Rhyden didn’t look up from his laptop when he scoffed, fingers still moving. He sat on the couch far from Cyrus. "Trainee," Rhyden said. "You’re no full-fledged Hunter. Afledgling,maybe. And a liability."
Her watch buzzed suddenly, and she lifted her wrist, staring at the message that came across from Xara.
I need you, please.
A beat passed. Then another message came.It’s about Keir. He’s being reckless.
Her brows furrowed. Xara would truly ask her to come in the middle of a city-wide blackout?
She felt a warning thrum at the base of her skull. This wasn’t like her to be so rash, so foolish. Mostly. If she couldn’t help as a Hunter, maybe she could help as a friend?
A shadow drifted over her bare feet, cool like the winter. She shivered even as the apartment’s heavy air burned with every inhale.
The shadow coiled higher, as if spurred by her reaction, until she felt it nudge her spine, curl around her earrings, and seep into her ears, straight into her brain. Whispering things to her. Things she couldn’t hear, but feel.
She felt as if she had no other choice but to go.
Rin was in a trance as she walked to Rhyden’s room, where she’d left her phone. She lifted it and found Xara’s message there.
She typed a reply.Where are you?
Xara responded immediately.Our dorm. Come quickly, please?Another pause.And alone.
Atlas whisperedinto Vesperin’s ear. His shadows drifted over her,intoher. This was the only way. She would never have gone of her own volition. No, his Star was too smart for that. Vesperin already had suspicions about the other girl. She needed a nudge.
Atlas must be the one to do so.
It was a masterful web the Celestial wove. The clock was ticking.
And time was running out.
Soon.
But first, he made them sleep.
Rin dressed quicklyin tight pants and a thin, white top with small straps. She laced up her holster-style corset on top, filling it with her Echogun and a few knives, before she shoved her feet into her boots.
Every time Rin paused, trying to shake herself awake, the shadows forced her to continue. Until she left Rhyden’s bedroom and walked down the hall in a daze. It was quiet. She waited for them to stop her, ask after her. Nothing ever came. Rhyden was slumped over his laptop, Cyrus was asleep on the couch, andAuren was awake—watching her. He stood before the door, cloak on, hood drawn. Scythe in his gloved hands.
Rin stopped and stared up at him.
"Vesperin, where are you going?"
"Out," she said, the word breathless.
From the shadows of his hood, Auren’s eyes searched her face. "To be a Hunter? You understand I cannot let you go."
"Not to be a Hunter, but to be a friend. You will let me go, Auren." Shadows tickled her nape. "I have to go."
Whatever he saw in her eyes made him step aside, scythe lowered. He stood taut like a bowstring, head following after her as she opened the door and left the apartment.
He would follow her, she realized distantly. Wherever she went.
Solar City’soppressive heat clung to Rin as she walked the short distance from Rhyden’s penthouse to the Academy gates. Inside, she breathed a sigh of relief. It was the quietest she’d ever seen the Academy. Everyone was gone, called to hunt.
When she pushed open the door to her dorm, she saw Xara standing in the kitchen. The lights were off.
"Xara?" Rin asked.
