rounded the corner. Chest heaving, her dark hair disheveled, she appraised the carnage with eyes that had not yet begun to turn. She held out a hand, too late to stop three acolytes from running up behind her. Not one of them could have been older than six.
These children had not come to apprehend them. Rather, they were running. Must have heard the explosion and sensed the opportunity.
They all stared at each other. The acolytes huddled behind the novitiate, terrified. Then the girl said, “There are three Guardsmen down that hall on the left. A handful of lay priestsbarricaded themselves in the east-wing kitchen, but they won’t stop you.”
Seth stepped out of their way. Jacen did the same, then Nines, and the novitiate breathed a shaky sigh of relief. She raced away, taking the smallest of the acolytes by the hand. They ran as if the wind itself were at their heels.
They weren’t the first to attempt escape—though precious few ever succeeded. Nines knew that too. She had frozen, watching them run off.
When Jacen urged her to move, she said, “I sensed when the senior priests locked down all the entrances. The acolytes and novitiates don’t know about the secret passages. They’re stuck here. We can’t just leave them.”
“There’s no time,” Jacen said, firm but gentle. “Before this is all over, they’ll get their chance too. Butno onewill if we don’t hurry. Besides—if they’re not letting anyone in or out, I promise you the Cathedral is the safest place in Zivora.”
Nines reluctantly fell into step as Seth set them a renewed, brisk pace. They happened across a lay sister next, running by candlelight through an unlit passage. She took one look at Seth’s naked sword and got out of their way.
They reached the secret passage without further incident, but the relative quiet let all manner of psychic noise seep into Jacen’s head.Chaosdidn’t begin to cover it; whatever transpired outside was a waking nightmare. He sensed the crowd beyond the Cathedral doors, begging to be let in. The City Guard struggled to hold them back, a thousand frantic voices drowning out demands for order.
Jacen had to stop, hand against the palestone wall, trying to remember how to breathe.
Nines watched him closely. “Are you all right?”
“No,” Jacen said, more honest than might have been wise. “Are you?”
No response.
They watched as Seth produced a short silver cylinder and slotted it into a spot behind a column. A hidden door scrolled open to reveal a strangely sterile white corridor.
“Come on,” Seth said, waving them onward. “Before our luck runs out.”
