Chapter 48 Seraphine

Chapter 48 Seraphine

Sera was unconscious when Theo found her in the rubble. Dimly, she was aware of her name being called – no, screamed – somewhere far above the blackness in her mind, then, eons later, she felt the damp press of hands on her face. Strong arms lifted her from the rubble and more voices crowded in on her.

Is she breathing?

How the hell is she not dead?

It's all right, Sera. It's going to be all right.

Sera reached for those words like falling stars, only to plummet again into blackness.

When she woke up, she was in an infirmary, propped up on three pillows. Three tense faces stared back at her. She drank them in, one by one, looking for injuries. Satisfied, she surveyed her own battered body. She was covered in bruises and scrapes, but remarkably, nothing appeared to be broken.

‘You are a marvel,' said Theo, as if he could read her thoughts. ‘I don't know how you survived that fall.'

‘Forget the fall,' said Val, perching on the edge of her bed. ‘I don't know how you survived that lightning. You lit up like a firework, Sera.'

Yes . Yes, she remembered it now. The strike and the fall. The Dagger whose heart she had stopped. She clenched her palm shut, too afraid to look and see what crackled there. Was it a mix of lightning and Lightfire? Or some delusion she had imagined?

The gash on her arm had been mended by a nurse – seventeen stitches, bandaged up and set in a loose sling. Over a mug of sugary tea and six ginger biscuits, her friends told her what had happened after she fell, how they had fished her from the rubble and ran before the nightguards arrived.

They had passed a cavalry troop on their way to the infirmary, the king's soldiers riding hard and fast towards the broken Aurore, where they would find all those bodies strewn among the rubble. They would cart them away to be inspected, then buried, and there would be more questions for the city to answer. More fear and accusations, more whisperings about monsters and Lightfire and the changing face of Fantome.

Sera told her friends everything that had happened down in the catacombs, including her final showdown with Dufort, the man she had once called her father, as well as the things Lark had told her on the Aurore before that fateful lightning strike.

They listened in wide-eyed silence, fitting all the pieces of the night together until the jigsaw was complete.

‘You can't go back to House Armand,' said Bibi. ‘Not after what happened in the catacombs.' Sera hadn't just broken the truce, she had smashed it to smithereens, killing the Head of the Order and his second-in-command in the same night, saying nothing of the monsters and the Daggers they had killed.

‘Mercure will hang you from the Bridge of Tears herself,' said Val.

Theo winced. ‘You don't have to be so graphic about it.'

‘I don't want to go back,' said Sera. ‘When dawn breaks, I'm leaving this city.' She looked at each of them in turn. Her trio of stalwart, weary allies, as loyal and dauntless as the heroes of her favourite novels. ‘Thank you for everything you did last night. And in all the days before that. I'd be dead without the three of you, and Fantome would be on its knees.' She summoned a watery smile. ‘I'm really going to miss you.'

‘It was the most exciting night of my life,' said Bibi, squeezing her hand. ‘Despite all the almost-dying.' She paused. ‘Or maybe because of it.'

Val scrunched her nose. ‘Whoever said farmgirls were boring?'

Theo only frowned, as if he was working through some impossible problem in his head.

‘I have one more favour to ask,' said Sera, wincing a little as she sat up. ‘Could someone please fetch my dog for me?' She was not going anywhere without Pippin. And if it came to it, she would brave the threshold of House Armand and the furious swing of Fontaine's walking stick to get him.

But Bibi was already nodding. ‘Of course!'

‘Thank you,' said Sera, looking out of the window to keep from crying. The moon was fading from the paling sky, the night slowly giving way to dawn. Her thoughts turned to Ransom, and the promise they had made to each other in the catacombs.

It felt like a lifetime ago now.

But morning was coming, and at long last, freedom was dawning.

When dawn came, Sera was sitting on the bottom step of Our Sacred Saints' Cathedral in the middle of the deserted square. The rain had finally sputtered out, leaving a pearly sheen across the rooftops of Fantome. The sky was soft and pink, scattered with fluffy clouds edged in gold.

Across the square, three familiar figures appeared with a dog trotting out in front. She shot to her feet and Pippin yipped, hurrying towards her. She swept him into her arms, pressing kisses into his fur.

When the others caught up, Bibi slung a rucksack from her shoulder and handed it to Sera. It was filled with travelling clothes and provisions for the journey ahead.

‘Thank you,' she said, setting Pippin down to hug her. Then she saw her friends were carrying three more rucksacks between them. ‘What's all this?'

‘We talked it over on the way home,' said Theo. ‘We want to go with you.'

Sera blinked. ‘What?'

‘We want an adventure.' Val tugged at the straps on her rucksack. ‘We want to see what lies beyond the Hollows.'

