by Mari Dietz
No doubt that Kai’s attractiveness affected her. Could a commander have a relationship with their subordinate? She should not be thinking about dating right now.
She walked next to Kai back to her old apartment. “What do you think about the orb thefts?”
Kai stared straight ahead. “I’m not sure. I think there’s an explanation. Maybe it was someone just getting the blight taken out of them. They might have cut his neck to take out the blight.” His brow furrowed. “We discourage reapers from aiming for vital places like the neck. We tend to want the person to live after we get the blight out.” He grinned crookedly but worry filled his expression.
Vic sorted through that night. She could tell that Kai was trying to give the reapers the benefit of the doubt, but the man had said that the reapers were taking the orbs. “I wonder if the officers will have the reports?”
Kai kicked a rock, and it splashed into the canal. “Why don’t we stop there on the way and ask?”
Vic followed along, and they walked, keeping pace with each other. She thought Kai might be more troubled than he was letting on. Maybe it was the fact he was a commander and hadn’t known this was going on. She admitted that what she’d seen sounded crazy. But for him to be taking her claim seriously showed that he listened to his subordinates. That was someone she would gladly follow. He hadn’t turned her in when she’d illegally hunted in Nyx territory, showing that he cared more about people than the law. She tried to put together the pieces of the man beside her.
They passed another water-taxi stop, and the empty boats bobbed in the dark water.
“Do you have any other family?” Vic asked.
Kai blinked at the random question. “Yes. My mother, and I have a younger sister.”
“Are they reapers too?”
Kai shook his head. “I hold our last relic.”
“I’m sorry.”
He took in a deep breath. “Don’t be. It’s just how it ended up. I plan to keep my scythe.”
Kai had to provide for his family. Some imbs could get weaker wands, but it was hard for them to earn enough credits to survive. The magic drained too fast. The bright stones built into them focused the magic use and protected the wielder from magic burnout. GicCorp tried to recreate the stones, but each resulted in weaker versions that broke with time. Some founder families had more relics than they needed but would never give them up. Every forty to fifty years, when the vital passed away, they would get a relic back. That was the only notice of Emilia’s death they would get.
“Mine is the last scythe in my family. Although my father is disappointed that I’m not an imb, it hadn’t bothered him before. When he gave me the scythe, he acted happy that the Glass family had a reaper.”
“Your father is an intense man.” Kai squeezed her hand lightly.
“Intense is one word for it. I suppose he would rather have me be the vital. My sister’s more inclined toward art, but she could still run things and keep the factory imbued to produce glass.”
“My father and mother lost their wands. This is all we have left. My sister won’t have a wand passed down to her.” His face fell. “She’s an imb, so if something happens to me, that’s it. They can sell the relic, but once those credits are gone, they’ll become corrupted.”
Vic didn’t know what to say. He attacked mogs with no hesitation, but their job wasn’t easy. They could die any night of the week. Kai wasn’t one to leave a man behind, and he would sacrifice himself to save his team.
They arrived at the station closest to where Vic had seen the attack. The stations stood out in the gray city with red horizontal stripes across the top of the stone. An emblem of a red wand on a blue background hung over the metal door. She followed him inside. The station buzzed with activity. Unlike the bright outside, the inside was painted in duller browns. After being outside in the night, the warm air was welcome, though it smelled of stale food, unwashed bodies, and a hint of vomit. Some officers were on alert for trouble, gearing up shields before they ran out another side door. Officers carried imbued stones that would warn them of danger. Vic didn’t know how they worked, but near some charging stations, there would be an alarm people could pull if they needed help. In the center of Verrin, some lucky officers got their own water taxis or horses.
Other officers argued with people in cuffs. A familiar brown head caught Vic’s eye.
“Samuel?”
Light blue eyes blinked at the sound of his name. He sat on a metal chair that looked bolted to the ground. “Fire Girl?” His hands lifted in unison to wave, his wrists cuffed.
