I nod. “Let’s go.”
The area with the warehouses is on the outskirts of the town, nearer the larger mountains, and we head for the one farthest out. The one we stole most regularly from.
It looks a little more rundown than last time. Corin tries the lock, then looks at me.
“Where’d the key go?”
I scan the area. Wooden planks and metal mesh lie on the ground. After the first time we took food from a warehouse, Rahn said we couldn’t take the keys with us again. Said we’d hide them outside each building.
It’s a good job, I think. If we’d had it at Nbutai still, the Enhanced would’ve found it when they ransacked our village, and they’d know.
But would they suspect we’d return to it even if they knew?
Unlikely.
They wouldn’t imagine I’d hide out in one of their towns, especially so near to one of the places Raleigh found me. Not unless they think I’m surrendering—and, even then, they wouldn’t expect me to hide.
Corin and I search the area. I crouch in sand and dust, eyes smarting as I stir it up, looking through the sparse clumps of grass. The sun comes out and warms me a little, but it just makes me uncomfortable. We need to be inside the warehouse, we’re too obvious here. If any Enhanced walk into the area, they’ll see us in an instant, know we’re not supposed to be here.
They’ll realize who we are.
I curse as I kneel on stones, feel my kneecap move a little. Pain shoots through me and I shift my balance, feel a slight pop of pressure in the joint, and—
The lock clicks.
I turn my gaze to the door. The warehouse door.
“Someone’s inside.” My breath hitches.
An Enhanced One is inside. Maybe more than one. Yes, they work in numbers—just like we do.
I jump up, move, and—
The door opens.
No!
I trip as I turn, reaching for Corin—but I miss, land heavily. Sand in my mouth and—
“Three?” Corin says.
My head jerks up.
In the doorway, I see him. My brother.
Behind him are two others. Rahn and Melissa. Both look humanoid—Rahn, vastly different to when I last saw him—just as my brother looks so similar to how he did in life.
Three Lost Souls.
“What are you doing here?”
Three gives me a strong look. Did you really think I’d let you walk into danger and start the final act of war on your own? Seven, you’re my sister. You should know me better than that.
He knows? Of course he does—the spirits are all one now…wasn’t that what that female spirit said? But they’re here, separate from the others…for how long?
And he’s my brother—he’s here. Just seeing him makes me feel better, safer. Because he’s here. Family. And the words between us, they’re unspoken, but there’s a light within us that knows, a sense that we don’t need to talk about all that’s happened, that we shouldn’t.
Or maybe it’s me. Maybe I don’t want to. Maybe I don’t want to hear what it was like for him in Death’s realm. Not when I know torture awaits me there.
Corin’s staring at Rahn. A muscle in his jaw twitches, then slackens.
I point to the warehouse. “We should get inside.”
We move, like a herd of animals, sticking close together. The door clangs shut behind us, and it takes my eyes a few moments to adjust to the dim lighting. There are still a lot of crates of food in here, and I see Corin eye them, but layers of dust cover everything. The only footprints in here are ours. It’s not been used in a while. Were we the last ones to step foot in here?
Every fifteen feet or so there’s a grainy window, the type you can’t see in or out of, but that lets in some light.
I move forward, Seer powers at the ready. Need to check the whole warehouse. Need to make sure it’s safe.
There are no Enhanced here. Rahn’s voice. We checked already.
I flick him a glance, but I don’t trust him, need to check for myself.
Corin and I work methodically, moving together down different rows and aisles between the stacked crates, listening for the slightest sounds. At one end of the warehouse, there’s a small bathroom with a broken light.
Everywhere is clear of Enhanced Ones.
“Three, can you go to our settlement and check on the Untamed there?” I ask when we regroup near the door. “The Zharat arrived and started killing us.”
I already tried, Melissa says, before he can answer. Her tone is raspy, and the words seem to sit inside me. Her voice has degenerated fast, and even her form seems to be slipping a little. She’s degenerating quickly compared to the others I’ve seen almost straight after their deaths, Three and Jed—because the world is different now? Or is it individual too? Because Three still looks more like he did in life now, than she does. And Rahn—Rahn’s reversed some of his degeneration? Melissa’s eyes fix on me. The dome the others have formed is stronger now. If I go in, I join it, and I won’t be able to get out.
I look at Three. “But you managed it?”
That was before it strengthened. And I couldn’t stay long without my form trying to degenerate, match theirs. I had to get back to the Lost Ones who were more like me. Melissa is right. If we go inside now, we’re not coming back.
“But could you see through it?” Corin asks. “The spirit-barrier?”
Three shakes his head. It’s solid, opaque, now.
So what’s the plan? Melissa asks. Her skin effervesces a little, and her bison tattoo looks like it moves. Can I start killing them yet?
I take a hurried step back and realize she’s serious when the intensity of her gaze doesn’t lessen. It’s the kind of gaze that eats you from the inside out, emphasizes she’s a spirit—they all are. They’re dangerous, even if we know them.
“No, not yet,” I say. I look around, feel flustered. We need to think, work out the exact details of how we’re going to achieve this.
But thinking is something I can’t do right now.
