I grinned. “Maybe not. But . . . there’s a practical side to it, too. You’ve been worried about the Council causing trouble for you or Anne some day, right? Well, think about it. If you want to protect yourself from the Council, having a position in the Keepers would be a pretty good way to do it.”

Variam started to answer and then stopped. It was obvious that he hadn’t thought of that. “You think that’d work?”

“It’s worth a try.” I took another glance into the futures and straightened. “Time to go.”

“I’m staying,” Variam said.

“Vari—”

“You don’t want us killing anyone because of you,” Variam said. “I get it. But you’re still going to need a way out. So just in case things don’t go so smooth, I’ll be waiting out here. Okay?”

I looked back at Variam, then gave him a nod. “I’ll see you soon.”

* * *

As I walked down the hillside towards Richard’s mansion, I put Variam out of my mind. The timing of this was going to be tricky; too late and the Nightstalkers would overwhelm me, too early and I wouldn’t have them as a buffer. The futures were narrowing quickly, and I knew Will and the Nightstalkers would make their gate in minutes. The alarm ward on the front door waited quietly, at rest. I opened the front door, feeling the faint tingle as the ward triggered, and walked in.

As soon as I was inside I broke into a run. I’d already checked that the nocturne trap hadn’t been reset but I checked again as I ran down the corridor, just to be safe. It was gone, and I ran down the dark stairs, my diviner’s senses guiding me. The chapel was cold and pitch-black, and my footsteps echoed on the stone. I made what few preparations I had time for, then stood in the archway and waited.

As I stood in the darkness I checked my weapons. My 1911 rested in its holster, its weight an unfamiliar presence at my hip. I didn’t honestly expect it to do me any good, but with any luck the Nightstalkers wouldn’t know that. My combat knife sat next to it and my one-shots were distributed in pockets around the belt. I’d already laid out one of my forcewalls at the chapel exit at my feet, the gold discs placed so their wall would block the path between the chapel and the deeper basements. It was the same exit that Shireen had been trying to reach when Rachel had killed her.