Page 166 of The Cerulean Sister
More of the enemies have made their way here, trying to breach the temple, to gain access and destroy the stones.
"Stay between Selene and me," I whisper to Leema.
It stings to say the words, to draw a line.
Selene is an outsider here, but she is safer in this moment. I know she will have no bias in protecting my sister over all else, and I can't chance it, no matter how much I care for Thea.
99 sends me calm instructions to stay close to the walls as the Viathans fire their weapons.
We inch closer to the temple, where the walls curve just enough to block us from any crossfire.
Thea is at the doors when I turn back, unbinding the latch that served as a poor excuse for a lock. One that could easily be broken by any blunt force.
"I want to help!" she yells over the crescendo of violence. "I will not make it across the Estate to the school and it will cease to matter if the ward is down!"
I nod and tuck in close to her as she works the door mechanism. "99!"
I wait for his attention, and when he sees us at the archway of the temple, he begins to step backward, instructing the other Viathans who came with us, to fall in some sort of synchronized, deadly formation.
The moment Thea gets the doors open, I pull Leema through.
Selene falls into a pew, and the few Viathans enter with 99 at the back.
They turn and slam the giant door, sealing off the attack on the other side.
The others will have to protect this temple from the outside. In here, nothing matters but getting the wards back up. FirstSon’s followers will keep coming and eventually the shadow figures will make their way in.
The Viathans start to stack pews in front of the entrance, barricading us in.
Gasps and screams come from the front of the temple, where some have taken refuge inside, perhaps thinking we are the enemy breaking in.
The women in the pews are all in white, clearly from the Temple of Divine Mothers, only those from the temple who are not divine have been left here for protection.
The elder with them stands from her prayer position and glares at us.
"What is the meaning of this! How dare you break the seal on the temple!" she admonishes but is ignored.
"The prayer books were kept under that podium during my time here," Selene says, walking us up the middle aisle.
She points to the dark wooden structure used for speakers who need balance or to review a ritual book during service.
99 aims the blunt end of his gun and slams it into the hollow, boxy base, splintering it on impact.
The women scream as he continues to bang into the wood until a large hole appears for Selene to reach inside.
"Leema." I turn to make sure she is still next to me. "Will you take the divine mothers into the back rooms? It will be safer."
"Yes," she says nervously.
"Barricade yourselves in." I squeeze her shoulder.
The elder priestess leaves her post from the pregnant women to shout at Selene as she reaches inside the gutted podium.
I watch as Leema tries to calmly tell the women to come with her, but they look too afraid to move from the pews they occupy. "Please, it will be safer. Ferren is my sister. If she says she will keep us safe, she means it. We can trust her."
Leema looks to me, smiling flatly as the women stand and make their way to the back.
Her words would break me if I had time to fully take them in and wasn't plagued by such surging urgency to place this ward.
