“You etched an astrotheurgical diagram into the ground,” I say,angling myself toward him. “You made a dome of light, just like the dukes and royals do.”
“I saw it too,” Harlow says. She climbs into the wagon bed and stands behind us with her arms crossed. Bard climbs up next, cradling his mandolin. Harlow’s eyes jump to mine. “When you told us about your past, about being a heart sacrifice…”
I nod, then swivel my gaze back to Dominic. “My piece-of-shit ex-lover said he had to consume my heart. That it was the only way he could light the brazier. Does the same go for you?”
Dominic rubs his jaw again, and his defensive walls seem to crumble as he heaves a sigh. “I don’t use solar astrotheurgy to the same degree as full Sinless do,” he says. “I use a blood sacrifice, but it isn’t any worse than what you already know about me. I use Calvin’s blood, from vials we’ve stockpiled for that specific purpose. Drinking blood activates my ability to use solar magic, but only briefly. The Holy Brazier requires a greater sacrifice because of its powerful and constant use of astrotheurgy. That’s why the dukes and royals need a heart sacrifice, and they need one at regular intervals.”
Calvin snaps his fingers, eyes on me. “That’s why you’re guilty of treason. You know royal secrets. It’s all coming together now.” He taps the side of his head, lips quirked in a grin, then returns to hitching the horses.
“What was the light for?” Harlow asks. “Were you…killing the Shade? I thought that’s what your silver sword is for.”
“Shades in their common form can’t be killed, only calmed and diverted away from villages,” Dominic says. “My blade can temporarily disperse one, as Shades are sensitive to the brightness of silver, the same way they’re sensitive to sunlight, but it will quickly re-form, and any act of violence against it will send it into a greater frenzy. The only kind of Shade that can be killed is an Incarnate, which is where my blade matters most. My sword is etched with a diagram like the one I drew in the soil.” He reaches over his shoulder and grips the hilt of his sword. He lifts it from its scabbard to reveal an astro–theurgical diagram just below the hilt, almost identical to the one I saw at the bottom of the Holy Brazier two years ago. “I place a drop of blood on my tongue and another on the circle. That imbues mysword with fire, the combination of silver and flame allowing me to kill an Incarnate.”
“You still haven’t told us what you were doing,” I say. “You did something with one of the Shades. I heard it scream.”
Dominic frowns. “You heard it scream?”
I glance at Bard and Harlow, expecting them to say they too heard that deathly cry. Instead, they wear frowns that mirror Dominic’s.
I bristle, unsettled by the way they’re looking at me. “Can you just answer the question?”
His jaw shifts side to side. “I was capturing a Shade.”
“Because it was wearing your face?”
“Yes.”
The tension in my shoulders eases, his answer calming my anxiety. If Shades can’t be killed, it makes sense he’d at least capture ones that have taken a step closer to becoming Incarnate. It’s better than leaving yourself open to their bloodlust. But didn’t he say Shades aren’t interested in imitating Shadowbanes? Was that…a lie? Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised he can lie; he’s still half human.
“Can we go?” he says, a growl in his voice.
“Horses ready,” Calvin says, giving them each an affectionate pat before rounding the wagon to climb into the back.
I bat my lashes at Dominic. “That wasn’t so hard, now, was it? Maybe next time we ask you to explain something, just fucking answer.”
His eyes darken, and he leans in closer. “You aren’t the only one with trust issues. Or the only one fighting for something important.”
“You mean being made full Sinless? How noble.”
“You know nothing about me.”
“I wonder why that is?”
He leans even closer, teeth bared. My eyes flick to his pointed canines, slightly sharper than a human’s should be. A phantom touch wraps around my throat, not with pressure but a threat nonetheless. I see no sign of his Shades with it still being so bright out, but of course one of them is responsible. Unlike wild Shades, Lust, Sloth, and Pride seem capable of enduring sunlight; it only makes them invisible. Dominic’s eyes volley between my own. “If you want my trust, earn it, sinner.”
Rage sparks in my chest. My first instinct is to pull away, to shoveat the shadow monster’s invisible grip, but something bolder takes over. Instead of flinching back, I lean into the touch until our faces are mere inches apart. His pupils narrow to pinpricks as I speak with unfettered anger. “Same to you.”
“For the love of the gods,” comes Harlow’s voice. She sits with a thud. “If you’re going to fuck, just do it already.”
“Language, Ma—” Bard cuts his words off, blinking hard, then aggressively shaking his head. He sits down across from Harlow.
My cheeks blaze as I reassess what I’m doing. How close my face is to Dominic’s. How tightly my hands are balled.
Harlow gives Bard an apologetic smile, then says in a saccharine voice, “If you’re going tofornicate,do it already.”
“Oh, I like her idea,” whispers a voice I recognize as Lust’s. The grip on my throat shifts into a caress.
“Can we go?” Pride says with a grumble. “This bickering is getting tedious.”
