Burying the Shadow (72 page)

‘He was
Mikha’il.’

I had to put
my hands over my mouth to stop myself making an undignified sound.
The great traitor had supped my ichor, shared my bed? It was
unthinkable! And Sammael had been so close to him without knowing
it. At some point they might even have been in my house at the same
time!

Rayojini
reached out and touched my arm. ‘It doesn’t matter now, does it?’
she said, and grinned, wrinkling up her nose. ‘I found him rather a
pathetic creature actually, and I’m sure he’s in need of a good
soulscaper, but still... being conjoined with Sammael should cure
his problems.’

‘You really
have seen wonderful things, haven’t you?’ I exclaimed.

‘Nothing as
wonderful as seeing you as a
real
person.’ She smiled. ‘This
is all too... hmm, no words for it.’

‘Let’s go,’ I
said. ‘We have all the time we need now, for words.’

Rayojini
narrowed her eyes and said. ‘Prove to me you’re not going to
disappear again.’

I abandoned
propriety and held out my arms. She closed her eyes, and we hugged
each other fiercely. She squeezed the breath out of me and then
pulled away a little. ‘Still there. Good!’ she said, and then held
me close again. ‘Thank... Who shall we thank? I know: thank
Eloat!’

I said it too,
and then we walked down the steps together, towards the waiting
carriage.