The words formed from ash had lost the last warmth of their flames, revealing a cold truth to Alice: the Goddess did not trust her.
That was the heart of it.
It was only natural. Even Alice did not consider herself trustworthy. That did not stop her from making a note against the Goddess in her mental ledger.
Not that she could or would actually do anything about it.
With nothing else to do, Alice turned her attention to Dunn.
She really wanted to know why the captain's first reaction had been to write to Madam Daly.
She waited and waited. By the following evening, Dunn still had not received a reply from Madam Daly. Instead, Madam Daly herself arrived.
Watching from afar as Madam Daly entered the church and sat in the front row to pray quietly, Alice blinked. She concealed herself, took a seat nearby, and copied Madam Daly's posture.
Eavesdropping in person really does feel better...
Alice let out a quiet breath and waited in her seat.
People could still knock on the church door at night and receive help, but the church did have closing hours. Its doors closed, though someone remained on duty.
The existence of Sleepless greatly reduced the Church of Evernight's staffing burden. If all they had to do was keep watch inside the church, these Sequence 9 Beyonders, who needed only three or four hours of sleep, could each cover two people's shifts.
It seemed Dunn had no intention of taking that shift tonight. After nightfall, he closed the church doors and walked to the pew where Daly sat.
Daly seemed to sense him. She lowered her hands, opened her eyes, and looked up at Dunn with a smile. Alice heard her ask:
"What is it, Dunn? You said in your letter