Page 128 of The Rebel and the Rose
Caruso snapped her neck. Her body crumpled in a heap, the lantern cracking as it rolled away, extinguishing the last of the oil. Mother Madeline stared up at them with blank, unseeing eyes, still clutching the key.
Ransom sighed. ‘That’s one way of doing it.’
‘Don’t act like you weren’t fantasizing about it.’ Caruso leaned down and yanked the key from around her neck, pocketing it without so much as a second glance. ‘Let’s go and spring your sister.’
Leaving Mother Madeline where she had fallen, they returned to the prayer tower, eager to be free of the Isle of Alisa. Tonight, they would save the saint they had come to kill.
And tomorrow, Ransom would kill the one who had commanded it.
And he would do so with deep, abiding pleasure.
For Anouk, and for Seraphine.
For himself.
And the knife edge on which the future of this kingdom now rested.
Chapter 32Seraphine
Back at their suite at the Paramour Inn, Sera locked the door behind them and went to the window. Outside, the town had come alive again, only now that she was looking more closely at it, she could see the people here weren’t quite… right. They milled about in a daze, some stopping in the street to stare at nothing, while others scrubbed their streaming eyes, unsure of why they were crying. Even the dogs were disquieted, skulking like rats in the lanes or whimpering at their masters’ feet. The red mills loomed over it all, like a row of menacing guardians, while the prince’s mercenaries stood on street corners, armed with stolen weapons and those unnerving blank-eyed stares.
It was all a show. A farce. A changing portrait of lies. Lastnight had been a grand spectacle, put on for her benefit. And she had fallen for it, hook, line and sinker.
Cursing her own naivety, Sera laid her head against the window pane. ‘This is all my fault.’ Why hadn’t she paid closer attention in the Rose Garden last night? Why hadn’t she looked beyond the silver-tongued prince and examined the trappings of his lair, the revellers that he made twirl for him over and over again?
Absently, she fingered the skull ring in her pocket, wishing she could make Ransom appear. Why didn’t she listen to him?
Because you are an idealistic fool, Seraphine Marchant.
She had pinned her loyalty to a corrupt saint and lost her strongest ally in the process. Her Dagger. Her protector. Her heart.
Thanks to the prince’s compulsion, they would have to return to the red mills tonight, and Sera would either scour another brain-addled follower right down to the bone or make a saint for the prince to control at his own leisure. Another weapon for his arsenal. Another puppet for his rebellion.
‘I’m sorry it’s come to this.’ Feeling feverish with panic, she turned from the window and began to pace. ‘I’m so sorry. I’m so—’
‘Sera.’ Suddenly, Theo was beside her, his hand heavy on her shoulder. She turned and his turquoise eyes were less than a foot from her face. ‘Slow down. You’re going to ruin this nice carpet, and we can’t afford to fall out of favour with the innkeeper right now. We need him to arrange a getaway carriage for us.’
She stepped back. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘It didn’t work.’ Falling onto the bed, Val flung her arms out like she was making a snow angel. ‘Andreas’s stupid little compulsion has no effect on us.’
Sera stood over her. ‘How do you know?’
‘Because I have no intention of going back to that shithole tonight,’ said Val, blowing a curl out of her eye. ‘And because of this.’ Reaching under the collar of her shirt, she pulled out her necklace, revealing the precious bead of Lightfire they wore whenever they had to travel beyond Halbracht.
The Lightfire was meant to provide protection against Shade. Sera had never imagined it might shield her friends from something even more insidious; the poisoned-honeyed words of Prince Andreas Mondragon Rayere.
Theo pulled out his own then, the bead dangling from a loop of dark blue twine. ‘I was hoping it might work, but I couldn’t be sure… Not until he tried to compel us.’
‘When he turned those creepy golden eyes on us, and spoke in that awful cloying voice, I swear I felt this strange shadow worm into my head,’ said Val, sitting up now. ‘I felt it trying to latch on to my mind, but it couldn’t find the way in.’ She clutched her necklace, kissing her fist. ‘When the bead warmed under my shirt, I knew that must be why.’
A hysterical laugh burst out of Sera. ‘So you lied?’ she said, looking between them. ‘You both looked him in the eye and lied?’
Val shrugged. ‘Easy, really. I was a Cloak, remember? I’ve been double-crossing people my whole life.’
Theo grinned. ‘Of course the arrogant fool fell for it.’
This time, when Sera resumed pacing, it was in pursuit ofa plan. ‘We need to get out of here before Andreas figures out what happened. He won’t make the same mistake twice.’
