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I mount Nox as Prudencia telekinetically sits Ness between my legs, and I hold him exactly how I’m used to holding Wyatt. Ness groans, placing his hands over mine, and leans his head back on my shoulder. This is a moment of comfort I want to live in fully and appreciate, but as Nox begins our rapid ascent toward the stars, I look back at all the chaos caused by my selfishness—Roxana waiting for Tala, who may never come, abandoning Maribelle, and how many dangerous criminals have been unleashed on our city again so I can save one innocent.
This will be the crime I’m remembered for in this lifetime.
Seventy-Four
Marnettes and Córdovas
MARIBELLE
I want to begin Luna’s end but I’m not sure where to start.
My family has spent years fighting her, and it’s surreal to finally have her so vulnerable in front of me. This deserves more than instant arrows, no matter how much chaos is happening in these towers.
“This is certainly a disappointing final chapter to my journey,” Luna says as she slowly sets herself down on the bed. There are blood smears around her lips and hand. “I have accomplished more in my life than most will in lifetimes, and yet I failed in my grandest ambitions. Time was not on my side, but dying now is more merciful than a slow death in this cell. I thank you both.”
“You should’ve welcomed death after Brighton shot you,” I say.
“Dying under the Cloaked Phantom would’ve been more poetic,” Luna says. “I’ll admit, I believed Brighton Rey would be the one to kill me with my own powers, to make this full circle. A Spell Walker and Halo Knight joining forces suffices too, if not a bit boring.” She turns to Tala. “Who exactly are you?”
There is hate and heartbreak in Tala’s eyes as she finally comes face-to-face with the woman who ordered the murder of her parents. “Tala Castillo, Bronze Wing.”
“Beautiful name, but I meant more
of why you’re here with your pretty crossbow.”
“You killed my parents.”
Luna studies her face. “I’m afraid I’ll need some more information. You Haloes haven’t exactly stayed out of my affairs over the years.”
“The museum,” Tala says.
“Ah, yes. Recent. That was a slaughter, though some of them fought bravely. We can pretend your parents were among them.” Luna turns to me. “The night of that gala was interesting. Upon losing your lover you cast fire and then burned my dear Anklin Prince alive. Neither Lestor nor Aurora Lucero possessed those abilities. Was this a latent power from generations ago?”
She truly has no idea of our personal relation. “I’m only coming to understand more about my family since that night.”
“Family secrets?”
“Secrets kept to protect me from family—from you.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m the biological daughter of Sera and Bautista. They hid their pregnancy from you so that you couldn’t use my power the way you used Sera for hers.”
Luna rises from the bed, closing the space between us. I don’t flinch. She’s already hurt me in the only ways she possibly can. Her green eyes stare at me in confusion, and she cocks her head. “This would be an odd lie. You said you’ve only come to discover this weeks ago?”
“Word was passed on to me and I’ve been able to project myself through my bloodline and into the past to see Sera and Bautista. I saw how much they loved, how much they wanted to raise me. I felt her death as you slit her throat,” I say, pulling out the oblivion dagger and pressing it against her neck. “My entire life has been thrown off course because of you.”
Unlike when I was retrocycling, I can’t feel Luna’s emotions anymore, though it’s clear she isn’t scared to have her life threatened. “You successfully retrocycled.”
“You know about that?”
“My parents—your great-grandparents—were professors. My mother studied phoenixes, my father hydras. A romance that developed over heated debates about the long-standing war between creatures. Growing up, my sister, Raine, and I were raised on stories of phoenixes and hydras. I brought a lot of this valuable information to Keon, but with the phoenix specters as a whole, retrocycling has seemed so beyond their capabilities when none of them could even resurrect as themselves. . . .” Luna steps away from the dagger, pacing the small span of her room. “But, my dear granddaughter, if you possess this power, then you may be the key I’ve needed all along to unlock treasured secrets buried in the past.”
“You’re just trying to live.”
“Now that you’ve given me a reason to. I’ve been dispirited this evening, since Edward Iron betrayed me before I could betray him, but now there is hope again. Your grandfather Santiago was one of five powerful brothers with deathlike powers. He could foresee imminent deaths, and when we married, he gave me all of the family’s secrets. One in particular will be of great interest to you.”
I’ve never done any digging into the Córdovas. I wasn’t even obsessing over it too much until I got to see Sera and Bautista and feel their love for me. This grandfather of mine has the same visions as Sera except I don’t see anything. I only sense threatening forces.