I stare at Three. “You’re really here?”
I rush to him, hug him, and he feels real—just like he did when he was at our settlement.
He winces.
I pull back. “Are you okay?”
It’s hard for us to be away from the rest of us, Three says, his voice slow and twisting. More painful. It’s easier, safer for us, if we’re in larger groups, all together.
“Are the others slower then?” Corin asks. “The other spirits?”
All three Lost Souls exchange a look.
They will come, Three says. When you call, Seven. But we have broken away to aid you now. It’s always been safety in numbers. His gaze flickers to Corin. Just two of you walking into this on your own is a bloodbath.
“Well, we’re still alive,” Corin mutters. “We’re not so incapable we need your help, and—”
You could not even get in here, Rahn says, his tone anything but helpful.
“Seven’s far from incapable.”
But even the most capable should never deny help, Melissa says.
And I wanted to see you, Seven, Rahn adds.
“Me?”
Corin steps closer to me, and I can tell he’s ready for a fight.
You made a big promise back there, that you can send us all to the New World. How do we know you intend to keep it? Because I believe you won’t, that you can’t, and you’re just going to use us.
“She gave you all her word.” Corin’s voice is a low growl. “Given how you betrayed us, you’re in no position to accuse her of such behavior.”
Rahn does a shrug-like movement, but it just makes his body rattle. Once a traitor, always a traitor.
Then perhaps we should watch you carefully, Rahn, Three says, and one of his eyes moves separately, so he’s focused on both Rahn and me.
The movement makes me queasy, and I run a hand through my hair, try not to think how crazy this is. That we’re here—the five of us, hiding in
New Kimearo. The first time I’ve truly been in one of their towns on my own terms. I never liked raiding, and this feels both like it and not. It sends exhilaration through me, but it twists with nausea, sharpens my vision until it’s almost too sharp.
Rahn scowls at Three but doesn’t say anything more. Instead, everyone looks at me.
What do you want us to do? What is our strategy? Melissa asks.
I take a few deep breaths. “We need all the section leaders here ready for when we launch the big attack, when I call in the rest of the Lost Souls.” I swallow hard, try to focus, but the tinned food in my eyeline is distracting. “We need a Section meeting—and soon.”
Melissa smiles slowly. How soon? Her eyes are too bright, but not in an Enhanced way. In a way that makes her look like her core is made of moonlight, and it’s escaping through her eyes.
“Day after tomorrow.”
“What?” Corin frowns. “That long?”
“We need time to prepare.” I feel it, feel it inside me. The enormity of what we’re about to do. Because this isn’t just about taking one town out. This is about the whole world. Two days may not even be enough time…but it can’t be longer, my powers tell me that. The war has to end soon.
What else is there to prepare? You’ve got the other Lost Souls on side, Three says. You’ll call them in when needed, command us, and we’ll do all the work. The rest are just one call away.
I nod. “But there are billions of Enhanced. They still outnumber us—even with you. We need to be prepared. We need to give ourselves the best chance of winning. We need time to plan. We’ll only get one shot at killing the section leaders, and we need to know everything we can before then.”
But we’re gettin’ weaker by the day, Rahn says. The sooner we act, the better. Especially if you want our help.
I shake my head. “I need time.”
Because…because this isn’t just about killing. A clean end.
It can’t be.
These are lives we’re talking about.
And my powers….
My powers save us.
I think of Taras—of how I saved him.
I take a deep breath. “I’m going to save some of the Enhanced, before we launch the attack.” And then a barrage of words climbs out of me as I explain to Three and Rahn what I can do. They stare at me. I continue. “If we divide them, we’ve got an advantage. If their society is weakening, and then the Lost kill the Section, and we launch the whole attack, we’ll also have some new Untamed who can fight for us—because they won’t be included in Raleigh’s curse, because they weren’t Untamed when I formed the channels and he took the connections. They’ll be able to kill the Enhanced, without killing the rest of us, and they won’t be at risk of degenerating.” My gaze flickers to my brother.
Corin shakes his head. “And what about the effect this will have on you?”
“I can do it.” And I have to. I really do. He doesn’t understand. How can he? He doesn’t already have so many deaths on his hands.
I can’t have more.
“Look how ill saving Taras made you. And he was saved because he was Enhanced for all of five minutes, if that,” Corin says. “You can try saving them, Sev, if it doesn’t hurt you. But there’s no way they’ll fight for us. They are Enhanced. They’re not going to switch that much, not enough to fight.”
“Even if they don’t fight, they’ll still live. I’ll still save them.”
And that’s important.
My eyes widen. Maybe it’s only the section leaders who need to die… Maybe a lot of other Enhanced can survive… Maybe I don’t have to watch billions die under my command. No more mass murders. Because I can’t do that again. I can’t. The question is how many can I re-convert before it kills me? Because it’s not something I can make a mistake with.
I grit my teeth. “No. I can do this.” I turn, look around, hands on my hips. “We need to get some in here. I need to start doing it now. This warehouse is perfect. We can make partitions with the crates, have a secure area just for them.