“Fire Girl?” Kai took in the new person across the station.
“Hey, that one is new to me too.” She went over to Samuel, leaving Kai behind to talk to the officers. He swayed a bit, practically tipping off his chair, and reeked of alcohol. Red circled his irises. “What’s going on?” She slipped on her eyepiece and saw a slight glow before tucking it away in her harness again. “Are you not charging?” she whispered.
He stood and hugged her by lifting his arms over her head and pulling her in. “Good to see you,” he slurred. “I need to talk to you, Fire Girl.”
“Why don’t I help you out first?” Vic ducked out of his hug and reached for her scythe.
“No, Fire Girl. I don’t want you to do that.” He staggered and sat down. He clasped her hands and peered at her. “I need you to take care of William. Can you promise me? You’ll help him?”
Vic leaned down. “Why are you saying this?” She put a cool hand on his forehead. His skin was on fire, not her. That was strange since most corrupted felt cold.
Samuel closed his eyes, his voice laced with pain as he said, “I killed her. I thought I was helping, but I killed her. Then they didn’t remember.” He opened his eyes and squeezed her hand tighter. “They didn’t remember their own daughter. I destroyed the whole family with my selfish advice.”
“Hey now, I think you’re being too hard on yourself.” Vic had no clue what he was talking about. She’d only met him once, but she didn’t think he would hurt others. He probably shouldn’t be talking about killing near the officers. Those in the station continued to ignore them.
“Look after William? Please?” He sounded close to tears.
Vic pulled one of her hands away to steady him on his chair so he wouldn’t fall on the floor. She doubted William needed anyone to look after him. Samuel sounded panicked and needed her to calm him. “I will, but you’ll be there too. Okay?”
Samuel let go of her hands. “Yeah.”
“Is someone coming for you?” Vic asked.
“My brother always does.” His whispered words were hard to hear in the chaos of the station.
Vic gripped his shoulder. “Why don’t we go out together next time, okay? I bet I can outdrink you.”
“Yeah, next time.” His shoulders hunched over, and he faced the stone floor.
“Sparks?”
Vic jumped slightly at Kai’s voice behind her. “Sorry, did you find out anything?”
“No, I didn’t. What did you find?” He stood over Samuel, who remained slouched in his chair.
“This is Samuel. He’s William’s brother.”
Kai tilted his head. “And who’s William?”
“My brother.”
Kai looked at Samuel from the corner of his eye. “That clears up so much.”
Samuel waved his cuffed hands at Vic. “They’re getting married.”
“I see.” Kai’s face became unreadable.
Vic wanted to sink into the ground. “Um, let’s get out of here before the sun rises.” She headed toward the door, but Kai stood staring at Samuel, unwilling to move.
“How long have you known her?” Kai asked.
Samuel twisted his wrists in the metal cuffs. “Met her the same day as my brother.”
“The one who’s marrying her?” This was quickly becoming some sort of investigation.
“Yep.” Samuel quirked his eyebrow at Kai. “Do you like he
r or something?”
Kai’s jaw twitched.
Vic grabbed his arm and pulled him away. “See you later, Samuel.”
They left the station. The cool night air felt good on her flushed face.
“I didn’t know you were engaged.” Kai sounded strange.
“Ah, about that … it’s an arranged marriage. I honestly don’t think anything will come of it. My family is going through a bit of a transition. I mean, I’m the eldest, and I was supposed to marry someone else, but then I ran off and thought I was free. Then Father came up to me at the trials, telling me I had to marry William.” She couldn’t stop the words pouring out of her mouth. Why did she owe Kai an explanation?
Kai stepped closer to her as she rambled.
“Honestly, I really don’t think we’ll end up getting married. He’s a radiant, after all, and well, you can see how well that would go.”
Kai placed his hand on her shoulder. “I see.” He leaned down. “Do you like William?”
“What? I don’t know him. I just met him!” Her blood burned as he towered over her.
