“I could ask you the same question, Alarik,” Bastien replied without turning away from Bayla. “As far as I know, you've been expelled from this territory too.”

Alarik did not respond to the Ruisangor but hurried over to us.

“Emely, you called me and said there was an emergency. I hurried and...”

Alarik fell silent.

Diana began to sob and shake her motionless daughter again, but it didn't increase the chances of her survival, nor did it cause any reaction.

Bayla was gone. And I was in shock.

In front of me lay Bayla Adams, the girl who had just moved in next door to us. Lifeless.

The problem was that it wasn't just any girl anymore. It was Bay. I didn't know exactly what that meant. I just felt a sense of loss in my chest, strong and painful.

“Who attacked my daughter?!” Diana cried out angrily, lowering her head to Bayla's chest, where she sobbed bitterly.

“Your daughter...” Bastien whispered, looking up, but the wind, which had just risen and was colder than in recent days, swallowed his words.

It blew through my hair and made me look up at the sky, which had turned dark, almost purple. Clouds piled up like mountains that were about to collapse. A rumble of thunder sounded in the distance.

“Who did this to my girl?!” Diana sobbed hysterically through her tears.

“She's not dead...” Bastien said without a sound, and I looked at him in surprise.

Diana also raised her head and looked at Bastien, whose entire appearance was becoming more and more puzzling.

“What are you talking about, Bastien?” Diana gasped, but Bastien didn't seem to care.

“Her heart,” he said instead. “It's beating, barely noticeable.”

I had never understood how Ruisangors' senses worked. I couldn't believe what he had just said. I was sure that her heart had stopped beating.

Diana started to cry harder again when my father finally pulled her to him and held her tight.

“My little girl. Who would do such a cruel thing?!” Diana's voice broke.

“Diana, she's not dead,” Bastien repeated.

I looked at Alarik, who hadn't said anything else so far and was just staring down at the girl.

“I have to take her with me,” Bastien finally said, which once again sent everyone present into an uproar.

“No...” Diana gasped in panic and looked up. “You can't take her...”

“Whatever happened, the girl stays here!” it came angrily from the street, where a black VW had parked behind Alarik's car.

“Alarik, Bastien... You should get out of here as quickly as possible before Gloria...” Then the mayor spotted me and Emely on the ground, Bayla between us.

“What have you done…” she burst out in shock and rushed over to us. “Which one of you touched one of our sisters?”

She also felt the pulse, and like everyone else except Bastien, who seemed to be playing a trick on us, she realized that there was nothing there except blood staining her fingers.

“Bastien...” The shock on her face grew, and she slowly turned her head toward the tall man.

“It wasn't him,” Diana continued to sob, burying her head in my father's shoulder.

Dad had told Mia and me that they had both been very good friends back then. I wondered if it had ever been more than that. I postponed the thought again because I was aware that it was forbidden. My father always followed the rules without exception.

“We have to get her to Moenia. Now! Maybe I'll be able to get her to...”

“The last place she belongs is in your damn temple,” Bastien interrupted the Domini in annoyance. “She's coming with me.”

He put his arms around her body and picked her up as if she were light as a feather.

“This girl is one of us. She's part of the Circle. And the last thing I'm going to do is leave her to one of you!”

The mayor sounded unusually strict and upset. I wouldn't have reacted any other way. And yet I was too shocked to understand any of this mess.

“This girl can't be one of you,” Bastien said in a serious tone and took a step back.

The fact that he could just disappear with her at any moment, like Adrian did with Larissa, made me jump up. If he ran, so would I.

He held Bayla's lifeless body in his arms. “She's with us now.”

“What are you talking about, Bastien?” Alarik sounded confused, just as I felt.

“If she survives, and she will, then she's one of us,” Bastien insisted impatiently.

“No... She'll die because she doesn't carry the conditions for such things,” Amara said, approaching Bastien slowly.

“I can hear her heartbeat, Amara. You know what that means. She will become one of us.”

Amara shook her head in haste. “No, Bastien! She's one of us. She's the daughter of one of our sisters. And the reason you can still hear her heartbeat is because she might be about to die. I can help her!”

Bastien didn't seem to want to discuss it any further, but instead gave Diana a look that could have meant anything. But he said nothing. He looked at Bayla, who looked ashen despite the warm lantern light. She looked like a statue of a goddess, like the ones that adorned the houses of the Quatura a few streets away.

“You put her down right now if you don't want this to have serious consequences,” Amara tried a different approach. “This could turn out pretty well for you if you behave properly.”

Bastien seemed to be struggling for temper. “Amara... you don't understand.”

“Bastien, that's enough. She's one of us!” Diana told him and straightened up. She wiped away her tears, which had something childlike and fragile about it. “I want Amara to take care of her! Here! In my house!”

“But in Moenia...” Amara began, but Diana interrupted her with unexpected assertiveness.

“If you don't want a war, then you should bring her to my house. I think everyone here knows that the death of my daughter would mean chaos, and by the time she is somewhere else, it may be too late!”

I hardly recognized Ms. Adams. She immediately seemed less fragile, more stubborn, and superior.