Page 169 of Storm Caller

In the end, our crew consists of a dozen people, including me, Henry, Navy, Justin, Fisher, Calliope, and much to my annoyance, my father.

I have no idea why he insisted on tagging along, but he wouldn’t be deterred. So now he’s walking alongside us in his dress shoes and his white shirt, looking decidedly out of place.

“Do you have any idea how to use that?” I ask, gesturing to the stunner strapped across his back.

“I went through Patrol training at Amery,” he says stiffly. “I wasn’t always a suit in an office.”

I offer him a skeptical look as he adjusts the weapon, seeking a more comfortable position for the strap. Skies, I feel like tying him up and leaving him attached to a lamppost.

The rest of our motley crew consists of other Fog members, including Brooklyn and Danica.

“Which way?” Fisher asks a trembling Mowry.

“The tunnels,” Mowry says. “Under the Central Park Tree Farm.”

“You had better be telling us the truth,” Justin says, brandishing his phone. “Like I said. A few calls . . .” He mimics a knife slicing his throat, and Mowry blanches.

“Of course,” he says. “I swear to you. You’ll find your friend and the cure.”

The streets of New Manhattan are empty, but I can hear clashes of the Veil’s attack along the distant perimeter.

The rain is falling harder, obscuring our surroundings, a greenish mist fogging the air. I open my mouth, letting a few drops soothe my dry tongue as I close my eyes and imagine a future where everyone is safe and happy and this moment is a distant memory. It feels like we’re balancing on a knife-thin edge, waiting for everything to collapse like a row of paper warriors facing down an army.

I stay close to Mowry, while Fisher walks on his other side, gripping his arm. Calliope stalks behind us with her rifle in hand, just daring Mowry to attempt an escape. As much as I don’t really care for either of them, I must admit they’re the right people for this job.

“Explain what you meant when you said that Sol is using Rook,” I say.

Mowry shuffles several steps as he offers me a tentative glance. Rain coats his hair, soaking through his shirt. “Nyxia was telling you the truth about many things. She did steal our research. She did run. The chancellors did take it from her, but that was only because she was no longer making progress. They’ve also known about the potential for her madness for a long time.”

“Have they?”

“They don’t like how much they must rely on her, but they also built this city around what she was capable of. Without her, they understand New Manhattan will be left without its most valuable resource. She’s spent the last year hiding how bad things have gotten, hence covering up the murders.”

Mowry gestures toward my father, who’s walking on my other side, listening to every word.

“She knew the cure I was developing wouldn’t help, so she begged me to look for another answer. I could never say no to her, and so I began trying to develop a different sort of antidote. However, I suspected all along that we’d need another Caller. So, she kept an eye on you, biding her time until the day came that we would need you.

“When you fled New Manhattan, she panicked and followed you into the Tiera Frais,” Mowry continues. “She couldn’t let you go. It was her plan all along to use you, but she didn’t know how to get around the problem of your father until the Solitude boy showed up.”

My gaze meets my father’s as Mowry falls silent.

“Why did she need us to get information from Trinity if she already had access to the cure?” I ask.

“A distraction.”

“What do you mean?”

“She wanted to keep you busy while we figured out how to make use of you both. She thought an assignment would ensure you’d remain in New Manhattan. And it seems like it worked.”

I stare at him in horror.

She tricked me into befriending Trinity?

I think I’m going to be sick.

“But if I hadn’t been trying to get friendly with her, we wouldn’t have figured out where they were keeping Edward,” I say.

Mowry’s lips flatten. “Yes. I don’t imagine she anticipated that.”