Maeve caught the pattern the second he said it out loud.
She stepped in close to the next booth over and pressed two fingers against the wood, and a thin gold line burned across the inside of the frame, marking it.
[MAEVE CALLAHAN — HEXLIGHT BRAND]
[CONFESSION BOOTH ANCHOR EXPOSED]
James was already moving a body toward it.
He kicked a fallen Penitent into the glowing frame and triggered it before Seraphine could turn to stop him.
[JAMES GANNER — CORPSE EXPLOSION]
[CONFESSION BOOTH ANCHOR DESTROYED]
BOOM.
The booth blew apart from the inside. The chain wrapped around Declan's ribs went slack all at once and dropped to the floor dead. The Ironwall officer's footing steadied under him.
Seraphine staggered, one hand going to her own chest like something inside her had just been struck.
They had found the way to win.
She understood it at the same moment James did.
