Page 186 of Terror at the Gates

“I have a duty to condemn the condemners,” he said.

“I was achild,” I said.

Tears welled in my eyes.

“Even children know when to obey and be silent,” he said. “But you couldn’t do that. You never did learn.”

“I hate you,” I said.

“I know, Miss Leviathan,” he said. “As always, you are too self-centered to see the truth. Your feelings are irrelevant.”

They were only irrelevant in his world because they made him a sinner and a hypocrite. What filled me with rage was that he’d deluded himself into believing he’d truly done his duty. That he’d tried to exorcise my demons and failed. Not because he was lacking but because I was impossible to save.

“To the matter at hand,” he continued. “Your mother has asked me to cleanse your soul before tonight’s ritual, and I have generously agreed. So if you will enter the pool, Miss Leviathan.”

He gestured to the baptismal font.

Lisk’s confidence struck me. I had seen it before but never with a gun pointed at his face. Maybe he had a reason for his assuredness, but one glance around the room confirmed we were alone.

He was overconfident or knew something I didn’t.

A thickness rose in my throat, and I lowered my weapon. Lisk’s shoulders relaxed. The movement was so slight, I wouldn’t have noticed if I wasn’t looking, which told me everything I needed to know.

I dragged my tongue over the inside of my bottom lip as I stared at him.

“You will forgive my sins,” I said. My voice was low and breathy. I was trying to keep it from trembling. “All of them?”

“Well, yes,” he said in that gravelly tone I despised so much. He inclined his head. “I have only ever tried to saveyou, Miss Leviathan.”

A flash of light filled my vision. I didn’t know where it came from, but it was like blacking out, and when I came to, I was in the middle of shooting Uriah’s weapon.

I didn’t know how many times I pulled the trigger, but it was enough to send Lisk staggering back into the water. I screamed as I unleashed on him, flinching with each shot. At some point, I remembered what I’d come here to do and I dropped the gun, racing to the pool.

Lisk was floating in the water, his white robes seeping dark red. I fisted the fabric of his clothes, shaking him.

“Where are the fucking blades?” I demanded. My voice was a panicked shriek. In the back of my mind, I knew it was too late, and still I screamed. “Tell me! Tell me where they are!”

“I think you’ve silenced him for good now,” said a voice, one I recognized.

I froze and turned, coming face-to-face with my mother, Analisia Leviathan.

It was only then that I noticed magic quaking inside me. I could taste it on the back of my tongue.

Metallic. Familiar.

It was the magic from my dagger but multiplied and I could barely think beyond their strength. They had entered the room with my mother.

She paused halfway down the stone steps, having come from a balcony above. She held a wooden box, and I knew the power swelling my throat radiated from it.

She looked remarkably well for a woman who had been missing for three days. In fact, I was pretty sure she’d done her hair for this occasion. It was perfectly curled and softly styled. She wore a fitted, long-sleeved dress with a highneck.

I climbed out of the pool, cold all over.

“Mom?” I whispered, confused. The word slipped from my mouth before I could really think. It was too personal, too endearing for the relationship we shared. Still, I couldn’t stop myself from reacting. The magic swirling around inside me didn’t help. It felt volatile, sinking into every part of me, pulling me in all directions.

“Is this where you’ve been this entire time?”

Though I’d suspected, the confirmation still felt like a blow. I wondered how much of my exchange with Lisk she’d heard or if she even cared. Had he been so confident because she was watching? Was he expecting her to come to his rescue?