Page 5 of The Dragon and the Dove

‘Define fine,’ said Val. ‘Your Saint of Nightmares is currently making an army of giant tarantulas.’

Indeed, the bloodhounds had dissipated. Ransom stood with his back to them now, conjuring up more unsightly shadow beasts. New creations, woven from the seams of his darkest imaginings. Sera recognized it as a distraction from his own anxiety. Though the giant spiders crawling across the ceiling didn’t do hers any good.

Closing her eyes once more, she reached for calm, sinking down, down, down into the weight of her own body. Away from the world around her, the domed walls and leering skulls, the skittering shadows and the icy prickle of her own fear.

Theo went quiet, mirroring the rhythm of her breath.

Magic sparked in Sera’s fingertips, that ancient divine power erupting through her. She slid her hand across Theo’s chest and laid it over his heart.

He shivered at her touch.

‘Sorry,’ she murmured. ‘Cold hands.’

She could practically feel Ransom stiffen.

‘Take a walk, brother,’ Anouk hissed.

‘I’m fine right here.’

Sera tunnelled inwards, reaching towards the glowing waters of her soul. Where once that unknowable power had been locked in the well of her own fear, now it was easy to find. Magic pooled before her.

Maker, it purred. It is time.

She reached for a ripple.

Take him.

Make him.

Theo sighed, tension seeping from his body as magic flowed from her like a river, bridging the chasm between their souls.

There was no telling what kind of saint he would become after tonight, but she hoped her magic would strengthen his natural skills as an artificer, just as Ransom’s gift had bloomed from his experience as both assassin and artist.

Magic crashed through her like a wave, froth spilling from her soul into Theo’s. There was a rightness to it, an easing of the pressure that had been building inside her all week.

Her magic wanted this.

Destiny demanded this.

‘Look. Her hand is glowing.’ Anouk’s voice echoed from far away.

Sera’s head began to spin.

‘Why is she swaying?’ asked Val.

Blackness crept in.

‘Something’s wrong.’ A note of worry in Ransom’s voice.

Bootsteps drew closer.

‘Leave her, Bastian.’ Anouk’s voice again. ‘It’s almost done.’

‘Anouk, move.’

‘No.’ A growl then, her hackles rising. ‘It’s too dangerous to come between them now.’

Anouk was right. The wave inside Sera was still thrashing. It was all she could do to hold on to Theo, to keep her hand pressed against his skin.