Dominic shakes his head, drawing my attention back to him. He seems annoyed by his Shades, but how much more annoyed would he be if he knew I’d heard every word? I’m almost of a mind to confess, just to see how he’d react. But I dismiss the notion when I recall the argument we were in the middle of when his Shades decided to have their own. As he stalks a few steps up the roof, I wonder if he’ll tell me to go back inside again. Then, without meeting my eyes, he pauses and extends a hand back toward me. “Come on,” he says, tone begrudging. “If you’re going to linger like a thorn in my side, at least do it where you won’t break your fucking neck.”
I purse my lips but take his proffered hand, letting him aid my climb while Sloth stays close behind me. I settle onto the wide ridge at the roof’s peak, Sloth lying at my feet while Dominic sits not too far away. Pride and Lust are now giving each other the silent treatment, hovering just behind the Shadowbane.
Tipping my head back, I take a moment to admire the quiet night, the canopy of stars, the silver glow of the moon, before I assess our surroundings. The streets are quiet, empty, the windows aglow with lamplight. There’s not a single Shade to be seen. Reluctantly, I return my attention to my prickly companion. “Why are you so determined to keep us at a distance? You never answer questions plainly. You always put up a fight.”
“I could say the latter about you,” he says tonelessly.
“And there he goes,” I whisper to Sloth, reaching to pat his head, “dodging another question.”
Dominic rolls his eyes. “We can’t have this conversation at night. The Shades—”
“Are only attracted to lies,” I say.
“Except one of us seems to attract Shades even when she isn’t lying.”
“Is this about what happened in the clearing—Damn the gods. You’re doing it again. You are so frustrating I could…”
“You could what?” Lust appears between us, his imitation of Dominic’s features clearer than before. I imagine even his voice is like Dominic’s, if the Shadowbane would speak in anything but his dry tone. “Tell me what you want to do to me, and make it dirty.”
“Leave her alone, Lust,” Dominic says under his breath.
Lust pouts but retreats into the Shadowbane, leaving Pride to smirk, chin lifted in triumph.
“You want to know why I’m reluctant to answer certain questions?” he says. “Then let me ask you this. How did it feel to learn the truth of the Holy Braziers?”
I frown, considering his question. “I felt…betrayed. By my fiancé and by all Sinless.”
“And why don’t you spout the truth to everyone you meet?”
“Some wouldn’t believe me,” I say. “Others would arrest me fortreason. The rest might fall into hysterics.” I imagine what would happen if everyone suddenly knew that the Sinless feast on human hearts to light the braziers. It’s one thing to know the Sinless feed from people. As far as the average citizen believes, a Sinless’s blood source is kept alive. And if they die, what does it matter? They’re only criminals. Or, in cases like Calvin’s, the family of the chosen blood source has been fairly compensated in exchange for what appears to be a position of honor.
It’s another thing to know the Sinless kill, claiming sacrifices without warning, without trial.
“Then imagine how much more I know than you,” Dominic says. His voice adopts a gentle, almost pleading quality. “How many more secrets I carry. You only hypothesize what might happen if you share what you know. I, on the other hand, have firsthand experience. A Shadowbane’s work brings us close to royal secrets that are kept from the public, and many don’t pass these truths on to their Summoners. I do intend to share valuable intel, but I will do so only after we’ve established trust. In the meantime, know that I meant it when I said I’ve sent many of my retired crew across the sea, alive and well. I genuinely want that for you. Hate me and my kind all you want, but I am not your enemy.”
I’m not fully convinced by the last part, but I’m most concerned about a pointed omission. “What about the Summoners you didn’t send across the sea? You said before some have died, but how? You promised to protect us. Did your previous Summoners die under that promised protection? Or by a deliberate lack of it?”
He holds my gaze without falter. “My burdens are heavy, Seamstress.”
I let him leave it at that, for I doubt he’d elaborate if I prodded more. It’s obvious he’s been betrayed by his crew—something I considered doing when he first gave me his ultimatum—and he’s made it clear he won’t hesitate to kill us if we take that path. Aside from being what he is, a Shadowbane hell-bent on becoming full Sinless plus an all-around asshole, he hasn’t done anything to make me seriously ponder that option again. Especially if his promise proves true. If we can survive these next six months and he can get us off this continent,I can put up with everything I hate about him. The promise of freedom, of not having to hide who I am or what I do, of not being labeled a sinner or an outlaw…it’s enough to keep me at his side.
Of course, no one knows if the lands across the sea are any better than here.
I lower my eyes to the dark horizon and the hulking shapes of the nearby mountains.
“Do you know what’s out there?” I whisper. “Across the sea? Are the other civilizations as damned as we’re told?”
The history books say the Holy Continent was the only land blessed by Bastien. No other continent’s king was turned Sinless or taught the Absolution ritual. The other lands live and die at the mercy of Shades, and the survivors are warmongering devils, continuing the same vile acts that angered the gods five centuries ago and plunged the world into One Hundred Days of Darkness. We have so little interaction with other continents, we can only believe it’s true. Otherwise, wouldn’t we have more than one open port? More trade? Perhaps limiting trade is a safety measure, to keep outsiders away from this pretend paradise.
Maybe it’s to make it harder for us to leave.
Dominic shakes his head. “No one really knows what it’s like, only that there are no Sinless. No Shadowbanes.”
No protection from Shades, is what he means. All they have are natural means. Silver and light. It could be a thousand times worse than it is here, but that doesn’t dissuade me from holding on to my goal. The alternative is running until the day I die, and outlaws don’t tend to live long on the Holy Continent.
Sloth rolls onto his side, his head resting on my foot. I pet him again, this time stroking his soft ears. “What do you use them for?” I ask. “The Shades you catch. Sloth, Pride, and Lust didn’t help us with the dragon. And where is the new one?”
“The new one is staying in the vial,” Dominic says. “And I don’t use my shadows to fight other Shades. The most they do against their own kind is darken my shadow or move it, allowing me to tempt the Shades I hunt close enough to catch. They do help me with other people, though.”
