章 96: midday of a (scarlet) shattering.

—Damian ripped his blade from the Friar's body.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

He staggered and vomited, hot bile spilling over his lips and splattering onto the floor of the church. Scorching flames roared around him, jumping between the shattered pews and filling the building with a thick, cloying smoke. 

He coughed, gasping for breath, one arm pressed tight over his mouth.

Tia? Where's Tia?!—

Damian's eyes were wide as he scanned the church, his mind reeling as he tried to make sense of the last few minutes—no, the last hour of his life.

That's right, I sent Tia back to the Palace after we teleported. Agwe and Elijah sent the Wings here, to this church, and I followed them. And then the Wings, they—