Lucien turned his face slightly toward Astraea but his voice went only through the thread between them.
[Sister. We will not survive what comes next if it is only us.]
Astraea's eyes did not move. Her reply was immediate.
[I was already weighing the same verdict.]
Lucien let out a slow breath, then pushed the thought forward.
[It has been too long since we lingered here. The Gargoyles may breach the boundary at any moment. I can carry another pact. Please help me choose.]
Astraea's lips curved with quiet cruelty.
[I will convince them. A chain is easiest to break when the prisoner believes it was their own choice.]
She lowered her gaze to the ruined battlefield, then reached down and seized the Covenant-Breaker's corpse by the horned ridge of its skull as if it weighed no more than a cloak.
Lucien understood her intent at once.
A trophy. A provocation.
Lucien blinked.
Astraea blinked a heartbeat after.
They left the Liberator members to rest.
•••
