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She drums her fingers against my skin through my sweater. “Come back. I like it better when I can see you.”
I nuzzle her cheek. “But isn’t this fun?”
Her hand rises to trace the line of my jaw, her eyes managing to find mine even though she’s looking right through them. “Sure. But it’s even more fun when you’re completely here with me. And I know—you shouldn’t strain your abilities just for this.”
The last thing I want is for her to feel guilty. I draw myself back into visibility with a faint prickling over my skin and offer her a wry smile. “After the next few days, it won’t matter that much if I disappear anyway. Who needs the guy who’s all about holding on to the past when it’s time to carve out a new future?”
I meant the comment to be a joke, but I can hear it land flat even before Riva’s face falls. She twines her fingers into the tight curls of my hair and tugs me a little closer so the tip of her nose grazes mine.
“Don’t you ever say that,” she says fiercely. “Don’t you ever eventhinkthat we don’t need you.”
I choke up and have to grope for my voice to reply. “I was kidding. I’m not going anywhere.”
But maybe there was a little part of me preparing that I might have to stretch my abilities that far—too far to come back from.
Riva scoots closer, aligning her smaller body against mine as if she needs my heat like she does air. “Drey—when everything was screwed up and none of you knew what to believe, you were the first one to see who I really was. The first who decided to trust me over the guardians.That’swho you are. If you remember anything, I want it to be that.”
I wrap my arm around her and hug her to me. She’s right, isn’t she?
If it hadn’t been for me—if I hadn’t been there—who knows how bad that disaster would have gotten? Whether any of us would have made it this far?
“I just… I wish I could help by giving them something instead of taking it away.”
Riva’s breath tickles across my skin with her voice. “Maybe you can. Maybe you can show them the good memories the rest of us had that they were a part of, once we know they’re ready.” She brushes her thumb across my cheek. “Are you going to tell me how it went?”
I can’t really avoid it any longer. I hold on to the woman I love and steady myself for the story I have to tell her tonight. “There’s some good and some bad…”
And even as the words come out, I can’t help thinking, isn’t every part of life like that? We make the best of what we can, just like everyone else in this messy but incredible world.
Twenty-Eight
Riva
Iclimb up the stairs to the ground level of the facility so that my phone has a signal again. In the whitewashed hallway, I sink down on the freshly scrubbed floor with my back against the wall and tap out a quick search.
The latest news reports about the hunters’ recent public statements are just rehashing yesterday’s articles. The clip of the New York City group commenting on how they’ve heard that “there are people who’ve been standing up to these monsters for a lot longer than us” and “they’re working on a weapon that can defeat any of their crazy powers that’s almost ready for action” has circulated all around the world.
Rollick’s people made sure the vaguely phrased inside info was passed on to a few different groups across the country in a way that encouraged them to talk it up. The vigilantes have no idea the source was the exact “monsters” they’re so worried about or anything else about this supposed weapon.
The shadowkind who—very carefully—approached the rogue shadowbloods delivered a more detailed message, including the location where they’d supposedly seen the guardians bringing in equipment to put the finishing touches on their weapon. We figured having the hunters know about it gave the story an extra dollop of authenticity, but we don’t want any mortals showing up to join the party.
Well, any amateur monster-hunter mortals, anyway. As I flick over to the map app, a text message pops up from Pearl.Guardians are almost there—fifteen minutes’ drive away. Should we slow them down, or are you good?
I pause to focus on the power I’ve borrowed from Griffin again, thinking of Nadia and then of Devon. My finger falls to the map on a spot dozens of miles closer than when I last checked a half hour ago.
At their current pace, it looks like they’ll be here in less than a half hour more.
No, let them come, I reply.That’s perfect timing.
We want the guardians here when the rampaging shadowbloods arrive to make it look like the facility has been in use, but not for them to have had enough time to get very far into the building.
I push to my feet and walk over to the main door. Even opening it a crack makes a huge difference, the cold but fresh winter air sweeping in to wash away the tightly sealed stuffiness of the hall.
I drink in the chill, letting my gaze wander over the parking lot, the fence, and the forest beyond. Nearly five years ago, the guardians who imprisoned us here used this as a site for their own brutal trap. Now we’ve made it our own.
We’re leading the scattered remains of the Guardianship into a slaughter, and I can’t bring myself to feel the slightest bit of guilt, even after seeing what the rampaging shadowbloods did to the people who met with Balthazar. We are what they made us.
They have only themselves to blame.
