“Because he believes things he can’t understand should be controlled. Hecollectsus like coins to keep in his pocket. We either join his army of Ascended or we die.” Reese takes a breath and stands straighter. “I was his first soldier, at least the first one he decided to keep. That backfired on him before he used you to take the next shot. Afatalshot.”
“I—” Again, I shake my head. My jaw aches from where Reese punched me, but it’s only background pain. “I can’t believe he’d do this.”
“Believe it,” he snaps. “He manipulated everything. Your kidnapping was the cover. My P0E was the experiment. The press storm that made you the center of the story while I disappeared was the distraction. As far as the world is concerned, Reese Morgan died seven years ago.”
I’m not sure what I should be freaking out about first. Reese calling himselfAscended. The fact he has some kind of superhuman powers over shadows. The fact that Malcolm was the one behind my kidnapping, that he was behindeverything. Or the way Reese is looking at me right now. Like…
Like he’d love nothing more than to kill me.
I look back at him.Reallylook. At the scars. At the sharper edges, the colder eyes. The living shadows curling faintly around his feet. I stare at the man I mourned for seven years and feel something in my chest start to crack open all over again.
There are still so many holes, so many blanks to fill in. But I don’t think my brain is capable of taking in any more information. It’s already about to overload.
There are three things I know with absolutely certainty.
One, Reese is alive, and he’s more terrifying and powerful than I could’ve ever imagined.
Two, my uncle has hurt people, manipulated me, and is apparently some kind of control-freak, mad-scientist asshole.
Three…
I fucked up.
When I realize my cheeks are wet, I don’t bother wiping the tears away. I don’t have the energy to. I haven’t felt like this in seven fucking years.
“Reese,” I whisper because I’m not capable of more. “I’m so sorry.”
And just for a moment, something wounded flickers in his hard exterior.
“You should be. You helped them win. And now you’re going to pay for it.”
Then the shadows start pressing in.
Cold light. White noise.The smell of ozone.
Flashes of color burst through the dark, violent streaks of blue and gold tearing across the sky like the world itself is splitting open. Static electricity crawls along my skin, raising every hair on my arms. The air hums with power. Too many Ascended in one place. Too many abilities colliding at once.
Someone screams.
Ash’s hand is in mine, and we’re running through a ruined street, concrete dust choking the air, her dark hair whipping behind her as another pulse of light detonates somewhere to our left. Windows explode outward. Someone is throwing heat. Someone else is bending gravity. The sky flickers like a broken screen.
“Reese!”
It’s Ash, and I turn just in time to see the flash, white and blinding.
Then she’s gone from beside me.
The force hurls me back. My shadows surge instinctively,catching my fall, swallowing the blast like water swallowing a stone. When the light fades, the street is half gone.
Ash is on the ground.
I’m beside her before I even realize I’ve moved. Her body feels wrong in my arms. Too cold, too still. Her eyes find mine through the smoke and sparks drifting through the air like dying fireflies.
“Hey,” she breathes.
Blood fills her mouth when she smiles.
My shadows curl around us like claws, like they can fight the world itself if they just hold tight enough.
