Chapter 19 #2
I shook my head, heat rising to my cheeks. “I have no idea what you’re going on about. You must have me confused with someone else.”
He took a step towards me. “Ah, you’re so right. There must be another annoying, petulant man-child, too used to getting his way around here. How could I be so blind?”
I responded in kind, drawing so close our noses were almost touching. “That’s right. Be sure it doesn’t happen again, or else I may have to take action.”
I wasn’t expecting him to be the one to close the distance, his lips crashing into mine with such ferocity that I wondered if I had daydreamed the entire moment.
Real or not, I wrapped my arms around Bastien, pulling him tight against me as the door across the room slammed open, a crowd of bodies filling the lab.
“Where are they?” demanded a familiar voice.
I pulled away from Bastien, keeping my hands firmly planted on his hips as I spotted Wilhelm, breaking through the line of Reviled guards.
“Sorry, Wilhelm dear, I’m afraid that we were having a bit of a moment here. Can you return later? How long do you think, Bastien? Fifteen minutes?”
Her eyes flashed an acidic green as she scowled.
“Tobias and Lynette. Where did they go?”
I looked back at Bastien, still clutched in my arms. “Bast, do you know someone by that name? I’m drawing a blank.”
Bastien rolled his eyes, pushing me away with a tempered shove.
“Why the show of force, Wilhelm? Isn’t this all a bit much?”
“It was our agreement that you were only to wake Tobias. Lynette Greene was to remain incapacitated, so as not to send the entire Council of Magi crawling down our throats. You’ve placed all of Paradise at risk!”
“The Council won’t even know she’s awake,” I argued. “They’ve enough on their plate with their precious Second Awakening going tits-up.”
“You can’t guarantee that.”
“I can, actually, seeing as I just inherited Sancha’s seat.”
Wilhelm blanched at that, taking a step back in surprise.
“What?”
“Saint Sancha is dead,” I explained, exhaling to keep my own emotions in check. “A result of the Umbral’s destruction of the Cradle back in the Magi City. I am the next in line to the Church’s head seat on the Council. So, you have my word that they will not come here.”
“The gods watch over her,” Wilhelm muttered, bowing her head for the briefest of moments. “Be that as it may, none of this absolves you of your actions, Bastien. Now, I must ask that you turn over the Greenes to me at once, and perhaps we can work out a mutually beneficial arrangement.”
“Tobias and his sister are not tokens for us to trade,” Bastien replied, hands clenched at his side. “And I am master over neither. I cannot give you what you ask, Wilhelm.”
“Think very carefully about your next actions, Seeker,” the woman replied, a threatening undercurrent coloring the warning. “We have opened our doors to you. Shared the knowledge of those who came before. Given you a purpose.”
Bastien huffed a laugh, tugging at the cuffs of his shirt. “You opened your doors, yes. And for that I am grateful. But do not assume for a moment that my life lacked purpose. There is purpose in all things, not just those you deem worthy.”
“You disappoint me, Seeker.”
“I would say the same of you.”
“Wilhelm,” I interjected, stepping between the two Reviled before tensions could reach a boiling point.
“As acting leader of the Church of the Source, I am formally requesting that you allow Bastien and our associates to leave Paradise in peace.
This gesture will show good faith and allow us to open a dialogue regarding mending the wounds of the past between our peoples.
“What do you say?”
Wilhelm’s piercing gaze shifted from Bastien to me, and for the briefest moment, a shadow flickered behind her golden eyes. The Source’s warmth in my chest cooled at that, sending a shiver down my spine.
“Leave in peace?” Wilhelm repeated, stepping closer to the two of us.
Her entire demeanor had shifted as if a switch had flipped.
Her movements no longer short, authoritative bursts, but a fluid grace that demanded my attention.
“Tell me, Lightbringer, after all that the Revered have done in your perverted name, do you think they deserve grace?”
Lightbringer? How did Wilhelm know of the Source’s name?
“Wilhelm?” Bastien took a step toward her, but the line of guards drew their glittering blades, halting him in his tracks.
“Are you in there, Light? The stench of your righteousness lingers on the boy’s skin. Won’t you come out and face me? It’s been too long since we’ve had a chance to speak plainly.”
Shit. Things had just gone from bad to catastrophic.
“You’re not Wilhelm,” I concluded, grabbing onto Bastien’s elbow and pulling him away from the imposter. “Which of the Enduring do we speak with?”
