Page 57 of The Light Within

But instead, he only saw concern on Cinn’s face.

“Well, you’re awake now, so I guess you should go see the paramedics,” said Darcy, still clutching the bandages, sounding put out by the whole thing. “Probably sooner rather than later. Though they’re pretty swamped.”

“Give us one more minute.” Cinn reached for the bandages, but Darcy crouched in the puddle to press a bundle of them to his leg, tossing some to Elliot for Julien.

Julien hissed in pain when Elliot compressed his wad of fabric against the torn, bloodied material on his thigh, quickly taking it from him to do it himself.

“What happened then?” asked Elliot. “The umbraphage disappeared and you two fell to the ground.”

Julien shuffled, sitting himself up higher. “Well,” he started, before launching into the tale.

Elliot only interrupted when they reached a name he didn’t recognise. “Father Gérard? Who’s that?”

Julien tipped his head back and sighed. “He’s the priest of the church my mother frequented, in the village outside Paris where she grew up.”

Darcy caught Elliot’s eye.

“Oui,” Julien snapped. “The church where…”

Elliot could see the sentence running through Julien’s head:The church where I killed her.

“The church where she died,” Elliot, supplied for him, tone firm.

Julien shook his head almost imperceptibly, lips pursing together. Elliot’s heart ached for him, and he was a fraction of a moment away from stepping towards him, stopping himself only when Cinn squeezed Julien’s shoulder, tilting his head in concern.

“Well, apparently Béatrice was dropping in for coffee with the priest, completely unbeknown to us!” Julien glared between Elliot and Darcy as if they were co-conspirators—projecting his own self-loathing. “Can you believe it?When?”

Elliot’s heart gave another painful squeeze. He could see right through Julien. How he wished Eleanor would miraculously tell him Béatrice’s file was all a misunderstanding. How much he wanted the sister he knew back, living on in his memories, untainted and pure.

Elliot gently fell to the ground to press Julien’s hand more firmly against the blood flow. The bandages were quickly soaking through. “I get it. No, I can’t believe it, and I’m hurt by it too. But look, you’re not in this alone. Let’s get through Christmas, then we’ll get to the bottom of it all.”

Elliot’s eyes were glued to where his hand was on top of Julien’s. His face warmed, his brain imagining Cinn glaring at him, despite the unlikeness of that. It was Elliot who’d been jealous of Cinn, initially. Cinn had been nothing but friendly. Elliot forced his head up. Cinn was indeed looking at them, but there was a soft smile on his face, warm andunderstanding, as if he saw through Elliot’s hesitation and felt no threat, only kindness.

Darcy let out a random, abrupt squeak, attracting everyone’s attention. “Okay, so don’t get cross, I was just about to get to this—”

She didn’t bother finishing her sentence.

A face Elliot didn’t expect to see was marching towards them.

Eleanor Sinclair.

True, upon reflection, it should have been obvious that she’d come to the crisis, even on Christmas Eve, which Julien mentioned she usually spent with her sister in Norway. She’d taken the Baths—her glasses were missing, and she wore the grey baggy clothes the service provided.

Julien started climbing unsteadily to his feet, with Cinn following close behind. Elliot reached out to grab Julien’s arm, hauling him up so Julien could continue pressing against his leg.

“Julien!” she said, by way of greeting. She eyed him expectantly, completely ignoring Elliot and the others. When Julien only stared back, she continued, “Darcy told me some insane tale about the three of you marching onto the bridge to play heroes.”

Elliot snorted before he could stop himself, then chuckled at Darcy’s wide-eyed look of horror.

“I’m sorry, are you joking? This is your response? Without even asking how we are? Without a thank you for the fact we chose to help, on behalf of Auri, when we easily could have run home to hide?” replied Julien.

“Do you have a death wish I should be aware of? You are not invincible, Julien Montaigne!”

Ignoring her, Julien continued, sweetening his tone to say, “Thank you so much for attempting to save innocent Londoners, Julien, Elliot, and Cinn. On behalf of the consortium, let me extend our most gracious thanks for your valiant efforts. It was truly noble of you to risk your lives, and we will now forever be in your debt.”

Pure fury flashed on Eleanor’s face, her lips curling into a sneer as she opened her mouth to retort.

“Non!” shouted Julien, startling Darcy, who flinched. “I’m not going to stand here for one more second and listen—”

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