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“Do you believe him?” I ask.
“My parents once believed him. I won’t make their mistake.”
Tala chooses an ordinary arrow and loads it into her crossbow. She aims with nothing but the sound of Kirk’s running to signal where he is. She takes a deep breath as tears slide down her blushed cheeks. He’s one of many people responsible for the death of her parents. Tala shoots the arrow through the darkness, and the fleeing footsteps stop and his anguished cries echo through the tunnel.
“He deserves to be a stranger to breath forevermore,” Tala says. “But I’ll settle for having him locked up for his crimes against phoenixes and my family.”
Fifty
The Silver Star Slayer
BRIGHTON
One look at the news proves that I’m not this country’s problem child.
Allegations against celestials have been increasing lately. Sometimes it feels like there’s a new one every day. But the three that have dropped this morning are rough: the invisible high school coach spying on students while they’re changing in the locker rooms; the boss with fire in his eyes as he corners his assistant for refusing dates with him; and the m
other who blinded the children who bullied her son at school.
“I don’t know how Sunstar is going to counter Iron during Monday’s debate,” I say to Prudencia as she finishes her breakfast. “I got to get back out there, try to help.”
“We blew up a building the last time we tried to help,” Prudencia says.
“Technically, the other specter blew it up.”
“I’m sure we can trust Iron to make that distinction.”
“I want to give Sunstar something to fire back with.”
“Brighton, no matter how much good we do, Iron’s people find ways to twist it.” Prudencia takes my hand. “I know you’re feeling powerless even though we know you’re not. But it’s not safe right now. You couldn’t even go home without getting attacked. We’re lucky no one died that night.”
I’m relieved none of my neighbors got killed. I am. But this is one of those moments where I’m grateful Prudencia is telekinetic and not telepathic because she would be disgusted to read my mind and see that I wouldn’t mourn some losses for the greater good.
It’s hard to be the Infinity Savior when I can’t save people.
“Okay,” I say, which feels like a weak promise I might break at any moment.
“Maribelle and Tala should be back with the potion ingredients soon, and then we can disempower the Blood Casters for good. That’ll paint Sunstar and her proposal for the Luminary Union in a better light. Sit tight with me for a little bit longer?”
She kisses me behind my ear, then twice down my cheek, and then finally my lips. We fall back onto the bed, and she sits on top of me, closing and locking the door with her telekinesis, which has definitely become a turn-on for me. My phone keeps vibrating, but I ignore it as my hands reach underneath her shirt and as her hands unbuckle my jeans. Even though we had the room to ourselves last night, we didn’t have sex because we weren’t sure when Emil was going to pop back in, but tonight I’m assuming he’s with Wyatt again or curled up with some phoenixes outside, I don’t care. I’m about to kick off my pants when Prudencia grabs my phone.
“You have so many notifications,” Prudencia says.
“Day in the life,” I say, sitting up to kiss her, but she stops me.
“Brighton, this looks serious.”
I should’ve melted the damn phone when I had the chance. I take it from her and see everyone’s tagging me across all platforms. Everything is linking me to some new rant from the Silver Star Slayer. I can’t wait to see which conspiracy theory about me has everyone so riled up that it’s cut into time better spent having sex with Prudencia. The video title pisses me off: True Allies of New York.
I press play, and Prudencia and I are shocked to see the Silver Star Slayer sitting beside Eva. Prudencia immediately wants to check in with Iris, but we watch first. So Eva is being detained by enforcers. Does this mean Ma is too? I’m so tempted to skip ahead. Eva doesn’t share any of the big secrets revealed among the Spell Walkers, but she’s clearly beaten down by the weight of everything. Donating her blood sounds worthwhile, though I’m sure the government will be more interested in using it to heal their enforcers and military instead of actually researching it for everyday citizens. The interview ends and transitions straight to the next.
Ma is alive. She’s actually alive, like I’ve been saying this entire time! A rush shoots through me like when I drank the Reaper’s Blood, but just like when the elixir started turning on me, I crash really hard. Why is she with the Silver Star Slayer? She explains that she’s being detained too, though I hate that she’s cooperating with him.
The Silver Star Slayer finishes his rant about how the government is on our side; then he glares at Ma. “One last question. If you could send a message to your sons right now, what would you tell them?”
Ma looks so exhausted as she takes a deep breath. “Don’t be so high and mighty, and don’t get yourselves killed using powers you shouldn’t have. You’re all I have left.”
There goes those words again. High and mighty. Even after our last argument, this is what she decides to put out there. She may as well have just directly said how much I’ve disappointed her by drinking the Reaper’s Blood.
