CHAPTER 59
With the nearly full moon, most Selenae must be gathered around the pond, but I can’t believe we enter the Quarter unnoticed. Nevertheless, I try to be as quiet as possible.
Athene’s door is unlocked. I lead Lambert inside, immediately feeling the loss of the moonlight, and call Simon’s name. He appears at the end of the passage and hobbles forward to take me in his arms. It’s more a gesture of relief than romance, but Lambert hangs back, embarrassed.
Simon leans away and holds me by the shoulders. “I was afraid something would keep you from coming. Have you—” He breaks off, eyes wide, realizing who I’ve brought with me.
“It’s all right,” I assure him. “Lambert and I have discovered who the killer is.”
Simon takes a step backward, tensing like he wants to run. “Really.”
I put my hand on his arm. “It’s Remi. Everything you said last night fits him perfectly.” I quickly explain my logic. The hardest part for me to believe is his destruction at the Sanctum, but now I see it as bringing me to a low point, leaving him as the only thing standing between me being completely alone in the world.“And he has a braid of hair he carries with him. He says it’s for luck.”
“Whose hair?”
“Mine.”
Simon’s shoulders slump. “And I never suspected him,” he whispers.
“Neither did I. And I knew him. Or thought I did.”
It takes Simon another half a minute to absorb the idea. Then he shakes himself. “Come sit down. We’ll discuss what to do now.”
As he walks back to Athene’s kitchen, I notice he’s barely limping. “You look much better.”
Simon glances down at his sprained ankle. “Your cousin rewrapped it this morning with bloodstones or lodestones or whatever. It barely hurts now. Most of my awkwardness is from having rocks in my sock.” He grins weakly, but I can tell the evidence of magick makes him uncomfortable.
“This is your cousin’s house?” asks Lambert, looking around the kitchen.
“Yes,” I answer. “She’s the physician who treated Marguerite until the sisters took her back to the convent.”
“But… yourcousin?”
“I didn’t know until recently, but I’m half Selenae,” I explain. “They reached out to me when Magister Thomas was imprisoned.”
His eyes widen. “I know who you are,” Lambert whispers. “Your father was that physician who kidnapped the Gallian girl and… seduced her.”
“He didn’t kidnap her,” I say, trying not to be irritated. “And he didn’t seduce her, either. They were married.”
Lambert frowns doubtfully. “My father’s records say the Selenae killed the woman and her child when her family tried to rescue her rather than pay the demanded ransom.”
I raise my eyebrows. “There was no ransom. She refused to return home, and my mother’s people led a mob into the Quarter that killed more than a dozen Selenae, including my father. Then she died in childbirth. And as you can see, I’m also alive.”
He swallows. “I guess I only ever heard one side of the story.”
“You and the rest of Collis.” It’s not full acceptance, but it’s a start. “What’s more important is finding Remi and Oudin.”
“Oudin?” Simon asks in confusion. “Why are we looking for him, too?”
“They left together,” I answer. “They’re part of the group patrolling with the city guard, looking for you.”
“And you’ve led them straight to us.”
Athene stands in the door to the washroom. Her expression is neutral and her tone flat, so I don’t know if she’s truly angry, but her words paint visions of burning houses and bodies in the street. “The city guard is here?” I gasp. “In the Quarter?”
“Not yet.” Athene turns her kohl-lined eyes on Lambert. “But you’ve brought the provost’s son. They’re sure to follow.”
“No one knows I’m here,” says Lambert.