For a moment, Angel almost thought her eyes had deceived her.
If not for the clarity of her Dark Vision and her memory as a High Sequence Beyonder, she might have believed the man sitting in the Great Prayer Hall in Church of Evernight clerical robes was merely someone who looked like him.
But hadn't Pierce Turner failed to advance from Sequence 5 Gatekeeper to Sequence 4 Nightwatcher by switching pathways, turned into a monster, and then died to her Calamity charm? He had even entrusted her with the truth and his Beyonder Characteristic to deliver to the Church. The Night Emblem formed from that contaminated characteristic was still with Mr. Fool, awaiting purification by Mr. Azik before it could be returned to the Church of Evernight...
Angel quickly ran through everything she knew about Senior Deacon Pierce. The more she considered it, the stranger it seemed.
Even inside Saint Samuel Cathedral's Great Prayer Hall, practically under the Goddess's gaze, Angel felt a cold sweat coming on.
She stole a glance at Klein, who sat nearer the front. He had already lowered his head as the choir sang, just like the other worshippers.
I'd better not draw attention to myself... She lowered her head too and prayed silently. When the choir's opening hymn ended, Bishop Electra took up Night's Revelation and delivered a sermon that lasted half an hour.
Finally, the pastors distributed water and bread for Holy Communion, allowing every worshipper to share Evernight's favor in remembrance of the dead.
Angel had known this was coming and had stopped dinner before she was full, so she did not waste the simple communion meal. As she washed down the dry bread with water, she kept watching the other worshippers, carefully glancing toward "Pierce Turner." The senior deacon, real or not,