Sera's heart skipped a beat. ‘But I don't even know where I'm going yet.'

‘I'm more than ready to hurl myself into the unknown,' said Val, with a shrug. ‘The sooner the better, frankly.'

‘And what about you, Bibi?' said Sera. ‘You love living at House Armand.'

‘I love the people at House Armand,' said Bibi, with a smile. ‘You are my people. And it's not like I'll be gone forever.'

Sera turned to Theo. ‘What will House Armand do without its Shadowsmith? You love your craft. It's your passion.'

‘ Creating is my passion, Sera. Not Shade.' He looked past her to the empty space where the Aurore had stood. ‘I just never thought there was anything beyond it. I've always believed that all the good magic died with the saints.' His eyes shone as they met hers. ‘But after what I witnessed last night, after what we did with that Lightfire… we've only just begun to understand its true power. I can't give up my curiosity yet. I don't want to.' His smile grew, pressing a dimple into his cheek. ‘And I don't want to give up our friendship either.'

Sera shook her head, marvelling at her luck. As the strands of this new unwritten destiny twisted around them, she looked up at the stained-glass windows of the cathedral and offered a prayer of thanks to Saint Oriel. Sera had discovered such radiant light in the heart of this ancient city, and for the first time in her life, she was not running away from a shadow, but towards a glimmering horizon.

‘So, it's decided, then?' said Theo. ‘We're going to be a travelling troupe?'

Val groaned. ‘Why must you make it sound so uncool?'

Sera laughed as they began to bicker among themselves. She expected more of this in the days ahead, and she was eager to begin. But they had not yet completed their troupe – if that's what it was to be. ‘Ransom will be here soon. I promised I would wait for him.'

Val and Bibi exchanged a look.

Theo frowned. ‘Don't tell me you invited the tunnel rat?'

‘It was his idea,' she said, shooting him a warning look. ‘Ransom is a good person. He saved my life. We saved each other.'

‘And he's very hot,' added Bibi gravely.

Val rolled her eyes. ‘Fine. But he better bring a shit-ton of money with him.'

‘He's a Dagger,' said Bibi. ‘Of course he will.'

Sera didn't care about money. She only cared about the man with autumn-kissed eyes and ink-black hair whose smile knocked the breath from her lungs and whose kiss made her heart sing.

As the sun rose, he appeared at the other end of the square.

It was an effort not to run to him, but she managed to walk, slow and steady, leaving the others waiting for her by the steps.

It wasn't until Ransom drew closer that Sera realized something was wrong. Though the sun was rising, the morning was getting darker. Colder. Ransom had not come to the cathedral alone. He had brought all the shadows of Fantome with him, dragging them from buildings and streetlamps until they made a storm around him.

His eyes were as silver as the stars. With the dark rippling at his back, he looked like midnight incarnate.

Sera quailed at the sight of him stalking towards her. The wind kicked up, howling with the promise of death. The others drew back, sheltering around the side of the cathedral steps, taking Pippin with them. Sera did not retreat, instead surging forward. She marched into the swirling dark, searching for the man within.

But those silver eyes tracked her, and a rogue shadow struck like a whip, cutting a deep groove in the stones. A line which she was not to cross. She stood behind it, her heart hammering so hard she could barely breathe.

Ransom came to a stop ten feet away, night swarming at his back.

‘What are you doing?' she said, embarrassed at the pathetic squeak of her voice.

He looked through her. ‘Delivering this final message to you. Get out of this city and never come back.' His voice was as cold as the look on his face. ‘If you set foot in Fantome again, it will be the last thing you ever do.'

Sera's mind reeled, trying to untangle how these last few hours had somehow changed everything. ‘If this is about Lark, he came at me first. I never wanted to—'

‘This is not about Lark.'

‘I don't understand.' She tried again. ‘You asked me to leave with you. You wanted this. You're free, Ransom.' She hated the plea in her voice. ‘We're both free.'

He wouldn't look at her. ‘It was a dream, Seraphine.'

‘It doesn't have to be a dream.' Her eyes stung, her throat tightening painfully. ‘It can be real. Let it be real.'

‘Stop.' There was a hitch in his voice. ‘I can't .'

Shadows arced over them, blotting out the world, until she was trapped in the storm of his darkness. She saw it then, a flash of silver on his left hand. Dufort's ring. Dufort's legacy. The Order of the Daggers had found its new leader. No— No.

The words lurched from her: ‘What did you do?'

He said nothing.

‘ Bastian! ' she called. ‘Look at me!'

His hand shot out, firing shadows at the cathedral. The windows shattered in a hail of coloured glass. ‘ Don't call me that.'

Sera refused to be afraid. ‘Why are you doing this?'

