We ran.
The corridors of the cathedral blurred past us, stone and candlelight and shadow all merging into a single streaking line. Clara led, her short legs moving surprisingly fast. Aurelia was right behind her, one hand on her sword, the other reaching back to make sure I was still there.
I was. But barely.
The holy wards were active now. I could feel them pressing against my skin like a thousand hot needles. The warmth of the shard pulsed in my chest, pushing back, but it wasn't enough. Not completely. Every step was harder than the last.
"This way," Clara hissed, ducking into a side corridor.
We followed her through a maze of narrow passages. Servants' routes. Storage rooms. Places the priests didn't bother to guard. The walls were rough here, unfinished stone and exposed beams. The air smelled of dust and old wood.
Behind us, shouts echoed. The guards were spreading out.
"They'll seal the outer gates," Aurelia panted. "Once those close, we're trapped."
"Then we don't let them close," I said.
Clara skidded to a halt in front of a heavy wooden door. "This leads to the western garden. From there, we can reach the north gate before the guards—"
The door burst open.
Three guards stood in the opening, swords drawn. Their eyes went wide when they saw us. Then they saw me.
"The Demon Queen!" one of them shouted.
Aurelia moved before I could react. Her sword flashed in the dim light, catching the first guard's blade and knocking it aside. She kicked him square in the chest, sending him stumbling into the others.
"Go!" she shouted. "I'll hold them!"
"Like hell you will," I snarled.
I gathered my magic. The shadows responded instantly, coiling around my fingers. But the moment I touched the darkness, the wards screamed. I felt them activate, felt the holy energy surge toward me like a wave.
The shard flared white-hot in my chest.
And then everything went wrong.
The magic exploded outward.
Not my magic. The wards. They'd found me. Found the demonic energy I'd summoned. And now they were pouring holy power into the corridor, trying to burn me from the inside out.
I collapsed to my knees. The shadows around my hands flickered and died. The holy energy was everywhere, pressing down on me like the weight of an ocean.
"Seraphina!" Aurelia's voice was distant, muffled by the roaring in my ears.
I couldn't breathe. The wards were crushing me. The shard pulsed frantically, trying to shield me, but it wasn't strong enough.
Then a hand grabbed my arm.
Clara.
Her fingers were warm. Human. And she was pulling me to my feet, dragging me toward the door.
"Move, Demon Queen!" she shouted.
I stumbled after her. Aurelia was behind us, her sword flashing as she deflected the guards' attacks. I heard the clash of steel, the grunt of a man going down, the thud of a body hitting the floor.
Then we were outside.
The night air hit me like a blessing. The pressure of the wards eased, just slightly. I gulped down air, my lungs burning.
"Keep moving," Clara ordered. "The wards are weaker out here, but they're still active. You use magic, they'll find us again."
"Noted," I wheezed.
The western garden was a maze of hedges and flower beds, silver in the moonlight. We ran through it, branches catching at our cloaks, thorns scratching our skin. The sounds of pursuit were close behind. Guards shouting. Boots on stone. The ringing of alarm bells.
"The north gate is just ahead," Clara said. "But it'll be guarded."
"Leave that to me," Aurelia said.
We burst out of the garden and into a wide courtyard. The north gate loomed before us, a massive structure of iron and wood, already swinging shut. Guards swarmed the walls, their torches blazing in the darkness.
"There!" a voice shouted. "The Saintess and the demon!"
Arrows flew. I felt one whistle past my ear. Another grazed my shoulder, tearing through cloth and skin. I bit down on a cry.
Aurelia raised her hand. Light exploded from her palm, not the soft golden glow of healing magic but something harsher. A wall of light, blinding and burning, that sent the guards staggering back.
She was using her power. The real power. The kind that had killed me ninety-nine times.
"Clara, get through the gate!" she shouted.
Clara grabbed my arm and pulled me forward. The gates were still closing, but there was a gap. Narrow. Barely wide enough for a person.
We ran.
I felt the iron brush against my shoulders as we squeezed through. Clara stumbled on the other side, and I caught her before she fell.
"Where's Lyra?" she demanded.