A flash of amusement struck the imposter’s golden eyes. “You’ve been speaking with my siblings, it would seem. What a clever thing you are, Cirian Findlay.”
“What is happening?” Bastien hissed in my ear.
I shook my head, refusing to take my gaze off the thing that wore Wilhelm’s flesh. Reaching for Bastien’s hand, the faint tether that lingered between us solidified, and I passed a message down the line.
“You need to be ready to run when I give the word.”
A squeeze of my hand was his reply.
The Enduring paused their amused pacing, their eyes going wide as they stared at the tether between Bastien and me.
Could they see it, too?
“Ah, I see now how you were able to survive your encounter with Decay. That primitive magic will not save you from what’s coming, Cirian. The Veil has already thinned. Humanity has exhausted its stay. The Second Awakening has called us here to usher their departure—”
“I have to stop you right there,” I raised my voice over their ramblings.
Still holding onto Bastien, I shifted our position, maneuvering him closer to the countertop where the compendium lay hidden.
“You’ve ignored my previous question, and I’m afraid that we really can’t continue this conversation without knowing just who it is that we’re addressing.
“I’ll ask it again to make sure there’s no confusion. Which of the Enduring do we have the pleasure of speaking with?”
The darkness behind Wilhelm’s eyes flashed once more, growing till it swallowed the golden irises and poured over their eyelids, dripping black ichor down their coat.
“Do you truly wish to meet me, face-to-face?”
Their voice had twisted, pitched down with distortion that made the hair on my neck stand up.
The heat in my chest flared once more, a small voice sounding in my mind.
“My sibling, Vengeance.”
Vengeance. No wonder it had taken hold of the leader of the Reviled. Who across the Expanse had a greater need for retribution? They would easily find their fill.
“What an unfortunate choice you’ve made, Lightbringer.
” Wilhelm’s voice was almost entirely swallowed by the mire, that ichor still seeping from the space around their void-like eyes.
“I do not share Decay’s disdain for you, yet this human’s need for vengeance is too great to ignore.
It called to me from behind the Veil, sweet like nectar.
She welcomed me in with little fuss, once I promised her the retribution she sought. ”
That certainly didn’t sound like they were going to let us leave.
I was in no position to hold my own against another of the Enduring.
Our tussle under the Cradle, as well as Tobias’s resurrection, had left me completely tapped.
Bastien would be in the same position. Our only option was to run.
And even that seemed a long shot if we couldn’t escape Paradise.
The entire force of the Paradisian guard was at Wilhelm’s disposal, and from what Amelia told us, they were already watching the city exits.
Once again, we were rightly fucked. Yet, beautiful Bastien wasn’t going down willingly.
“Follow my lead,” his voice drifted down the tether.
Breaking away from my grasp, Bastien stepped in front of me, facing the Enduring down with zero fear. “Vengeance won’t bring back what we’ve lost, Wilhelm. You know this. Why would you let this creature convince you otherwise?”
Vengeance turned its featureless face of ichor toward Bastien.
“Your words fall on deaf ears, Seeker. But I assure you, this hate in her heart does not originate beyond the Veil. She holds it close. Cherishes it in the dark, when no one is watching. She wishes nothing more than to give in to that need for equilibrium. To inflict pain on those who have caused so much suffering.”
“I don’t believe you,” Bastien argued, his voice rising. “I’ve seen the way your kind operate. Felt the squirm of you inside my head. You twist that which is true, warp it until it supports your wants.”
“Try as you might, human, your mind cannot possibly comprehend the infinite.”
“I don’t think you’re really all that complex of creatures,” I chimed in. “Yeah, yeah, you want to take over our world and kick off some kind of mass-level extinction of humans, but can’t you do that without leaking all over the place? Always with the oozing.”
A rumbling growl emanated from Vengeance, but Bastien was faster.
“Shut your mouth, Cirian. As always, your crass nature shows your lack of decorum,” Bastien interjected, turning to scold me with a certain amusement in his eyes.
“I’ve simply reached my limits on your vulgarity.
Perhaps I should reconsider my stance against the Hallowed, and the pain they’ve wreaked upon my people. ”
Ah, so that was his game. Get the Enduring to think they’re on the same side. Clever, Bast.
“Come now, Bastien. Surely you cannot expect me to hold myself accountable for the actions of my ancestors? Truly, it wasn’t that hard for the Reviled. Look at this beautiful community, they were only able to build because they were chased from the Church under the threat of execution.”
Vengeance watched us, remaining silent as we continued the hyperbolic argument.