Page 43 of The Dagger and the Flame
‘We’re so sorry, Sera,’ said Bibi, between sniffs. ‘We thought you were right behind us, and then Val twisted her ankle and—and—’
‘We left you there as dog fodder,’ said Val, her face tight with regret. ‘We should have stayed. We should have fought—’
‘I’m glad you ran,’ said Sera, pulling back to look at both of them. ‘It was the smart decision.’
And more than that, she was relieved they hadn’t witnessed the Dagger leaping from the roof of Villa Roman, or what she had done to him after. They might think her a monster after the way she gutted him.
‘All home in one piece,’ said Theo, leaning against the doorframe. ‘Told you I’d rescue her.’
‘We watched you from the window, Branch,’ said Val flatly. ‘You never even made it out of the house.’
‘That’s how good I am at heroism.’
Sera rolled her eyes, but a watery smile tugged at her lips. Theo and Bibi helped Val back into the armchair, propping her swollen ankle on a pile of cushions.
Now that the adrenaline was finally leaving Sera’s body, anxiety was taking root. She clutched her necklace, wondering what the hell was inside it as she paced by the fireplace. She turned her gaze to the flames, thinking of all the times she had watched her mother tinkering with metals and powdersat her bench in the garden, long after the work day was done. If only she had bothered to take interest in them. Maybe then she would know about this magic in her necklace, and why it seemed to repel Daggers but attract monsters. Both beings of Shade.
‘Tell us how you got free of those hounds,’ said Val. ‘You must have sold your soul to Saint Oriel.’
‘I jumped,’ said Sera, offering the truth in its vaguest form for now. She wasn’t ready to tell them everything, at least not until she made sense of it herself. ‘I threw a chair through the window and leaped onto the balcony.’Then I stabbed a Dagger to death.She shook off the vision of his face from her mind, silenced the memory of the terror in his voice.
You’re not dead… How?
Sera wished she knew.
‘I climbed down the trellis and landed in a lilac bush.’ She picked a twig from her hair and tossed it into the fire. ‘I ran into a monster on my way home.’ A pause as the enormity of what had happened finally settled over her like a thundercloud. ‘Two, actually.’
Bibi and Val pitched forward in their seats. Theo stilled, his gaze falling to the teardrop at her throat. Sera hadn’t realized she was still clutching it. She hastily tucked it under the collar of her sweater. There would be time for that later, but not now, not here. She went on, describing the monsters as best she could, confirming the rumours that had been swirling around Fantome for weeks. Her friends listened in horrified silence and when she finished, the room was so quiet she could hear Madame Fontaine’s snores rattling from the floor above them.
‘Where on earth are the monsters coming from?’ pondered Bibi.
‘I don’t know,’ said Sera, and that was the worst of it. She suddenly felt like she didn’t know anything. About Fantome. About magic. About Mama.
Theo closed his eyes and scrubbed his hands through his hair, a skilled artificer trying to make sense of an abomination. But there was no sense to be found.
‘Are you going to tell Madame Mercure?’ said Val.
‘No need,’ came a voice from the doorway. Cordelia Mercure stepped into the room, wearing a black velvet robe and a thunderous expression. ‘I heard everything. Grave tidings indeed.’
‘Not all of it,’ said Val, plucking the Rizzano tiara from a side table and waving it back and forth. ‘At least we nailed the Heist.’
Mercure’s nostrils flared as she snatched it, but her interest in the tiara quickly faded. ‘We have far bigger matters to worry about now.’ Her brows knitted, casting ripples along her forehead. ‘I’m afraid I can see no way around it. I must speak with Gaspard Dufort and arrange a meeting of the Orders.’
Sera’s stomach twisted violently. And though her necklace was tucked safely under her sweater, she didn’t miss the way it flared at that name, sharing in the silent spike of her fear.
Part II
‘When the world is at its darkest, we must reach bravely through the shadows to find where the light blooms.’
Lucille Versini,
SAINT OF SCHOLARS
Chapter 15Ransom
Ransom stirred on and off until the early afternoon, when Lark and Nadia came banging on his bedroom door.
‘Oh, good. You’re still alive,’ said Lark, striding inside.