His lips were mere inches from hers. “You just met me too.”
She leaned her head back. “What does that have to do with anything?”
She wasn’t sure she was making any sense. His closeness made her shiver.
The corners of his mouth turned up. “I’m not sure.” He stepped back. Vic’s face grew warm.
He let out a low chuckle. “I suppose we need to find the rogues.”
“Yeah.” She sounded breathless. What was wrong with her? Kai was smart and attractive, but he was also her new commander.
Get your feelings under control, Glass. She wanted to slap her cheeks but held her hands to her side.
Kai walked to the dock in the canal, and she missed the energy and warmth he radiated.
“The officers said they got complaints, but each one had various explanations.” Kai’s lips were set in a grim line. “They were flimsy at best, but the officers took the word of the reapers. They wouldn’t tell me the names but said they’d forward the information to my commander if I thought it was important.”
“Did you?”
“No, not yet.”
He suspected Xiona. He faced the alley and glared at the people still out after dark. It wasn’t forbidden, just dangerous. People either didn’t care or they needed the work.
“How many?” Vic asked.
“There were over fifty reports.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Sometimes, when we draw the blight out of a corrupted soul, the orb can break, but that’s rare.”
A familiar chill filled her. “And they can’t be replaced.”
“And fifty? I’m in my thirties, and I’ve only heard of one.”
As they got farther from the station, they stuck to the darkness of the alley. “Let’s head up to the rooftops to see farther. There’s no definite pattern to the attacks, but since the officers didn’t look into it, they weren’t keeping track.”
“This is Nyx territory,” Vic said, stating the obvious in the hopes that Kai would correct her.
He nodded. “That worries me. I know the group that patrols this area, and I can’t—” He clenched his jaw. “I can’t believe they would do something like this.” Kai directed her toward a trash bin in the alley. “We can follow their route from the rooftops. They’re staying in the city tonight.”
Vic boosted herself carefully onto the bin and avoided touching something brown and slimy on the rim. The bin teetered under her feet while Kai tried to steady it. Vic gripped the low terracotta roof tiles and pulled herself up. She planted her feet and gripped the side to help pull up Kai.
The houses and apartments were packed together, with only a few feet of space between, so going from rooftop to rooftop was easy. The breeze blew stronger up here, and they stayed on the move. Kai would grab her hand sometimes when she landed on the next roof beside him. She enjoyed his touch, which surprised her. She’d expected to just marry another founder. Then after she’d refused Tristan and left her home, she hadn’t had time for men. Way to be distracted like a silly kid. Her legs complained from all the jumping. You just met him. Slow down.
Kai steadied her when she stumbled on a rough landing. “Able to keep up, Sparks?”
“Oh, I have plenty of stamina.”
He coughed and turned away. Vic smiled at his back; she’d actually shocked him. They stopped and crouched at the edge of a roof.
Kai squatted and hunched over, his focus on the path over the ridge of the roof. It snaked out from a tunneled bridge. “This is the best place to follow them. The rooftops are higher and we can still see the road. We may have to wait a bit, depending on how their routes went tonight.”
The quietness of the street grew in Vic’s ears. She waited for the sound of footsteps. If they were on their third round, they wouldn’t be running. Vic lay on her side against the terracotta roof but kept her head above the ridge so she could see the bridge. She wanted to sleep. The sound of approaching footsteps reached them as it echoed over the covered bridge.
Four figures dressed in black with scythes attached to their backs came into view. They spread out from each other. Once they’d passed, Vic and Kai followed silently on the rooftops.
The group scanned all the alleys with their eyepieces on, sometimes scanning the water. Vic had learned the hard way that mogs could be in the canal.
Nothing seemed off. Vic and Kai followed the group, staying well behind them.
Then a young man came down the road, carrying a pack of food on his back. He walked slowly under the weight, most likely coming back late after a long day at the factory. The reaper closest raised their hand and flicked their fingers out.
“Nice night tonight,” the reaper greeted the person.
