Page 122 of The Dagger and the Flame
‘You did it!’ cried Sera, as the monsters closest to the tower slumped to the ground, their howls fading to blessed silence. She looked up just as Theo’s trough ignited, the explosion ofLightfire illuminating the violet underbelly of the storm and the triumphant glint of his smile.
‘You look like a saint!’ Sera shouted.
‘I feel like a saint!’ he crowed, as he turned to clamber back down. ‘Your turn!’
Sera didn’t hear the thunder as it snarled at her back, barely noticed the rain as she unscrewed her jars and filled the final trough with a flourish. The entire tower went up in Lightfire, the flames burning through the rain, twisting and rising to kiss those menacing clouds. It was a magnificent spectacle, a triumph of magic and ingenuity, and as Sera stood proudly atop the Aurore looking out over the glowing city of Fantome, she wished more than anything that Mama was here to see it.
In the rumble of the storm she heard her promise.When the time comes, you will rise far above this wicked city and become a flame in the dark. You will be the Aurore, Seraphine.
Had Mama always known it would come to this? Had Saint Oriel whispered it to her in a dream?
Sera looked down at her friends as they walked among the scattered rain-soaked bodies. They were monsters no longer. Poor, helpless souls now at peace. Her stomach twisted as she thought of the ransacked catacombs and all the bodies that lay strewn across those tunnels. Her father’s among them.
Had Mama seen that too? Was her own death the price of his demise?
Had she always known she would not be here to see this moment?
Sera’s eyes streamed as she tipped her head back to stareup at the glowing crown of the Aurore. She could not deny the beauty of the tower as she stood in its heart. This ancient monument to the lost Age of Saints burning with new magic.Good magic.Magic that would not go out. Light that would burn on and on, through every storm of darkness, through rain and shadow, through fear and despair and—
‘Wow, you’re really milking this, aren’t you?’
Sera looked down just as another fork of lightning skewered the sky. It illuminated the outline of a figure standing on the other end of the beam. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with a sweep of tousled hair that made her think of Ransom at first. But she knew that menacing voice.
Lark.
She stiffened as he came towards her, trailing his fingers over the writhing flames. ‘So Dufort was right. You really are trouble.’
A memory struck Sera like a fist. She had seen this same shadow once before, standing in a different fire. She had thought it was Ransom then too, and had later been told it was Dufort. But there was no mistaking the tilt of Lark’s shoulders, the easy swagger with which he walked.
‘You killed my mother,’ she breathed.
Lark only shrugged. ‘It was nothing personal.’
Sera was already swinging for him, striking his jaw with a crack to rival the lightning that followed.
Chapter 46Seraphine
Sera dodged Lark’s answering swing, leaping backwards along the stone beam. Her cloak was no good against a Dagger without Shade, but she could tell by the force of her punch that wearing it brought some benefits.
He turned to spit out a glob of blood. ‘You’re a lot stronger than I recall.’
‘And you’re a dead man walking,’ she hissed, searching for a weapon to use against him. But Mama’s monsters were gone, and her friends were down in the square, unable to see her plight through the wall of flames. Sera’s great spectacle had trapped her. ‘Who are you to measure the worth of every person who draws breath in this city?’
Lark glared at her. ‘If you want to be a moralistic bitch, then give back the Rizzano tiara.’
‘I hope Mama gave you hell,’ she spat.
‘Oh, she did,’ he said with a chuckle. ‘Cursed me in a hundred different ways. Cursed Dufort for not doing it himself. She swore she’d haunt him for it.’
Sera curled her lip. ‘He always was a coward.’
‘He wasn’t scared.’ Lark shook his head. ‘He was in love with her.’
Sera stared at him, her stomach lurching so violently, she nearly retched.
‘He went to that farmhouse of yours three times, you know. And three times, he turned back. In the end, he dragged me with him. Gave me a heap of coin to do it and then keep my mouth shut afterwards.’ Another devasting shrug. ‘If it helps, he couldn’t stomach killing you either.’
It didn’t help. It only made the roaring in her head worse. Sera was almost at the end of the beam now, and Lark was still prowling towards her. She had to shove him off, to keep her balance long enough to ruin his. Her mind reeled through all the manoeuvres Albert had taught her.
