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“I’m winning in the polls,” the Senator says. “What makes you think I need your help?”
“I’ve always admired your commitment to a plan, Senator, but do not forget who ultimately engineered everything,” Luna says. He blushes. “The knowledge I hold on how your son’s powers work will take us both very far in our shared agenda.”
I’m about to shout in her face when Dione dashes in front of me and holds me back with her muscular, tattooed arm. “I’m done working for you, Luna! Both of you!”
“Then innocent lives will be taken,” Luna says. She nods at June, who vanishes.
We’re all kept in suspense as Luna smiles on.
Zenon leans toward the Senator. “The girl is returning with two more people, sir. Both blindfolded.”
I’m expecting one of them to be Emil, but when June finishes reappearing, she’s holding on to the wrists of an older woman I immediately recognize as his mother and a young woman with brown skin and dark hair. June removes the latter’s blindfold. It’s Eva Nafisi, the Spell Walkers’ healer. She has a black eye and bruising across her wrists. She must’ve been forced to heal Luna from whatever wound someone inflicted on her; man, I hope it was Emil who attacked her. June removes Carolina’s blindfold. Carolina is absolutely petrified, as expected of any hostage until a disturbing shock takes over: she’s act
ually seeing Luna and the Senator—the damn presidential candidate—sitting across from one another like a casual evening between neighbors.
Luna locks eyes with me and points at Carolina. “You’ll cooperate, or we’ll cast a spell straight through her head. Eva is a very talented girl, but even this will be beyond her means.”
Carolina is shaking so hard. I won’t be the reason she’s killed.
The Senator smiles—one of those terrible, honest smiles. “What’s the plan?”
“Lock these two away somewhere,” Luna says, gesturing at Carolina and Eva. “Send Ness away. He clearly can’t be trusted to know the work that’s ahead of him.”
“Zenon, escort our guests to the panic room. Reverse the controls from protection to entrapment,” the Senator says. Then another smile, this one playful. “Go to your room, Eduardo.”
If this is some game, I can’t win. I’m not even being given the rules. But I can’t give up yet. There’s got to be a chance where I can cheat my way to victory.
Carolina and Eva struggle as Zenon and June force them downstairs. Dione takes it upon herself to watch after me since she took down Jax.
I look over my shoulder one last time as we leave Luna and the Senator alone. Is this what it was like when they sat down to plot the Blackout—to plot my death? Are they plotting it again?
I wish I’d died the first time.
Twelve
The Luminary Union
MARIBELLE
It doesn’t seem likely that Brighton will survive the night.
A practitioner at Aldebaran was able to inject an antidote, but all that did was slow down the venom. It was too risky to hang around, so we rushed Brighton to the Clayton Center for Recovery out on Long Island, a high-end private practice also run by celestials. If Aldebaran is a single star, this facility is a constellation in terms of how they can assist him. The bill won’t be pretty, but between Brighton’s infected arm and the blood poisoning, he’s going to need around-the-clock attention unless a miracle happens. What he doesn’t need is me here.
I have to go hunt.
I roam the halls. The walls are sterile-white, as if the facility opened this morning, and fixed onto them are bronze sconces shaped like hands to represent their healers. It’s creepy, and I can’t wait until I don’t have to look at them anymore. I finally track down a supplies room, empty some employee’s duffel bag, and load up. My newfound phoenix powers haven’t healed any of my bruising or the cut on my forehead from my fight with June, so I pack a few first-aid kits. I throw in water bottles, a blanket, and I hide the oblivion dagger between folds of gauze before leaving the room.
There’s an indoor garden, where the alchemists grow their own herbs. It’s really serene and inviting, but there’s no time for peace. Not when June and Luna are still alive. Not when they’ve taken Eva and Carolina.
It’s possible Luna has already had them executed. Brighton ruined her life’s work.
I don’t wish a single broken bone on Carolina, but Eva especially doesn’t deserve to be caught in this cross fire.
A couple years ago, Iris’s parents were using a clubhouse for celestial senior citizens as a haven. Mama and Papa had flown to Colombia for humanitarian work, and I’d hung back with the Simone-Chambers family so I wouldn’t fall behind on homeschooling. On the third day of my stay, Eva came into our care after a foster family doubted their abilities to protect her from traffickers. Eva and Iris were magnetized to each other immediately, but wires kept getting crossed. Eva thought Iris was only complimenting her neck scarf because she wanted one for herself, and Iris thought that there was no way that a pacifist like Eva could ever fall for a fighter with powerhouse strength. On the same night I finally convinced Iris to be direct and make a move, Eva surprised her with a swimming lesson in the clubhouse pool. Iris confessed her feelings, and they shared their first kiss while drying up poolside. One of my favorite moments is when we were all scrolling through Pinterest and Iris loved this model’s green hair so much that we locked ourselves in the bathroom to dye her hair the same shade, laughing so hard when we couldn’t scrub away the stains on the floor.
Eva was—no, is—a great friend. She’s loyal to Iris, naturally, but even after Iris and I drifted after the Blackout, Eva regularly checked in on my mental health. I’ll always appreciate how she didn’t take Iris’s side when we all found out that she kept my true lineage a secret from me.
It’s twisted that Eva has been taken by her former best friend, but if Dione harms her, Iris will be sure to rip off her arms, one by one, until they don’t grow back.