I turned. Aurelia was still in the courtyard, holding back the guards with waves of holy light. Her face was set, her eyes blazing.
"Aurelia!" I shouted.
She glanced back. Saw us through the narrowing gap.
"Go!" she yelled. "I'll catch up!"
"No! I'm not leaving you!"
She didn't answer. She turned back to the guards and raised both hands. Light gathered around her, bright as a second sun. The guards faltered. Some of them dropped their weapons.
The gates were almost closed now. Inches left.
"Seraphina!" Clara screamed.
I looked at the gap. Then at Aurelia.
Then I did something very, very stupid.
I reached into the shard's power. Not dark magic. Not demon energy. The shard itself. The fragment of the original soul that didn't belong to either side.
It responded.
Warmth flooded through me. Golden light, not holy but something older. Something purer. It wrapped around my arm like a living thing, then lashed out toward the gate.
The iron stopped moving.
The guards on the gate mechanism strained. Shouted. But the doors wouldn't budge.
"Aurelia, now!" I screamed.
She turned. Saw the gate frozen open. Saw the golden light streaming from my hand.
And she ran.
She reached us just as the last of my strength gave out. The golden light flickered and died. The gates slammed shut behind us.
We were outside the walls.
But we weren't safe yet.
We ran through the streets of the outer city, ducking through alleys and side passages as the alarm bells rang behind us. Clara knew the way. She'd clearly mapped every escape route in the city, which was either impressive or concerning. Probably both.
After twenty minutes of running, we collapsed in a narrow alley behind a shuttered bakery. The bells were still ringing, but they were distant now. Fading.
I leaned against the wall, gasping for breath. My chest ached. My shoulder was bleeding. The shard felt raw and hot, like a muscle I'd strained too hard.
Aurelia knelt beside me, her hands already glowing with healing light.
"Don't," I said. "Your magic will draw them."
"Your wound is worse than it looks. The arrow went deep."
"I'll heal. Demon thing. Remember?"
"Seraphina."
Her voice was sharp. Scared. I met her eyes and saw something there that made my chest tighten.
"Fine," I said quietly. "Do it quick."
She pressed her palm over the wound. Warmth flooded through me, not the harsh burning of the wards but something soft. Gentle. Her magic moved through my skin, knitting torn flesh, stopping the bleeding.
The shard pulsed in response. Like it recognized her. Like it was reaching for her.
I felt the connection between us flare. Just for a moment. A thread of golden light, invisible but undeniable, linking her heart to mine.
She felt it too. I could see it in the way her eyes widened. The way her breath caught.
"What was that?" she whispered.
"The shard," I said. "It knows you."
"Knows me?"
"It remembers. From before. When we were..." I trailed off.
She looked at me for a long moment. Then she pulled her hand away.
"The wound is closed."
"Thanks."
Clara cleared her throat.
We both turned to look at her. She was standing at the mouth of the alley, watching us with her arms crossed and an expression that was half amusement, half concern.
"Not to interrupt," she said, "but we're still inside the city walls. The outer gates will be sealed by now. We need to figure out how to get out before dawn."
I pushed myself to my feet. "We'll go over the wall."
Clara raised an eyebrow. "You can't use magic. The wards will detect it."
"Then we climb."
"The walls are forty feet high. The outer face is sheer stone. There are guard towers every two hundred yards."
"Then we find a gate and fight our way through."
"Against the entire city guard? Great plan."
Aurelia stood. "Clara, you've been planning your escape for years. You must have thought of a way out."
Clara hesitated. Then she sighed.
"There's one option. But you're not going to like it."
"Tell us."
She looked at me.
"The sewers."
I stared at her.
"The sewers," I repeated.
"They run beneath the entire city. The main channels are big enough to walk through. There's an outflow on the southern wall that empties into the river. If we can reach it before the guards think to seal it..."
I closed my eyes and let out a long breath.
Alright, Seraphina.
Six hundred years of fighting and dying and this is what it comes to.
Climbing through a sewer with the woman who killed me and her terrifying little sister.
Perfect.
"Fine," I said. "Lead the way."
Clara grinned.
And despite everything, I almost smiled.
End of Chapter 14