“Lois found some excellent sirloin at the butcher shop today. Or at least it smells excellent. Let’s dig in.”
Mom and Dad and Hannah are already in the dining room. They sit down as we join them, my sister shoving her hands under the table. She doesn’t meet my eyes, just stares at her plate while the staff bring in the first course and the wine.
Did she get into trouble again? She’s always coming up with the most inventive projects… but her follow-through isn’t great. And if you’re haphazard with your magic, it’s easy for whatever you’re trying to create to turn into chaos instead.
Savory smells as mouth-watering as Pa promised wind through the room, but my stomach stays balled.
Dad waits until I’ve taken my first couple of bites before clearing his throat.
He gazes over us from the head of the table all benevolence. We all look at him, but Mom and Pa’s eyes flick toward me first.
What’s going on here?
“We’ve been having some important discussions, Byron,” Dad says, “and we felt we should loop you in, because of course it affects you too.”
He waits for a response. My mouth has gone dry. I barely manage to swallow my mouthful. “What affects me?”
He folds his hands together at the edge of the table. “You know your sister has been… struggling with the expectations we face here. We’re considering moving to the London residence this summer—and staying in the UK for the rest of her schooling. The atmosphere in the Americas has gotten more toxic than any of us likes.”
I stare at him, my heart thudding in my ears. “We’re moving overseas for eight years?”
Across an ocean from the match who’s stolen more andmore of my heart, from the tentative groundwork I’ve laid here for my own life.
Mom reaches to pat my forearm. “We realize it’d disrupt your final year of undergraduate studies. You’re an adult now—if you wanted to stay on here on your own, of course we’d understand. But there is a wonderful graduate program in London. It might benefit you as well, and it’d be best to start making connections right away.”
Dad nods, watching me expectantly. Waiting for me to be the dutiful son and say of course I’ll stick with my family.
My body balks from throat to gut.
I can’t quite commit to the performance today.
“I’ll have to look into the program and see what makes the most sense,” I say in as warm a tone as I can manage. “How soon would we need to make arrangements?”
The corners of Dad’s mouth dip downward. “As soon as possible. Give it some thought if you need to… but we Worths are always strongest when we stay together.”
Nineteen
Elodie
Another photograph slaps onto a tabletop. Uncle Nik looms over me, hands planted on either side of the picture, his gaze intense. “All we can do is keep going. The world needs us—it needs you.”
Afterimages of all the targets I’ve aimed my glim at swim before my eyes. I squeeze my eyelids shut, but that only brings the memories into sharper clarity. “Why? All these people—tokillthem, so many of them?—”
“Because there’s no other way to stop them. Because of how many more people they’ll hurt if we don’t. Because you’re blessed with an incredible talent thanks to the radiants who consorted with your family line, and you have a responsibility to use it for good.”
Nik leans against the table next to my chair. He rarely touches me during our meetings, but now he sets his hand on top of mine.
“You know the kinds of power a lucent can wield better thanalmost anyone, Elodie,” he says. “Imagine sick, greedy minds using their magic to serve their own interests, taking down everyone who stands in their way. Imagine dozens of evils like that, intent on twisting our world to their ends, forcing everyone to get in line or be mowed down…”
He pauses, and his voice turns even darker. “Unless we eliminate them, they’ll keep going. And if they ever find out that you stood against them, they’ll destroy everyone you’ve ever cared about.”
He smacks his palm against the table for emphasis, and?—
My eyes pop open. I gasp a breath and roll onto my side, my heart pounding so fast my stomach shudders with it.
The trip to my first assassination spot must have broken something inside me. The dreams of those meetings and missions with Uncle Nik are coming every night now, sometimes twice.
I heave off the no-longer-comforting covers and hunker down on the floor to throw myself into my usual workout. Keeping my body as fit as possible helps me avoid any sprain or sickness that my glim will inflict on someone else while it heals me. The adrenaline will wash away the worst of the nightmare’s chill.
