Page 149 of Blood and Moonlight

CHAPTER 60

We take the most direct route to the Sanctum to save time. I want to get inside ahead of the call to prayers shortly before midnight, otherwise we’ll have to wait another hour for the building to be deserted. Even under a moonweave cloak, every minute Simon is outside is a risk.

When we reach the square, I start for the far end and the window, wondering if Lambert will be able to squeeze through, when he pulls a ring of keys from his pocket. I gape as he leads us to one of the doors in the south transept tower. “Where did those come from?”

“The provost has access to all public buildings,” Lambert explains. “I took them from my father’s desk. Doesn’t the architect have a set of his own?”

“Well, yes. Remi has them now.” Being they weren’t anything I ever needed, using them never occurred to me.

Lambert fumbles with the first key in the moonlight. “I’m not sure which is the right one for this door.”

I itch to take them from him, knowing my sight will make this much faster, but Lambert knows more than enough Selenae secrets. He doesn’t find the correct key until the fourth try, andjust as he opens the door, pounding footsteps echo across the square.

“Quickly!” Lambert whispers, shoving Simon and me inside. “I’ll distract whoever it is.”

The door slams shut, leaving us alone. Since he can’t see nearly as well as me, I guide Simon to the spiral staircase. I have a hiding place in mind, but first I want to go to the tower while the moon is still visible to most of the city.

“Please don’t tell me we’re going all the way up,” he whispers as we pass where I took him out to walk along the gutter.

“No, just here,” I say. We step out onto the next level, even with the peaked ridge of the roof which runs to the squat tower over the center of the Sanctum, the crossing point for the transept arms and the length of the building. I move into the moonlight coming through the tall windows. “There’s something I need to try, but I’ll need your help.”

Warrior kings and queens could cross a bridge of moonlight to the mind of another person.

The connection with Nichole happened when she and I saw the moon at the same time. If Remi looks up at it, I might be able to enter his mind and see where he is.

Last time I was lucky to have fallen over backward rather than tumble out the window. I lead Simon to the edge where I’ll be able to see best. “Stand behind me, please, and hold on.”

Simon pushes the cloak back over his shoulders, then puts his hands at my waist. “What is the rope for?”

My safety line is still there. I briefly consider taking it off, but I don’t want to lose time. “Closer,” I tell him. “And tighter.”

He inches forward and puts his arms all the way around my middle. “Like this?”

His heartbeat against my back and his breath on my ear are very distracting. I’m tempted use the voidstone to rid myself ofeverything but sight, but I’m not sure how that would affect what I want to do. “That’s perfect.”

“Now what?”

“Just keep me from falling over.”

“Is this moon magick?” he asks.

“Yes. Are you afraid?”

“I’m afraid if you think you need my help,” he says. “What are you going to do?”

I take a deep breath and focus on the moon. “I’m going to try to find Remi.”

Suddenly it occurs to me that my connection to Nichole had started with the moon in her vision, but then I’d been trapped in her mind until she died—while looking at the moon again. If I manage to get into Remi’s mind, I may not be able to get back out.

And what happens if I stumble into someone else’s mind? If this ability is something out of legend, there’s no one alive who could ever guide me through this. It’s too dangerous to try while so much is at stake. Lambert was right—we don’t need to find Remi tonight.

I close my eyes. It’s not worth the risk.

But when I open them again, I’m not in the south tower anymore.

The moon stares at me through the long window like an eye, casting a shaft of light on the web of wooden beams around me. Until it had appeared, I had no concept of time, waiting for death to surprise me, but now I can judge the minutes as the moon sinks lower and lower. I preferred not knowing. I can also see my feet dangling over the edge of the wide beam and how far it is to the floor.

They’ll think this is a suicide, given what happened with the ceiling the other day.