She should have explained Abraxas’s pendant, but there had not been time before, and now it was too late. “I have a plan.”

“I cannot let you do it.”

“It’s too late,” she whispered, glancing over at the accusator, who was staring reproachfully at them. “Just trust me.”

Mariel shook her head, slowly and then more fiercely. “This is all wrong,” she murmured. “I cannot let this happen. To you, to Lilitha. When it was my doing.”

“Quiet, Mariel.”

“Damn you, Celeste,” she hissed. “Stop telling me what to do!” She lifted her chin, as proud and defiant as any fallen angel. “If I am bound for hell, I will not drag you down with me. And I will go on my own terms.”

She lunged for the gloria, catching Celeste by surprise. She snatched the metal cicada from her palm, and before Celeste could stop her, Mariel had stuck it into her mouth.

Celeste watched in horror as Mariel gagged, mouth wide. The bug’s legs wrapped around her tongue, and its wings began to flutter. Mariel swayed on her feet, then staggered to the center of the room.

The crowd erupted into shouts and confusion.

The judge hammered his gavel, yelling, “A witness cannot be compelled! A witness cannot be compelled!”

“Mariel!” Celeste rushed forward, but the accusator seized her and held her back. “Mariel, no!” But her pleas were lost in the burgeoning chaos.

“It was my hand!” Mariel cried.

The judge froze, his arm still raised. The Virtues, shouting and pointing, stilled. Only Lilitha moved. She lifted her head, gaze fixed upon Mariel.

“I killed Daniel Alameda.” Mariel looked around the room, her golden-rimmed eyes ablaze. “It was my hand that held the knife and ruined his life. The same way he ruined mine.”

Shouting erupted again, this time in rage.

“She is with child!” Celeste shouted. It was the only thing she could think that might slow their vengeance. “She carries Virtue Daniel’s child!”

The crowd fell into shocked silence.

Celeste threw the accusator off and went to Mariel, who was weeping and grotesque, with the gloria still in her mouth. Celeste reached for it, and at her touch, its wings ceased to flutter, and its legs contracted. Once it was in hand, she hurled it away.

Mariel collapsed into her arms. “I couldn’t let you do it,” she whispered. “You’re my sister.”

“I know,” Celeste soothed, even though her heart shattered. “It will be okay.”

She dropped them gently to the floor, Mariel cradled in her arms. She raised her head and spoke to the Circle. “If you sentence her to death, you sentence an innocent child to die, too!”

“She murdered its father!” The accusator spoke for the first time. “And confessed to the crime, not compelled, but by her own volition. What life would it have, burdened by such sin?”

“I will take the child!”