"And I'm the Zenith. I can do anything I want."
"Including killing the previous Zorya? It was you, wasn't it? You killed Anniki."
Her expression never changed, but surprise flashed in Frederic's eyes.
"You killed our Zorya?" he asked.
She made an abrupt gesture. "She was a fool, an ignorant fool, and impure to boot. She deceived us with a façade of piety, and we were all taken in. But I sensed something was wrong, and it was—she was ready to betray us, betray the entire Brotherhood by helping the Dark Ones. Once I found out the truth, I knew what had to be done."
I was silent, remembering the light of truth that had shown in Anniki's face the night we spoke together in the café. Her absolute conviction was not an act, as Denise would have me believe. Which meant that Denise was lying…
"But to kill her without letting us know first?" Frederic's eyes stood out against the pallor of his skin. "We deserved to know."
"Do not even think of telling me how to do my job," Denise snapped at him. "It is my responsibility to ensure the order is protected against those who would drag us down. Your duty—every member's duty—is to protect the order at all costs."
Frederic's jaw tightened. He didn't like what he was hearing, and I didn't blame him.
"I don't believe you," I said, shaking my head, tears burning my eyes as I remembered Anniki's shining face. "She wasn't like that. She believed in what she was doing. She was happy and excited about being a Zorya, about doing what she clearly thought was some way to better the world. She was not a traitor to your cause, however wrong it is."
"You are just like her," Denise pronounced, sending me a look of pure, venomous hatred. "Only you do not hide your taint behind pretended piety. But we know what you are now, and we will take steps to cleanse the darkness out of you as we will your friends."
"Friends into whose arms you pushed me," I said slowly, remembering the stupid bet she'd forced me to accept. "You knew they were vampires then, didn't you?"
"I recognized them." That nasty smile of hers curled her lips again. "I thought of letting them have that little bint Anniki, but it was much easier to just silence her myself… especially since it would implicate you in her death."
"You didn't have to kill her—"
"Silence!" Denise raged, jerking Magda forward a few feet. "You exist solely at my whim, Pia, a fact you should not forget. Anniki was nothing, not worth the time it took to get rid of her, but I did it so that the order would be stronger."
"You're absolutely insane," I said, my skin crawling with horror at the woman who stood in front of me, but even as I recognized the madness in her, I realized there was something wrong, something that didn't quite ring true. "You killed a sweet, innocent woman for no reason. You are the one who is tainting your precious group."
Her eyes narrowed on me. "The Brotherhood is all that matters. In tua luce videmus lucent—in thy light we see light."
My stomach heaved. Poor, poor Anniki, caught between a madwoman and her delusions of piety.
"Enough of this." Denise nodded toward Frederic. "Start the ritual. I don't have time to waste."
Frederic hesitated a moment, but finally gestured to the other two members. Greta reluctantly released me, taking the gun from Frederic and pulling up her hood to join Mikael as they stood at the head and feet of Kristoff. Their voices started a low, singsong chant that Frederic joined in as soon as he pulled a wicked-looking knife from his boot.
Magda's eyes widened at the sight of the blade as it glinted in the light I cast. "Pia?"
"It's all right. Just stay calm. I won't let anyone hurt you." I glanced at Kristoff. He lay mute, his body stretched taut, as still as if he was already dead. His clothing bore long gashes, testimony to the fact that Frederic was not hesitant to use the knife he held so nonchalantly. I swallowed back a knot in my throat, forcing down the rising nausea at the proof of Frederic's savagery, my gaze locking with Kristoff's for a moment that seemed to stretch to an eternity.
His eyes were filled with neither a plea nor condemnation. He simply watched me with interest, as if I was some sort of specimen he was examining under a high-powered microscope.
"Any last words?" I asked him, keeping my face placid.
His brows rose slightly, and I saw his Adam's apple bob. "None," he finally said.
I nodded and stepped forward, my eyes on the dagger that Frederic held.
As the chanting increased in volume, something whirled off to the side, like a mini cyclone. Grass and leaves spiraled upward into the air, dust from the dirt it raised leaving a cloudy haze that formed itself into an oval about the size of a small car.
"Ostri," Frederic said, glancing at me, a slight smile on his face as I gazed in astonishment at it.
"That's… heaven?" I asked.
"It is the gateway to Ostri. It is there that you will lead the spirits who have looked to you for guidance—once you have completed the cleansing."
The stone that swung gently from my wrist had turned into a lantern, glowing in a light identical to that which shimmered around my body. It grew brighter.
"Is that it?" a breathless voice asked behind me. I turned to see motes of light gathering in the air, reforming themselves into Marta. "Is that Ostri?"
"That's it. Where are the others?"
"Coming. It's so beautiful," she said, her voice filled with awe as she stared at the dusty portal.
"I guess it is." I couldn't help but smile as the other ghosts slowly re-formed themselves, all of them staring with identical expressions of unadulterated delight at their long-sought destination. "Before you go, I just want to thank you all for everything you've done. No matter what else has happened, or will happen, I'm truly pleased that you will be able to move on."
Dagrun clicked her tongue against her teeth and pushed forward, past the other ghosts, past where Frederic stood, past Kristoff and the still-unmoving Alec. "I'm not going to stay for the speeches. Farewell and all that." She stepped into the swirling mist and disappeared.
"Go ahead, all of you," I told the ghosts, turning back from their beatific smiles as they spoke good-byes before drifting into the vortex.
I had a job to do still, a horrible one that lay before me.
"Get to it, already," Denise ordered, jerking Magda forward another couple of steps.
"In tua luce videmus lucem," Frederic said, gesturing toward Kristoff. "Now is the time, Zorya, daughter of the moon. Draw on our strength. Channel the light that flows through you from the moon goddess mother to cleanse the abomination that lies before us. Right the wrongs."
The chanting increased in volume, filling me with a euphoric sense of lightness. The light increased in intensity, surrounding me with a corona of power that threatened to burst free and fill the entire hilltop.
Kristoff's gaze met mine, and for a moment, for a second, I was possessed with the absolute knowledge that I could end his suffering. It would be humane. It would be quick. It would be… unjust.
"Ulfur?" I asked, struggling to rein back the light that wanted so desperately to pour forth.
"Here."
The air rippled behind Denise.
"Now," I said, spinning around to face the two women. Ulfur materialized, throwing himself forward onto Denise, knocking the gun from her hand as Magda was sent flying with a startled cry.
I gathered the light and yelled as I flung it at Denise, "This is for Anniki!"