Page 84 of The Shadow Sanctum

“There, we’re alone,” Aurelius grinds. “Now what is it? What could possibly be more important than every resource we’ve worked tirelessly to obtain vanishing?”

He tries to mask worry with anger, but it weighs down each syllable.

He blames her.

“I…” Luna takes a breath. When she speaks, her voice is even, but I know her too well to believe she’s calm. “I think it’s very possible that the water supply has been contaminated. The sickness of the Dregs couldn’t have moved to the Hearth so quickly, unless they concocted⁠—”

A round of coughs cuts Luna off. There’s a thump from Aurelius plopping on the couch, the source of the hacking lowering.

“You see?” Luna says. “It’s even hit the Keep. There’s no way it's simply spreading. It’s⁠—”

“It hasn’t hit the Keep.”

There’s a pause.

“Father, there’s no shame in being ill. If it’s in the water supply⁠—”

“I’m not ill,” he growls with too raspy a voice. “I’m stressed. And you can’t seem to take your mind off God’s will to focus on the things we can control.”

“I hear you about the money.” The couch squeaks under Luna’s weight. Her voice is soft. Empathetic. I wouldn’t know it was an act if she hadn’t spoken to me about killing her father just last night. “You’re right, it’s important… But it will sort itself out. We’re not criminals. We’re not degenerates. We’re protected under the First Amendment."

Aurelius groans. “Grow up, Luna.”

Another beat of silence.

“Thorne is having the wells closest to the mines sealed off. The Keepers will collect clean water from the stream further up in the mountains, but the solution is only temporary, and it doesn’t address impending panic. If I could bring someone in to test the water from each well, I could assure the people⁠—”

“If the people need assurance that all is as it’s supposed to be, they don’t belong in the Shadow Sanctum. Mother Nature gave us the water. What she provides is what we’ll accept.”

“You can’t be serious…”

I turn my head toward Angel. His forehead’s wrinkled as he gives me a look that makes me wonder if there’s any blood left in my face.

I’m reeling from the bank records.

I’m reeling from the innocent people dying a preventable death.

I’m reeling because the woman I care most about is about to spend the rest of her life running. And unlike me, there’s no possible way she’ll ever blend in.

Aurelius snaps. His voice is sharp as a blade despite the sickness grinding it down. “The wells will wait until our greater concern is addressed. You can infiltrate our home with science once you’ve figured out how to fix this. You’re the one handling all the money. You’re the one who’s done this.”

“Would you listen to yourself?” There’s a thud as Luna shoots to her feet. Even more as she paces. “The children are sick, and if we don’t do something, they’re going to die. If we don’t do something about the water, everyone will die. Do you understand that?”

“You sound like a heathen.”

“And you told me to grow up… How about we grow up together?”

There’s a pause, long enough that I imagine Aurelius staring her down, his shadow swallowing hers. Then: “What is it you want me to do, Luna?”

Luna sighs heavily, so heavy I picture her body sagging. She sounds exhausted. And desperate. And wrong.

I’m a bastard for not telling her the truth.

When I blink, I focus on Angel. His eyes are narrowed in concentration as he intently listens to the pair of what he’d consider lunatics. If I told her the truth, she might kill him.

No…

She wouldn’t.