I made a cross from my forehead to chest, shoulder to shoulder. And then I kissed Jember’s cheek and carefully removed the amulet from around his neck and put it on.

Magnus had stood up before I did, pressing against the opposite wall, staring at the two of them. When I joined him he dropped his gaze, as if embarrassed to be looking. “I’m so sorry,” he murmured.

“He’s not in pain anymore.” It was dim in the hall, the candles burning low, but it was obvious Magnus was pale. He’d tried to wipe the blood from around his mouth with the blanket, but some was still smudged and dried there. “Are you okay?”

“Are you?”

“I’m not sure how to feel.” I looked at Jember and Saba again, linked even in death, and … it was so tragically beautiful. But maybe the fact I could feel that instead of numbness was a good sign. “We should … clean up the blood.”

“Not now.” Magnus grabbed my shoulders with blanket-covered hands. “Give yourself a minute to mourn, at least.”

“There’s no point in crying.”

“What is that?” He lifted my chin so I’d look at him. “Another survival habit? You don’t need to suppress your humanity anymore, Andromeda … as if I’d ever let you live on the streets again.”

I let out a breath of laughter, but it felt strange, considering the circumstance. The emotion was weighing on me, but I couldn’t cry. I had to keep a clear head. How could I ever bear to clean my father’s body if I—

“What’s that smell?” Magnus inhaled a few times, quickly. “Smoke?”

It only took that one word to strike my memory. I’d knocked over candles earlier … and the Evil Eye was no longer making the wood immune. “Fire!”

I ran to the hall we’d started in, Magnus on my heels. Bright flames had enveloped the far end of it already and, with the amount of wood in the house, it wouldn’t be long until it reached us.

“My sketchbooks!” Magnus cried.

“Forget the books.” I dragged him in the opposite direction. “We have to get to the stable.”

“Wait, I need clothes—”

“You can’t go upstairs, the house is on fire.”

“My first public appearance in three years can’t be in a blanket.”

I tripped to a stop on seeing the open door where Jember and Saba still sat, for a brief moment considering bringing them. They’re dead, Andi. They would have to be buried here, with the rest of the memories.

But Magnus must’ve had my same initial thought, because I had to drag him back before he could get to the office.