The man nodded and said something Vic couldn’t hear. Then in a flash, the reaper brought out a blade. The man’s mouth opened in a wide O, but he didn’t move. Then he released the shoulder straps from the pack, and his hand shot to his neck.
Kai jumped down from the roof and ran toward the group, his footsteps silent despite his rush.
“Blight take me,” Vic muttered. Why didn’t he wait for me?
She swung down and landed with a thud on the stone ground. Her sore legs wanted to buckle under her. She steadied herself and chased after Kai.
By the time she reached him, he’d caught up with the reaper who’d cut the person’s neck.
“What do you think you’re doing attacking an imb?” Kai’s muscles bunched in his arm as he grasped the person tighter.
The other three stalked forward. Vic touched the victim’s arm. His neck was bleeding. “Is your orb still there?”
He bobbed his head and clutched the pack’s straps. He ran away from the group of reapers.
“Probably best not to be out after dark!” Vic called after him. She wished they lived in a world where those with less powerful relics didn’t have to bend to the will of the founders.
Vic took out her scythe but didn’t unfold it. “Kai?”
The other three reapers closed in on them.
“What are you doing?” Kai repeated to the reapers.
Vic didn’t know the reaper Kai held, but he wasn’t much older than her.
“Sir, I think you better leave.” A young woman with a smattering of freckles on her face raised her hands slowly.
Kai’s eyebrows shot up, and he lifted the young man’s body.
Vic grimaced. “That was the wrong thing to say.” She stepped out in front of Kai and faced the other three reapers.
Kai rumbled behind her, “Do you think you have any authority here?”
The young man gasped. “No, sir. Sorry. Just … it might … be … better … if you … let this go.”
A brief shuffle, then Vic heard a body hit the water. Kai stood next to her. He crossed his arms and didn’t draw his own scythe, though three reapers pointed their weapons at Vic.
“Do you really want to fight a
commander tonight?” Kai’s voice lowered and crawled through the silent street.
He was on her side, but Vic’s spine froze. The others stopped advancing and put their scythes back in their harnesses.
Kai nodded sharply. “Get your friend. We’re going back to Nyx.”
Freckles spoke up, “Sir, we respect you, but please, let this go.”
Vic could feel the rage radiating off Kai. His eyes flashed, and they all flinched. “Get him and let’s go.” His voice left no room for argument.
All the reapers’ gazes shifted between one another. They walked past to grab their fallen comrade’s arms and pulled him out of the canal. Water dripped down his body, and he bowed his head to Kai, shivering on the stone street. “Commander, I—”
Kai turned away and walked down the street. They all followed him like cowed children.
Vic stayed behind them in case they were stupid enough to run. They acted like they wanted to protect Kai. Her gut clenched.
This is bigger than we know. Vic gripped her scythe, letting the warmth comfort her. They’d found out something they shouldn’t have. What would happen now that Kai knew?
They continued down the stone road, her sense of dread growing stronger the closer they got to Nyx.
12
Emilia
Emilia furrowed her brow as she shaped the glass. If Vic were here, she would point out the fact that she would get a permanent wrinkle. This piece didn’t want to cooperate. She had to finish it today. There was only today.
Emilia bit her lip until it pinched painfully, but finally, under her wand, the last strand fell into place on the statue’s face. The eyes were the hardest, and she wanted to get this one right.
Arms crossed, she stepped back to admire her largest work yet. A smile spread as she gazed at the sculpture. One lone tear traced down her cheek, and she swiftly wiped it away.
Sisters. A simple title, but that’s what the piece showed. The form closest to her showed Vic in all her glory, her red hair flying around her face. The light reflected through the glass, making it shine from within. Her eyes, always looking forward, had the same fire in them, and her lips were parted in a joyful laugh. Emilia hadn’t heard this carefree laugh in a long time, but the memory had stayed with her. In her artwork, she could give Vic the freedom she’d always wanted.