Zofia had liked the tale even if she found the logic faulty and implausible. Now, she breathed deep, feeling calmer than she’d felt in ages.
That presence of a vast equation was brief, no more than a match struck and quickly blown out. But the feeling remained… the sense that, for a moment, some part of the universe had been unlocked for her.
30
ENRIQUE
Enrique stumbled forward as the temple released his mind.
He stared at the glassy, night floor… the huge ziggurat that disappeared into a forested ceiling. He could still smell the sunbaked bricks. His ears held the trilling echo of a thousand vanishing prayers. And at the end of it all, he was left with awe.
Enrique had hunted for proof of his research in the corners of ripped, ancient maps and in the verdigris patina on old bronze artifacts… he had never dreamt to see it so fully.
In his mind’s eye, he could picture those ancient peoples stringing together the divine lyre. That label the Western world had given them was too small. They were not just the Lost Muses. They held other titles from other nations… they had been priestesses of unworshipped goddesses… and even though moments ago Enrique had known those other names, they now dissolved to obscurities on his tongue.
It was strange, he thought, with a sudden laugh. As a historian, he regarded the world in hindsight, but history was never dead. Itwas furiously alive even if it was lost, even if it existed only as phantoms haunting conquerors or woven into bedtime stories whispered to children. All his life, Enrique had traced the edge of truth in those tales and fiercelybelieved, but now heknew. The difference was more than night and day… it was like standing before the very first dawn and watching the world draw into focus.
“I… I can’t believe it,” he said, trying to speak around what he’d witnessed.
Beside him, Laila was quietly shaking. Enrique’s heart lurched, thinking that she was weeping… but no. She was laughing. He hadn’t seen her smile like that in more than a year. A loud exhale caught his attention. Hypnos knelt on the ground, his lips parted and eyes wide. Even Zofia seemed stunned.
Finally, his gaze went to Séverin, and for a moment it was as if nothing had ever soured between them.
Séverin smiled, and Enrique recognized that old grin. It was the sly and yet giddy look of disbelief that used to follow a successful acquisition. And this time, Enrique shared it with him.
Silently, they turned back to the temple. The wonder of the place had not faded, but now his eyes had adjusted to the brightness. Little by little, he was able to pick apart the details… tonoticethe way the room came together.
There was something about the giant automatons that caught his attention. He had assumed they were automatons, but they did not move.
Enrique didn’t even notice he’d taken a step forward until Séverin raised his arm, blocking him right before his boot touched the glassy floor, the circumference of which was surrounded by a meter-wide ring of the same soft clay ground from outside.
“Wait,” said Séverin gently.
“What’s there to wait for,mon cher?” asked Hypnos, grinningwidely. He flung out a hand, gesturing to the ziggurat. “We know exactly where to go! Merely climb the steps andvoila! Eternal life, eternal joy… eternal Laila.”
Laila shook her head, smiling.
“Yes… yes to all of that and more,” said Séverin, looking at her. Enrique noticed something painful flash in his eyes. “But we can’t risk recklessness… not yet. We need to understand our surroundings.”
“My tools are gone,” said Zofia. “I don’t have anything except my Tezcat necklace and matches and this—” She lifted her arm.
Hypnos frowned. “The use of one’s right arm?”
“No,” she said. “It’s a Forged sleeve that can act as a torch without harming the individual. Enrique has one too.”
“I do?” he asked.
She nodded, pointing her chin at the bit of silver cloth he had tied around his arm. It was a remnant from the Carnevale costumes. He had kept it on his person as a talisman for good luck.
“That’s all well and good, but we don’t need any fire,” said Séverin. “What we really need are knives and rope in case something obstructs us… Do we have that?”
Zofia shook her head.
“I have this?” said Hypnos, waving around his fan.
“Maybe there’s something left in the rucksacks,” said Laila. “Give them to me.”
Séverin shrugged his off, handing it over.
