“But she’s still alive,” Sean said.

“Technically, yes.”

“What do we do? There has to be something that can be done?” Arland demanded.

“There is nothing that can be done,” Tony said. “I’m so sorry.”

Above us, far within the inn, the corruption awoke within its prison. It smashed against the inside of the plastic tube, coated it, burrowed into it, and made a tiny crack. Gertrude Hunt screamed, but nobody heard it.

* * *

We lay in bed. He held me. His arm was around me. I couldn’t feel it.

“This is the part when you tell me, ‘Sean Evans, get out of my bed. You’re not invited.’”

I said nothing.

“I will stay here with you,” he said. “I’m not leaving. I’m not taking you to the Sanctuary.”

The darkness thickened, trying to block his voice, but I still heard him.

“I love you. I won’t let anyone hurt you. I won’t let anyone take you away. You’re not alone. Just come back to me, love. Come home.”

* * *

Time had no meaning in darkness. The darkness was jealous. It pushed everything else out. Joy, anger, sadness. Life.

They brought me to the heart of the inn. I lay in the soft darkness, while around me the inn wept tears glowing with magic.

Maud was crying again. “Why isn’t she bonding?”

“Because her inn already died,” Tony said. “Right now you are the only thing keeping Gertrude Hunt from going dormant.”

“But she was only bonded to it for a minute.”

“It doesn’t matter. She’s beyond our reach. If Gertrude Hunt can’t reach her, nobody can.”

“I wish she never saw that fucking seed.”

“She couldn’t help it. No innkeeper would be able to resist a sprouting seed. It is who we are. We tend to the inns. That she saved Gertrude Hunt is a miracle.”

Maud growled like a vampire. “I hate this. Fucking Draziri. Fucking Assembly. She asked you for help and you did nothing. Nothing!”

“I’m so sorry,” Tony said.

The corruption slithered out of its prison, and dripped out, one molecule at a time.

Sean picked me up off the floor and carried me away.

* * *

“It’s a simple plan,” Sean said. “Simple plans are best. Tomorrow is New Year’s eve. Lots of noise, lots of fireworks. The perfect cover for us. We bring all the remaining parts of the Archivarius together at the same time. Arland and Lord Soren will get one, Tony, Wing and Wilmos will take the second, my parents volunteered to bring in the third, and I will get the fourth.”

“Alone?” Arland frowned.

“I’m taking Marais with me. We bring them all here at the same time and complete the Archivarius. The Hiru are on board. They know where all of the parts of the Archivarius are now.”

“The Draziri will pull out all the stops,” Tony said. “We’ll have a full-out assault.”

The corruption slithered closer.

“Let them,” my sister said. “Let them all come. I can’t wait.”

“It will be too much,” Gabriele said.

“Yes,” Corwin agreed.

“I’ll talk to our people,” Wilmos said.

“Will we still have Christmas?” Helen asked. She was sitting on the floor by my chair, hugging my leg.

It was suddenly quiet.

“Yes,” Sean said. “We will still have Christmas. It’s important to her. We will kill every Draziri, until there is nothing left but blood and bodies. And then we’ll have Christmas.”

The darkness around me grew a little thinner.

* * *

He never left me. He talked to me when I lay in bed with an IV and he lay beside me and held me. He talked to me when he carried me to the bathtub. He sat with me when the inn moved me downstairs during the day. He held me when Maud cried because it hurt her to look at me.

He told me he loved me. He joked. He read books to me. He held my hand.

The world hurt. There was no pain in the darkness. I wanted to stay wrapped in it, but he refused to let me go, always there, connecting me to the outside like a lifeline.

I was lying on the blanket under the Christmas tree. Above me the lights twinkled in the branches. So many lights. Olasard, the Ripper of Souls, lay next to me, making muffins on my blanket.

“How long will you keep this up?” Sean’s father asked.

“As long as it takes,” Sean said next to me.

“It’s been four days. Maybe…”

Sean looked at him.

“Okay,” Corwin said. “Forget I said anything.”

He left. The Hiru came and Sean took me to their room to float in their pool and look at the sky I made for them.

“We are so sorry we’ve brought this on you,” Sunset said.

“You should’ve given us up,” Moonlight whispered.

“That’s not who she is,” Sean said.

“We will always remember,” Sunset said. “Always. Every one of us. If we survive, our children and our children’s children will always remember.”

“The Archivarius arrives tomorrow. Will your people be ready?” Sean asked.

“Yes,” the Hiru said at the same time.

“Are you ready to go upstairs, love?” Sean asked me.

“Does she ever answer?”

“She will answer when the time comes.”

“What if she won’t?” Moonlight whispered.