Page 43 of The Heartless One
Jessamine followed him for the better part of a day after that before she realized what was wrong. And she was going to do something about it.
Elric wasn’t himself. Not after adding Agnes to the coven and not after Elissa either. She’d only seen a few of his memories regarding witches, but she knew they weren’t good. His own power had tried to sabotage him by forcing her to see some of his history, as though what he’d been through made him weak. And that wasn’t something that was all that easy to get over.
Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she knocked on the door to his bedroom. It took a few knocks before she could hear him rustling about, and then the door opened. “Nightmare,” he said, his voice pitched low as though he’d been sleeping. “What are you doing up?”
“I want you to come with me, if you don’t mind.”
“Where?”
“It’s a surprise.”
His gaze sharpened, his eyes narrowing on her. She knew she’d piqued his interest, now she just needed to get him to agree to do whatever she wanted. Which… really wasn’t that hard with Elric, if she was being honest.
He leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest and looking down at her. “You know I don’t like surprises, nightmare.”
“Well, I think you’re going to like this one. It will be good to get out of the house.”
“And here I was thinking Agnes had told us not to leave until she’d gotten all the details figured out. And aren’t you supposed to have a fitting this evening with some fancy dressmaker to make you look like you fit in here?”
“I genuinely couldn’t care less.” Jessamine reached for his hand, tugging him out into the hallway. “Besides, no one tells us what we can and cannot do. You’re a god. I’m your gravesinger. If we want to head out onto the streets, then we will.”
He followed her with that bemused smile on his face, and she never let go of his hand. Together, they snuck out of the back and onto the street. It was late, and very few people were still about, but they stuck to the shadows just in case.
“Jessamine,” he started.
“Not yet.”
“Where are we going?”
“My favorite place in all of the Pleasure District. I was so excited when I found out it was still open, and I just had to bring you.”
His hand squeezed hers, and he let out a huffing laugh. “If you wanted to bring me to a brothel, you only had to ask.”
“Elric.”
This time he did laugh, and the sound bubbled out of him with such mirth that it spread to her as well. At least he could still laugh. At least hestill found some hilarity in all that they had done, even if he was nervous about giving people more power as well. She had given him that, and for now it would be enough.
Finally, they slipped from the streets to a massive building stretching high above all the others, surrounded by white columns. It was a monolithic beast compared to the other buildings around them, overpowering everything in size and stature.
“What is this place?” he asked, staring around them in awe before following her as she headed up the stairs.
“You’ll see.”
“Jessamine.” His tone was cajoling now.
“You really don’t like surprises, do you?” She was slightly out of breath from running up the stairs, but turned her back to the door to give him one last look. Bright red flushed his cheeks where he showed only the slightest state of exertion. His lips were parted with surprise, but his eyes still watched her, just staring at her as though she was the wildest thing he’d ever seen in his life.
“I hate them,” he said, bracing his arm on the door above her head and leaning into her. “But I have found that I very much enjoy your delight, gravesinger.”
“Good.”
Jessamine shoved the door open and sent all the prayers she could think of that the temple would be empty. It was, after all, quite late. Very few people brought offerings to the gods at all, and this place was mostly used as a museum rather than an actual temple these days. She was lucky enough that it was empty, although there were still a few incense bowls burning with sacrifices.
The temple was exactly as she remembered it. Eight-foot-tall carvings of all the gods lined the entire room. A wall of them, all twenty that had once existed. Each one had a massive space around it, with individual mosaics on the floor that were hand laid with tiny chips of gems. Every single god had one, each with their own sacrifices from people who visited them.
The first was, of course, the God King. He was massive and tall,wearing his armor like in every depiction of him that she’d ever seen. But in this carving, he had laid his sword at his feet, and instead stood with his arms crossed over that barrel chest. He was lit by braziers that hung from the ceiling. They filled the room with a strange flickering ambiance that made it feel as though one needed to be quiet when entering this space.
Jessamine breathed in the scent of incense and felt the warmth crawling up her arms. The temple had always felt peaceful to her with its silent halls, like the building was holding its breath.
