Page 152 of The Cerulean Sister
"Only half of her temple is here." My eyes dart around wildly, still searching.
"Oh, I did hear that one of the mothers was going into labor early from all the stress, an awful thing," she says and realizes just how concerning that sounds.
"Is it Leema?"
"Some of them must have stayed behind to help. Maybe she . . . Are you alright?"
I search her face, the confusion and concern written there. I hold her forearms, trembling so violently I could fall over if she tells me anything else.
Without thinking, I run into the entrance of the temple as the Estate guards begin to shut the doors, holding out a hand for them to pause.
My eyes dance around the temple, not for Leema this time but for Crixa.
The air is stolen from my body when an elder priestess takes Crixa’s place to start the service.
Crixa is not in attendance.
My sister is missing.
I know without a doubt they are both in the Temple of Divine Mothers.
Chapter
Forty
“Ferren, wait!" Thea's voice calls after me as I start walking in the direction of the Temple of Divine Mothers.
"Go back to the service, Thea."
"Where are you going?" She reaches out to grab my arm.
I barely pause to lift the skirts of my gown in a messy wad to push myself faster, to run unencumbered. I cannot think or focus on anything other than getting to my sister.
There is no time to stop and explain. Thea would never believe me. She is bound to this place. Like her mother and her mother’s mother before her, she belongs. Convincing her of anything other than what she believes would cause such a dissonance, I don’t think she would be able to hold herself together.
"Everything is ok. I just want to check on Leema." I make my expression as calm as possible.
She has no idea that I know for certain Crixa is in the Temple of Divine Mothers and that if my sister is the woman in labor, Crixa will kill her today.
Thea nods, giving me the same look she did in the temple the day I left for Viathan—a cross between suspicion and not quite heartbreak, more complicated than that, like she wants me to just follow the rules so badly that she feels betrayed when I don't.
I turn away from her expression, one that reminds me that, to this place, I am broken and fractured, but I have never been more clear.
I do not belong here. I am not lost.
I know what they do here under the guise of faith and greater good and I will fight until the very last moment to make sure my sister does not fall victim to their twisted rituals.
Viathan commanders tense as I run by them, taking on defensive postures for just a moment and then relaxing when they see I am no threat to them, only frantically running by for an unknown reason.
"99!"I practically scream into our tether.
I can feel his panic matching mine the moment he opens to me, as if he stands straight up and starts running as well.
"Ferren?"
"Leema was not at the death ritual. She is still in the Temple of Divine Mothers."
"Tell me where you are."
