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Crane’s face is going red with restraint. I can tell he’s trying to hold himself back so he doesn’t interrupt Sister Sophie and tell her that he already knows everything she’s talking about.
“And you must bring someone to the brink of death,” she adds. “The one you have chosen as a vessel.”
Crane’s face goes slack. “Brink of death?”
Brink of death, and I’m the vessel.
She nods and looks at me. “It will be you, Katrina, I’m sure. You won’t die, of course. That would be counteractive. But by going to the edge of death and back, you are flirting with the veil. You are drawing power not just from your men, but directly from the veil itself. You are bringing that light at the end of the tunnel directly to you.”
She clears her throat and raises her chin. “Now, I’m not one to advise how one’s sexual activities must commence. But if I were you, I think strangulation would be your best option. Of course, you have to know what you’re doing.” She looks at Crane as she says that. “And you, of course, do. Your talent for control might come very much in handy.”
Suddenly, movement outside the windows catches Sophie’s attention, and she moves to them.
“The other Sisters are out there now,” she says, looking outside. “Soon they will wonder where I am. I must go.”
“Wait,” I say, reaching out and putting my hand on her arm. “What are we supposed to do until the ritual?”
“Lay low,” she says, looking each of us in the eyes. “Stay out of trouble. Hide away when you can. They will continue to plan your binding ritual—”
“What binding ritual?” Crane interjects, anger flaring in his eyes again.
“The one between Abraham and Katrina,” she says patiently. “They know by now that these two aren’t falling for each other, not in the way they want. And they know you’ve inserted yourself into the picture, Mr. Crane, further complicating things. On Samhain, they plan to drug Katrina and use the horseman to take over Abraham fully. I don’t need to tell you what will happen next.”
A sickly feeling spreads across my stomach as I eye Brom briefly. Thankfully he looks as appalled as I do.
“And after the child is born, well Katrina, you’ll be joining our dear Abraham in death. Which is why your ritual is so important,” she says. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I am sure this is the last time I’ll get to talk to you three.” Her jaw flexes and the smallest hint of emotion comes into her strange, ancient eyes. “Please, just complete the ritual and expel the horseman. I will do what I can on my end to protect you and help in the matter, but I’m afraid it might not be enough. The power of one is nothing compared to the power of three.”
Then she turns and walks toward the doors, her cloak flowing behind her.
“Sister Sophie!” I cry out, and she pauses and turns, her hand on the knob. “We went into the basement, under the faculty dorm. What happens in the basement?”
She gives me a sour smile. “It’s where we keep our most promising candidates.”
Then she opens the door and steps out into the morning.
I look at Brom and Crane, and both of them start to blur. “I think I’m going to faint,” I mumble.
They both come over and wrap their arms around me, Brom from behind, Crane from the front. I bury my head into Crane’s chest and let them hold me.
“We’ve got you,” Crane whispers against my head. “We won’t let anything happen to. You know we won’t.”
“We’ll die before that happens,” Brom says hoarsely, and I hate how much he sounds like he means it.
“I’m scared,” I mumble into Crane. “I’m so scared.”
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t too,” Crane admits. “But fear is just something else we have to live with right now. Just like jealousy, just like rage, it’s another figure in our lives that we’ll get used to. The best part about fear though? It keeps you alive.”
The three of us stand in the hall for a while, all of us trying to make sense over what Sophie told us, what we have to prepare for. We hold onto each other, seeking comfort, and the sound of three hearts beating is like a balm for all the fear.
Finally, we break apart and Crane grabs both of our hands. “We need to go out there,” he says. “I know Sophie said to stay low, but it would look odd if we, the nosiest people on campus, weren’t out there and gawking at a dead body.”
I nod. “Perhaps we should go into town after and raise the alarm with the new constable. Or try the police in Pleasantville again. Maybe even Tarrytown.”
“That sounds like an excellent plan,” Crane concedes, to my relief. “It’s possible if we can prove enough to have the school under suspicion, that maybe we can have the Sisters detained, or at least investigated. That will buy us some more time.”
