Everything Is Eternal (Book Two)

XXXVIII

Kate didn't care what Evelyn said. They could never take Will to a sanctuary.

Dominic eventually left Will's room and Evelyn went to give Will the medicine.

Kate looked at the older dissident. "What do you think?"

Dominic sighed. "He's holding something back."

Her heart lurched. "He is?"

"But I think he hates those bastards more than ever," he said bluntly. "I also think he's under a great deal of stress and isn't thinking straight. The combination of mind games and Eternal Light always has some effect. My initial reaction is that he didn't turn. If only because they didn't have the right motive to push him over the edge. There's always something... I think that Sister Celine was trying too hard not to fuck him up. Watanabe didn't feel the same way."

Kate wanted to argue that they would never have the right motive to push Shin over the edge. But it wouldn't do any good. Not while everyone, including Will, thought Shin had turned.

Kate and Evelyn discreetly headed back home. She really wanted to stay with Will, but she had already been gone several days and she needed to make arrangements with Matilda and Arthur to bring Will back. When she returned, Arthur told her the authorities had contacted them.

"They wanted to know if Will showed up," Arthur reported. "I told them as far as we knew, Will was dead. And he had last been seen in Silver Paradise. Then I asked them why they were suddenly disturbing us about Will after months of denying any knowledge of him."

"Clever to turn it back on them."

"That was Matilda's idea. She didn't want to ask it herself. She was afraid it would seem overly aggressive coming from a woman."

Kate frowned. She understood Matilda's strategy, but it was still irksome to rely on a man. "What did they say?"

"They said there might be some new intelligence that an extremist group recruited Will."

"So they can arrest him if he shows up," Kate said.

"But if they arrest him, they can't do it secretly this time," Arthur said. "That's the main point. The sooner he's with us, the sooner he's under the protection of visibility. Matilda's already making arrangements with a priest that will give Will a certificate of cleansing if he simply gives a verbal recantation."

As soon as he finished speaking, she shook her head. "Will won't do that."

"If his burns are that bad, we can get him some official help if he gets his certificate," Arthur said. "Besides, it's not just for him, it's for you. If he's declared officially corrupted, it brings far too much scrutiny to you. But you'll both be free if he gets his certificate."

Kate focused on the hazy glow of an ornate lamp. "They'll want him to be silent on the doings of Sage Sanctuary."

"That was always going to be part of the deal," Arthur said. "But Matilda says that Will wouldn't have any proof of their actions. Only his word."

She knew where this was going and didn't like it. But she couldn't lose Will again.

"Did Will have a message for Matilda?" Arthur asked.

Kate hesitated, twisting her wedding ring. "He's in a lot of pain," she said, unwilling to admit Will's suspicion of his family. "It was hard."

Arthur put his hand on Kate's shoulder. "I'm sorry," he said sincerely.

"Thank you," Kate said. "I mean it. You've done so much for Will... and you don't even know him."

"I remember him," he said. "Back when he was a surly young kid. He would sometimes say shocking things about the Eternal. I thought he was just a brat."