Broken Veil (Harbinger #5)(50)

Your will be done, she said, closing her eyes, holding the small patch of moss to the wound.

She felt the Everoot’s magic fill the air, its song thrilling and lovely beyond description. The wound closed over, and she could see color rise to her almost-brother’s chalky brow.

Stephen sat up, as others were beginning to do. He touched his forehead and looked surprised to see his fingers weren’t stained with crimson.

He looked at Cettie and smiled weakly.

“You saved us,” he whispered.





The intruder arrived after midnight. The hospital admits serious injuries at all hours, so this was not a surprise. That he ended up in my office, holding a pistol to my face, stunned me. He was a rough man, a man with scars riddling his cheeks and upper lip. His eyes were filled with a fervor that bordered on madness. I stared into those eyes, trying my best to keep calm, and it struck me that I’d seen them before. Had I passed this man on the streets? Had someone he loved died in my care? Why would he want revenge on me?

I asked him what he wanted. He said he’d come to kill me, to put a bullet in my brain. I told him, calmly as I could, that a bullet wouldn’t kill me. That he should put the weapon down. Smirking, he told me that his bullet would. He knew I was a maston, and he’d killed many of us. I realized then that this was no ordinary drunkard or poppy slave of the Fells. He knew of the Mysteries. And that meant that his pistol, likely from the other world, would indeed kill me.

I asked him why he wanted me to die. That was the last question I asked, for then I held my breath. The Leerings in my chamber, connected to the estate of Fog Willows, were already at work, bringing in purer air from the clouds. I reversed the Leering, sending the air in the room away.

All the while those eyes stared at me. He was going to kill me. He would relish it. He said he was killing me because of Cettie. That she had sent him to murder me. How did that make me feel, he wondered, to know that she had sunk so low? I did not respond. I was holding my breath.

Until he collapsed on the floor, unconscious.

—Adam Creigh, Killingworth Hospital





SERA





CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

THE FELLS



A knock sounded on the door. Sera strained against the ropes securing her wrists and ankles, but the gag stuffed in her mouth prevented her from screaming. Through the crack in the door of the closet where she’d been imprisoned, she could see Joanna, still in her nightdress, standing by the door. Lady Corinne nodded to her once and then vanished without a trace, wrapped in magic.

Joanna undid several buttons on her nightdress, mussed up her hair, and then opened the door with a feigned lethargy.

“Yes?” she mumbled and then stiffened in feigned surprise.

“P-pardon, miss. I mean, I beg your pardon, Miss Patchett.”

“Who are you?” Joanna asked, stifling a yawn. She stood in the doorway, blocking the view of the darkened interior. There was enough light streaming in from the hallway for Sera to see Joanna’s face, but not that of the man she was talking to.

“I didn’t know you were here . . . I mean, I’m terribly sorry. I have orders, miss, to search every room. I’ve been down all the rooms on this side. This was the last one. I’m sorry, miss, but I need to search it.”

“You need to search my room?” Joanna said. If Sera had not known better, she would have believed the girl was truly confused. “You have a dragoon’s jacket.”

“Yes, miss. I-I am a dragoon.”

“What’s your name?” Joanna asked, inclining her neck. She flicked some hair off her shoulder. Sera bit into the gag, trying to grunt—anything that would reveal herself.

“My name is Baird, if you please. It’s my duty, miss. I must inspect every room, every closet.”

A throb of fear welled in Sera’s heart. Though she wished more than anything to be freed, she knew this young man would have no hope of rescuing her. Lady Corinne would kill him—if the girl posing as Joanna did not do so first. His life meant nothing to them. Sera wrestled against her bonds, but they’d tied her up securely.

Why was Gimmerton Sough being searched? Had a servant gotten word to the Ministry of War?

Go away, Sera thought to the dragoon, willing him to hear her. Forsake your duty this once. You cannot save me. You will die if you come into this room. There are two of them. You will die. Go. Please go!

“If you must, Mr. Baird,” the girl posing as Joanna said, opening the door wide, letting more light spill into the dark room. “Do you have a rank? My brother was a dragoon, you know.” Her voice had a sultry quality to it now.

Sera watched as the young officer took a step forward. She saw the shine of the polish on his black boots. His blue dragoon jacket. He had fiery red hair and a look of worry on his flushed cheeks. As well he should.

Please go. Please go! Sera willed, gazing at him through the crack. Go!

He hesitated on the threshold, his head cocked sideways.

Joanna stood at the edge of the door. Although Lady Corinne was invisible, Sera imagined she was poised nearby with a dagger, ready to pounce on the young man as soon as he entered the darkened chamber. Sera’s insides writhed with worry. She stared at the soldier’s innocent face. This was a young recruit, hardly a man at all. So many had already died in the war, the soldiers were getting younger and younger. He’d probably just passed the Test at one of the abbeys of the realm.