“Have the Enhanced in here?” Corin says. “That’s mad. They’ll hand us over to Raleigh. You’re not thinking straight. You’re tired, or something, Sev.”
“No. It will work.” I point at the Lost Souls. “They can keep the Enhanced in here, stop them getting back out there and alerting others. We take a couple at a time to start with….”
But how do we choose which to save? Unless all of New Kimearo’s Enhanced Ones live, apart from Raleigh? And then it’s the other Enhanced, at the other towns, who I don’t save…. Can I even save a whole town?
I pull a hand through my hair.
I flush hot, then cold.
The ones who used to be Untamed may be easiest to re-convert, Rahn says. I can tell who they are, the weaker ones, and I can bring them here.
“You can?” I stare at him, feel shock that he’s backing this, backing me, that he doesn’t think it’s stupid.
Rahn nods.
“Great. Good.” So maybe it’s just the ones who were converted that I save? We differentiate the survivors that way? But no…it’s still going to involve murder. A lot of it.
Maybe I can’t get away from it, escape my fate—if it is my fate.
Corin holds his hands up. “This is crazy.”
“No, it’s not,” I say. “This is our strategy. This is what we do. I save who I can here, and then we use the Lost Souls to kill the Section and take out the remaining Enhanced.”
On a global scale? I falter a little. So many Enhanced, out there, who were once Untamed will die as well. It’s not like I can mind-convert on mass, across the world….
You could kill on mass though. And the spirits could kill on mass too.
I taste copper in my mouth. It will have to be, won’t it? We can’t give the Enhanced time to regroup and get us.
“This gives the Untamed the best chance.” I take a deep breath. “So, we bring Enhanced Ones here. I take away their addiction, and we can talk to them, get in their heads—like the Enhanced do when they convert us—and make them willingly join us when their heads are clear enough to think.”
“We torture them?” Corin stares at me bluntly.
“No.” My word is like stone. “We’re kind.” Yes, kindness. “We’ll tell them they still belong with us—that will help. The sense of community.” My breaths get a little sharper, lighter. “When I was running lean, after you rescued me, I felt like I belonged with neither people. The pain was acute, the need for augmenters—but having the Nbutai group—seeing you, the good people, the right people—helped, even though I felt lost. We have to emphasize that they’re on the right side now.”
“This is crazy,” Corin mutters. “But I hope it works.”
“It will,” I say.
Really? The voice is inside me, but it sounds just like one of the Lost Souls in front of me. Maybe that’s what they are, in part. The Sarrs inside me. Because they’re in the New World, but part of each one is here, in my body. Does that make them Lost Ones too, at least, partially?
Are they degenerating too?
Am I? Is that what the Seer instability is?
I touch my forehead, slowly, feel like too much is going on, like maybe I am being too optimistic, thinking it will be easy, that I can re-convert Enhanced Ones, even use them to fight—despite what Corin says.
But I have to be strong.
I have to believe in myself.
Should we round up Enhanced Ones to bring here? Three asks.
“Yes. And we need to get the Section meeting arranged.”
We need time to plan, time to save as many Enhanced as possible.
“Gods,” Corin says. “We’re really doing this? Okay.” He takes a deep breath. “What do I do?”
I look at him for a moment, the hard lines of his face, his beautiful eyes. “Collect all the weapons. We need them all here.”
“Where the Enhanced will be whom we’re trying to save? Sev, that’s just asking f
or trouble, giving them weapons.”
“No.” I point to the end of the warehouse. “They won’t get the weapons. This warehouse is huge. We’ll make this work. And we need all the weapons. We can’t have the Enhanced scrabbling for them—shooting either of us, or the Lost Souls. We need to pre-empt anything they’re going to do. We can’t do anything about their Seer powers, but we can with the weapons. That includes the augmenters too.” The one in my pocket burns. “We need to find their supplies. As many in this town as possible. We need to destroy them, limit how deadly they can get when I kill the section leaders and launch the big attack. Can you do that?”
“Augmenters and weapons?” Corin nods.
That’s all very well for the Enhanced in this town, Melissa says. But the Section is going to call in backup as soon as we attack them, and they’ll bring their own supplies, weapons, augmenters.
“The section leaders will all be dead by then though,” I say. “Raleigh included.” I press my lips together for a moment. “Maybe we can take down communications too—can the spirits do that?”
If that’s what you command us to do, Three says.
But how is this all going to extend around the world? How can the whole war end here? Rahn asks.
“I’ll have the spirits target the rest of the world.”
Mass-murder, it’s the only way, isn’t it? I taste badness on the roof of my mouth.
Or maybe, without the section leaders alive, I could mass-convert all the others? My mind spins faster and faster. If I do a mass-conversion, and I can hold on long enough until it’s done, until everyone’s saved, it’ll work. When I let go, I’ll die, but there’ll be no more Enhanced Ones left. The war will be over.
You’re asking too much of yourself, a Sarr whispers to me. You know you are. You’re letting desperation and fear drive you. We all have to do things we don’t want to.
But mass-murder? Cause billions of deaths?
I shrug. “Let’s get started.”
“What are you going to do now?” Corin asks me.
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