Chapter 34
Mildred
Iglide into the room, veiled in quiet invisibility as I observe the congregation settling into their pews.
They move as though caught in a trance, and I feel it at once…
a deeper and darker magic is stirring. I search the room until my eyes meet Archer’s, though he looks straight through me.
He stands at Priest Brown’s side, not seated among the pews where I expected him. Something has changed.
Panic seizes me at once, flowing through my limbs as I search for the difference, and then I see it. A figure slumped in the chair with a bag drawn over their head. There is no need to glance. I feel it in my bones; it is Grace beneath the covering.
My blood turns to ice, panic utterly gripping me. I lack the strength to lift her through these walls once more. I cannot, oh God, I cannot save her.
I dart forward and lay my hand upon her, and immediately she relaxes, as though my touch has rid her of the fear.
She places so much faith in me, yet I have none to offer myself. Should she be taken, I shall follow her, by whatever means fate allows.