He struck again, knocking a gargoyle from the eaves. It cracked the cobbles as it fell. He tore down another, ripping apart the cathedral piece by piece, just to show her he could. Somewhere behind Sera, Pippin was barking. The others were screaming at her to come away from Ransom.

But Sera stood her ground. He was trying to scare her – to frighten her off – but she had seen enough monsters to know Ransom was not one of them, and she refused to cower before this devastating spectacle.

Her heart was an anchor in her chest. It rooted her to that line in the earth, to the sight of that awful ring on his left hand and the matching quicksilver in his eyes. If she could just pierce his veneer, she could find the man beneath the Dagger. She could save him.

‘Bastian!' she cried. ‘You're hurting me.'

Perhaps it was the crack in her voice. Perhaps it was the tears on her face or the trembling of his hands; whatever the reason, he raised his chin. Their eyes met, and the agony she glimpsed there nearly punched through her soul.

She lurched towards him, walking right over the crack in the stones and into the heart of all that Shade. It rippled away from her, as if it was frightened. Sera didn't have time to wonder at the answering tingle in her blood. Or the magic that surged up through her ribcage. Without her cloak, her necklace, it made no sense, but the scent of lemon blossoms filled the air and Ransom's eyes widened, as if he could sense it too.

Lightfire.

She snatched his hand, her fingers crackling against his.

Yes , it was Lightfire. And it was thrumming in her blood.

His brow furrowed as the shadows around them fell away.

She watched the silver fade from his eyes. ‘What are you doing?' she said softly.

He closed his eyes, denying her the sight of his humanity. ‘Letting you go.' She moved her hands to his shirt but he caught them in his own. ‘If I don't stay behind, the Daggers will come for you. They will hunt you every day of your life. They will chase you to the ends of the earth.'

‘I don't care.'

‘You will never be free, Seraphine. You will never know a minute of peace.'

‘Bastian—'

‘ Listen to me .' He snapped his eyes open. ‘They will find you and kill you and then they will string your corpse up by your fucking boots and I will have to cut you down—'

‘Stop!' she pleaded.

‘Go.' The word was a growl. ‘Seraphine. Go .'

She trembled as he raised her hand to his mouth, pressing a parting kiss to her palm. His lips were soft and lingering. Her blood surged in answer and lightning crackled against his mouth. He raised his eyebrows, but said nothing as he released her.

He had said it all, already.

Sera opened her mouth to argue but he turned from her, taking a vial from his pocket and downing it in one gulp. His choice made, his path forking away from hers.

Tears streamed down her face, the words springing from her before she could stop them. ‘You weren't the only one who prayed to Saint Oriel!' she called after him. ‘I wished for you too, Bastian.'

She watched him stop. Flinch. For a moment she thought he would turn back, drop the act, cast aside his fear and go to her. Then shadows gathered at his back. He curled his fists and walked on, into the man-made dark.

Sera watched him go, her breath punching out of her in sharp bursts. Dimly, she became aware of the sun's warmth on the back of her neck, then the distant thrum of nightguards galloping through the streets, following her trail of destruction to another broken monument.

Sera turned around to find her friends hovering nearby. They stood in a puddle of stained-glass fragments, wearing matching looks of horror. Pippin was trembling in Bibi's arms.

Theo looked like he wanted to fling a dagger after Ransom.

Val broke the silence. ‘What the hell was that?'

Sera wasn't entirely sure. She grimaced as she looked up at the cathedral, its empty windows gaping.

‘The Daggers are going to come back stronger than before,' said Theo, following her gaze.

‘And crueller,' muttered Val.

Bibi sighed. ‘The city is as good as lost.'

‘No,' said Sera. Perhaps it was Mama speaking through her, or the grand design of Saint Oriel herself, but the plan came to her so easily she felt it must have been at the back of her mind all along. ‘We know their weakness now.' She could still feel it, the secret she had yet to unravel, crackling under her skin. ‘Let's go away from here. To think and plan. Create . And when we're ready, we'll give the Daggers something to run from. We'll remake this city with Lightfire. And when we're done, everyone in Fantome will know the true meaning of freedom.'

Including the Dagger who had just banished her. She was not done saving him.

Theo cocked his head. ‘Are you suggesting what I think you are…?'

‘A new Order,' said Sera. When Val snorted, she turned on her. ‘Why not us?'

Theo stood a little taller, the light in his eyes kindling like the fire in her belly. ‘The Order of Flames.'

‘Now, that's an idea I can get behind,' said Bibi.

‘All right, then,' Val relented, after a beat. ‘We've taken so much from this city for so long, maybe it's time we finally gave something back.'

Even Pippin lifted his head, sniffing at the idea, like he approved of it, too.

As the sun rose over Fantome, the four founding members of the Order of Flames turned from the rubble and ruin of their city and went, side by side, into the unchartered wilds beyond.