Broken Veil (Harbinger #5)(81)

“She does not make, she destroys!” Sera said.

“Yes, she is like fire!” Jevin said, eyes gleaming. “Fire purges. Allows new life to be born from its ashes. Fire can be controlled, and so, too, can her power, once you understand the principles of how it burns.” He smirked. “And I understand it.”

“You’ll destroy the world,” Sera muttered.

“There are other worlds to visit,” he said slyly. “Other cankers to spread. The Knowing obeys the strongest wills.” He stood over her once more, glaring down at her. “Yours is no match for mine.”

Sera glared back at him. “We will see.”

“If the death of the sewer children doesn’t rack your conscience, what about the deaths of fellow believers? You know from your cursed tomes that Ereshkigal has power over fire. She’s burned Cruix Abbey before. How fitting that the empress’s heir should be here when it burns again!”

Sera closed her eyes.

“You will yield!” Jevin shouted at her. “Every student, every woman, every child, every servant, every tome will be destroyed unless you obey me! I will burn them all to ashes while you watch.” Smothering darkness emanated from his words as he yelled at her. She wanted to cower, to flinch, as the blackness attempted to subvert her will. “You think you are strong, Empress? You cannot stop me! The Mysteries and the Fountain are mine to command. What power do you have?” he asked, crouching before her. “Nothing! You have nothing. You are nothing!” She felt spittle strike her face.

You are my daughter.

She heard the words in her mind, felt the tender throb of the Mysteries.

Sera looked him in the eye. “I will not yield,” she whispered.

Jevin’s face contorted with rage. He grabbed Cettie and hauled her up. Her body was so ravaged by the poison she couldn’t stand. He held a dagger to her neck, his eyes wild and fierce. “I’ll shed her blood and make you drink it!”

Sera believed he would. She felt the vortex of pure evil inside him. But even though the dark energy raged around her, she felt the quiet stillness in her heart.

Sera bowed her head and closed her eyes, refusing to watch. Cettie was prepared to die. So was she.

“I will only release the Leering if the Mysteries command me to. Not you.”

“I am the Mysteries!” he bellowed at her. There was bitterness and misery in his voice. And anger unlike anything she’d experienced. The furnace door of his wrath was open now, and Sera could feel it. He would do as he said he would do. There were no feelings that would soften him. It wasn’t anger that drove this man. It was pure, malevolent hatred.

Sera squeezed her eyes shut even tighter, pleading with the Mysteries to know their will. She would do what they wanted from her. No matter what happened.

She heard a gasp of breath, and then a body fell next to where she knelt.

“Go up to the abbey and gather them,” Jevin raged. “Every last one of them. Put them inside the sanctuary. Bar the doors. We’ll burn them all. Kill any who resist.”

“So be it,” they said in a collective whisper. There was a gleeful emotion behind the words that made Sera’s stomach wrench.





CHAPTER TWENTY?NINE

THE DOOM OF CRUIX



The kishion had all left the Leering chamber, leaving Jevin alone with Sera and Cettie. He paced in front of the Leering itself, then reached out his palm and touched the stone, bowing his head in deep concentration. Was he communing with Ereshkigal? Then he dropped his hand and pulled out his musical instrument. He began to play it, and a strange power wove through the room. His melody was haunting, foreboding, and it sent a chill through Sera’s heart. A loud cracking noise emanated from the Leering.

“Can you hear me, Cettie?” Sera whispered, shifting despite her discomfort to get closer to her prostrate friend. “Are you alive?”

Cettie’s head lifted slightly, her pale, drawn face revealing the anguish she felt. She nodded slowly and moved one arm toward Sera. She started to drag herself closer. “Let me try to free you.”

“I don’t think we can make it out of here,” Sera said, keeping her gaze fixed on Jevin.

“Help is coming,” Cettie said.

“But will it come in time?” Sera wondered. “They’re going to murder everyone here at the abbey. I cannot stop it. Even if my arms were loosed. I won’t release her, Cettie. Even to save the innocent. There are many more lives at stake.” Sera sighed. “I cannot bear this much longer. I may die of a broken heart before they kill me.”

“No,” Cettie said. “You will rule and reign. I’ve seen it, Sera. Believe me.”

Sera bit her lip. “It’s hard to believe right now. So much suffering. So much death. How could the Knowing want this? How could it allow it?”

Cettie was staring at her sympathetically. “I had my crisis of faith too, Sera. I failed, but you must be stronger than I was. Even now, I serve the Knowing’s will. It knows what will happen, Sera, it always knows. It knew I would choose to forsake it. But it also knew my most desperate hour and sent help. I don’t understand it . . . but I’ve come to trust it. It will not lead us astray.”

Sera felt a small throb at the words. She nodded her head slowly. “I’m so grateful you’re here with me, Cettie.”