Page 89 of The Rebel and the Rose
She was standing underneath the statue of a weeping angel. Sera hesitated on the threshold to the graveyard, not wanting to disturb her. Or draw her ire. Again. But curiosity soon got the better of her. She slipped inside, announcing herself with a timid, ‘Hi.’
Nadia turned, lightning fast. Her slender brows knitted. ‘Has something happened?’ she said, urgently. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘What? Nothing,’ said Sera quickly. ‘I was just walking this way. And I spotted you.’
‘Oh. Right.’
There was beat of heavy silence.
‘What are you doing out here? I thought you were with Ransom and Caruso.’
‘I was. We went up to the mills and I spotted the graveyard from there. I wanted to check if any of the graves had been disturbed.’ She tightened the belt on her coat, pulling her arms around herself. ‘I just had this… strangefeeling.’
Sera could relate. Lately, it seemed like her entire life was a collection of strange feelings, nudging her into dangerous situations. She looked around, scanning the graves. Everything appeared normal to her, but Nadia’s words had set her on edge. Her magic, too. The hairs on the back of her neck rose as it flickered to life inside her. That crack in the door slowly widening, like someone was peeking out.
‘What areyoudoing out here?’ said Nadia.
‘I don’t know,’ Sera confessed. ‘I was looking for you three and I sort of ended up here.’
But why?she wondered now. There were ten different directions she could have chosen. Wasn’t it strange that they would both find themselves here?
Nadia didn’t seem to notice, or care particularly. ‘They’re still tracking the prince. According to the locals, Andreas holds court in the evenings. Ransom says you’re keen to speak to him before we off him…’
Sera shrugged, feigning a casualness she did not feel about the entire affair. ‘I think a target this vital to the fate of the kingdom should at least be given a chance to explain himself.’
‘Afraid killing a saint might finally taint that squeaky clean soul of yours?’
Sera glanced sidelong at her. ‘Aren’tyouafraid? To kill for the king is one thing, but to knowingly unthread the strands of fate is another… There are greater enemies than the Crown, you know.’
‘Tell that to your friend Bibi.’
‘I’ll get her out,’ said Sera, defiantly.
‘Meet your precious saint, then. Kiss his feet if you like. I have nothing to lose either way.’ Nadia looked away, but not fast enough to hide the shadow behind her eyes. ‘I’ve already lost.’
Lark.
His life, and then his body.
The spectre of him seemed to crowd the space between them.
Feeling a sudden chill in the wind, Sera turned, her gaze lingering on the trees to their left. The branches there were swaying, as if to wave them off. She didn’t know what possessed her, why a part of her wanted to dwell in this uncomfortable moment with the Dagger who had made no secret of her hostility towards her, but she didn’t feel right leaving her on her own either, so she said, ‘Should we… Do you want to walk a bit?’
Nadia’s brows lifted. ‘And what, try not to kill each other?’
‘Novel concept, I know. I’m game, if you are.’
Was that a smile on Nadia Raine’s face? It occurred to Sera that she really was beautiful. In certain circumstances, that smile would probably be just as deadly as the Shade she carried in her pockets.
They fell into step, ambling through the graveyard like a pair of old friends, and not two people who had brawled in the Appoline barely a few days ago.
‘I believe you, you know, about Lark’s body,’ Nadia said after a minute or so. ‘Ransom told me about the Necromancer. He thinks it’s another rogue saint.’
Sera was surprised at the flutter of relief in her stomach. ‘Good.’
It was something, at least. Not a bridge, but perhaps the first stone.
‘It doesn’t mean it’s not difficult for me. To be here on this journey. With you.’
