Kristoff grunted and took a left turn into a bank parking lot. "No, but this road leads out of town. Get out. We'll walk the rest of the way."
"But I was enjoying the ride," Agda protested as she crawled out of the backseat.
"Are you sure that's wise?" I asked Kristoff as I got out, noting that the police were also stopping people on the street.
"We don't have much of a choice. This way." He flipped up the collar of his coat and angled his hat, moving immediately to the side of the street that was in the shade.
The ghosts came back from absolute invisibility to their normal nearly translucent state, trailing behind in an odd sort of train as I followed Kristoff through winding streets. I was worried about an intersection right outside of the church. Five roads met there in a cobblestone square, and the police, if they were searching people, would be sure to have someone there.
Kristoff didn't even pause as we reached the five-cornered intersection. He wrapped one arm around me, pulling me up close to his body, his head angled toward mine as if he was murmuring sweet nothings. The brim of his hat was most effective in blocking the view of our faces. "Do not say anything if they stop us. Just act giddy."
"That's not going to be any problem," I answered, the nearness of him suddenly causing memories of the night before to come flooding back with vibrant intensity. My legs felt more than a little wobbly as I breathed in the faintly smoky scent that always seemed to be around him. It reminded me of a fall afternoon, with burning leaves tinting the crisp air.
Two police officers were on our side of the street as we strolled up to the church, the trail of ghosts behind me thankfully not visible to their eyes. Kristoff's mouth touched my ear. I giggled in a loud, high voice, and said very quietly, "I'm going to kiss you. Don't freak out," before wrapping both arms around him, stopping right in front of a policewoman.
The moment my mouth parted under his I knew I'd made a mistake. What I had intended for the benefit of the cops immediately turned serious as his tongue started bossing mine around in the way that left me mindlessly craving more.
The policewoman said something, amusement rich in her voice.
Kristoff groaned into my mouth when I sucked on his tongue, his hands sliding down to grab my butt.
The policewoman spoke a little louder, muffled laughter coming from her companion.
Hunger and need rose in him again, accompanied by a sexual drive that washed over me like lava. I burned for him, ached for something undefined, something that only he could give me… something I could give him… it was all so muddled in my head, I couldn't organize my thoughts.
Someone tapped on my shoulder. I broke off the kiss, burying my face in Kristoff's chest as he spoke over my head, a forced lightness in his voice when he answered the policewoman.
I kept my head lowered and angled toward Kristoff, leaning heavily on him as he urged me forward, my cheeks burning with very real consternation. What on earth was I doing? What sort of person was I that I could act that way with him when Alec, the man who a short time ago had professed all sorts of affection for me, had sacrificed himself to ensure I got away safe?
I stumbled as we passed a couple more police officers, but they paid us no attention as Kristoff led me toward the church.
"That's it. I'm going to be a Zorya if it kills me," Dagrun announced behind me.
"Too late," Ulfur said cheerfully.
"Are we going to the house or church first?" I asked Kristoff, trying to drag my mind from the horrible well of guilt that filled me to concentrate on the situation with Alec.
Kristoff hesitated outside the front of the church, holding me in an embrace that would have given me pleasure if his eyes hadn't been wandering with calculation over the front of the church. "The house, I think. The church is too public. They'll put him in some sort of cell to hold him for a ritual later."
"Your ritual?" Dagrun asked me.
I wanted to throttle the little snot.
Kristoff's gaze shifted to me, his eyes narrowing. "What ritual?"
I cleared my throat, shot Dagrun an evil look (she smirked in return), and met Kristoff's flinty gaze. "I'm being sworn in tonight as Zorya. Or whatever the ritual is, exactly."
"You can't do that," he said, the familiar frown he usually wore starting to form. "I married you first. The marriage to the sacristan isn't valid."
"So you say, but since they don't know that, there wasn't any reason I could give them to not have the ceremony tonight."
Kristoff looked heavenward for a moment, his hands tightening on my shoulders. "Do you have any idea what they will do when they find out what you've done?"
"How are they going to find out? They'll do their ritual tonight, and proclaim me Zorya. I admit I don't like misleading them, especially Mattias, who seems like a nice, if rather misguided, guy, but what harm is it going to do? You yourself just said it's not going to be a valid ceremony, so how can it hurt anyone?"
He started walking to the side of the church, leading me down a narrow street to the house behind, his hand biting into my arm uninjured as he said tersely, "There will come a point where they will expect you to act as Zorya, and when you exhibit no particular powers, they will begin to wonder why. Do not doubt for a moment that their form of ascertaining the answer will be extremely unpleasant for you."
"I figured I'd just tell them I need some practice, or use some excuse like that. That should buy me a little time, which I'll use to find another Zorya, a real Zorya, who can take the ghosts to Ostri for me."
"Procrastination is not a solution," he said stubbornly. "The day will come when the reapers here find out you are a Zorya in name only."
"Yes, and I plan on being a long way away from here on that day." I pointed to the house. "The most important thing is to get Alec out. Since they will pretty much attack you on sight, I'll go in and see how things are."
I started to go to the front door of the house as I spoke, but Kristoff pulled me back.
"That would be foolish in the extreme. You stay here while I get a reaper and find out what they've done with Alec."
"Oh, no," I said, grabbing his arm as he started to leave. "I know how that'll end up."
"Um… Pia?" Ulfur said.
"What do you mean?" Kristoff asked, frowning at me.
"You'll torture the truth out of whoever you nab. Go ahead, admit it."
"Of course I will," Kristoff said, almost snorting in disgust as he turned back toward the house.
"Pia, I think you really will want to—oh, too late."
"What?" I asked, turning to see what it was that had Ulfur in such a swivet.
Visible through the ghosts were two men: Frederic and Mattias.
"I believe we can save you the trouble of torturing one of our people," Frederic said with a misleadingly bland smile.
Kristoff whirled around at the sound of his voice.
"I wish the same could be said of you, but you see, it's not often we have two Dark Ones in our grasp." Frederic's dark eyes moved to me with an assessing glance. "Not to mention a Beloved."
Chapter 15
"This is absolutely uncalled for. I am, if you recall, the Zorya. I do not expect to be treated like this!"
My exaggerated outrage fell upon deaf ears. Well, almost deaf ears.
"That's telling them," Ulfur said, giving me a nod of approval.
"Aye, our reaper has spirit. But what is this place?" Hallur asked as the ghosts trooped after me.
"I told you this would happen," Kristjana almost spat as I was shoved toward a flight of stairs.
"This is the house that the Brotherhood uses," I said softly to my ghosts.
"Ah. Rather chill here, isn't it?" Hallur rubbed his ghostly arms.
"That's a root cellar down there," Ingveldur said from the stairs. "Are we going down? I don't particularly liked closed-in spaces."