by Mari Dietz
William straightened the white cuffs of his radiant jacket and left with his brother following behind.
Now that William and his brother were homeless, he wasn’t sure what to do. A numbness overcame him as he wandered down the streets. If a mog attacked them, that would solve all his problems. He glanced at his brother, and his jaw tensed.
“I will find out what color the sky is, even if it kills me. Until then, I will protect you.” After that? Maybe he would let fate decide which punishment he deserved for forcing the change on his brother.
“Maybe if Vic is at Dei, they will help us?”
Why not? They didn’t have any other allies in the city. Vic hated him, but she cared for Samuel. William didn’t have any money to rent a place in the slums.
The bitter citrus smell haunted him as they crossed the orchard into Dei territory. William tried to think of anything besides the moment when he’d purified his brother. The sound of the stream mocked him as they passed.
“What’s your business out here, light lover?” A stocky woman appeared from behind the line of trees close to the Dei Order.
Against his better judgment, William lashed back. “I’m allowed to walk out here if I want.” He could have slapped himself. So much for trying to get help.
She reached for her scythe. “Yes, but today, it might be better if you walk somewhere farther away.”
The warning in her tone left no room for questions. Before she chased him away, he thought he would try to find Vic. “I didn’t mean to be so defensive.” Even though she was the one who had used a slur. “I’m trying to find Vic. She said she might come here and talk to the head of the Order.”
The woman crossed her arms. “Many people are trying to find the founder brat.”
Right about now, Vic was probably enemy number one to GicCorp. William didn’t know if he should trust this woman, but he also had a feeling he wouldn’t get past the gate if he didn’t tell her everything.
“I was with Vic at the vital ceremony. I don’t know how much you know, but I helped her get away by pretending to turn her into a radiant. It’s very important that I talk to her. If she’s there, I think she’ll want to talk to me.” William shifted and tried to look trustworthy. Magic users already hated him, so he wasn’t sure how to appear harmless.
The woman stared at him, and the wind in the grass made more noise than their breathing. “Vic isn’t here, but I think Nel may want to talk to you.”
William tried to keep his face calm. “Really?” He hadn’t thought his honesty would work.
The woman sighed and gestured for him to follow her. William tapped Samuel’s shoulder, and they trailed after the woman. Past the wall, the courtyard filled with reapers. It looked like they were planning a massive patrol. Various reapers wrapped their hands, and some swung their scythes in mock battle. Thick tension hung around the reapers. It didn’t feel like a normal raid, but what did he know?
Inside the building, there was a cacophony of sounds as people rushed around the room. It all centered around a tall blond woman with flashing gray eyes. They cut through the traffic, and his guide went to the woman he assumed was Nel. She whispered something in Nel’s ear, and the woman focused on him.
“Come here, radiant.”
He pulled his brother up with him. Only a narrow table remained between them. William glimpsed stacks of papers in front of her. They were filled with drawings of buildings.
“Eyes on me,” she said, her voice cutting through his snooping.
“Sorry.” He didn’t know what was happening, but it felt like they were preparing for battle. William laughed to himself. What a ridiculous thought. “I’m looking for Vic. She said she wanted to come here and warn you, but I don’t know if she made it.”
Nel pushed some papers under others. “What did you want to tell her?”
What did he want to tell her? As this woman stared down at him, he felt silly for coming to Vic for help. “I need help. But if she isn’t here, we’ll leave.”
Nel leaned to the side and took in Samuel. “Is that your buddy?”
William tensed. “My brother.”
Someone came up and shoved another paper in Nel’s hands. She scanned it, and her jaw tensed. Her voice boomed across the hall. “We go now!”
William flinched and stepped back. “What’s going on?”
Nel smiled. “Vic got taken captive. I’m afraid she can’t help you.” A reaper tossed a scythe at her, and Nel caught it in a smooth movement. She walked around the table, and the commanders fell in line.
William scurried next to the commander. “What can I do?”
Nel adjusted her gear. “Unless you know how to fight, there’s nothing you can do. I assume there won’t be anyone wanting to get their soul sucked out.” She slapped his arm. “Go back home and get help from your daddy.”
William couldn’t be sure, but he had a feeling she knew who he was. “That isn’t an option.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Well, then good luck.” Without a backward glance, she ran out with a flood of black-clad reapers behind her. They hardly made a sound as they emptied out into the courtyard.
William and Samuel stood in the deserted hall. “Guess we should lock up?”
He raised his hand and looked at the relic wrapped around his finger. He was useless. The best he could hope for was maybe getting a third-generation wand.
They walked out of the deserted Order. “What should we do?”
His brother cocked his head.
“I will find my purpose with the others,” Samuel said, his voice monotone.
William had never given him a task. Even in that he’d failed. Anger rose in him.
“No, Samuel, what do I do?” he yelled in his brother’s calm face.
“Do what you must.” His blue eyes blinked slowly.
William burst out in laughter and fell to his knees in the dirt-covered courtyard. He buried his face in his hands and screamed into the silence. The eerie sound echoed in the dark. Screams tore from him as he stayed on his knees, a white ghost with his brother standing next to him. His voice raw, he gripped his hair. Then a warm hand touched his shoulder. William faced his silent sentinel.
“Sam?”
Had his brother comforted him without being prompted?
William jumped to his feet and grasped Samuel’s shoulders. “Sam?” Samuel’s eyes were as calm as ever. “What should I do?”
He blinked. “Do what you must.”
William nodded. Nel didn’t determine how useful he was. He was the one who’d saved Vic in the first place. He grabbed Samuel’s wrist, and they ran.
22
Vic
The aftertaste of rotten swamp water made Vic desperate for a drink. Her head pounded. If her eyes stayed shut, she wouldn’t have to see what situation she’d woken in. She could feel a cold stone floor, but she could only smell the stale swamp on her. Her legs and arms were bound tightly, and her legs tingled as blood struggled to get through. Vic cracked one eye open. In the dim light, she couldn’t see or hear anyone in the room with her. Without moving, she scanned the room. The cell came into blurry view. Kai lay on the floor, trussed up next to her.
Vic rolled onto her back with a groan. Why had they tied them up if they were going to leave them in a cell?
“Finally awake?” Kai shifted to face her.
Vic tried to twist her feet to get some blood flow. “A great nap.” She rolled to face him. “I don’t suppose you have a knife they didn’t find?”
“In my boot, but I needed to wait for you to get it.”
“I guess I’ll just have to save your ass.” They shuffled across the dirty stone floor so Vic could reach his boot. “Which one?”
“My left. It’s in the outer layer.”
Vic paused. “Why did you need a knife so well hidden?”
She felt along his boot, and her fingers passed a flattened seam along his foot.
“I’m not sure. My sister gave it to me fo
r my birthday, and it became more of a lucky charm. I needed my larger blades, and I couldn’t carry it. I didn’t want her to think she got me something I couldn’t use in battle.”
Vic carefully put her fingers in his boot. She didn’t want to cut open her fingers. “If we live through this, I’ll give your sister all the strawberries in Verrin.”
“Me too.”
The covered blade finally slid out of his boot. Her stiff fingers struggled to get the cover off while Kai shuffled back down so his first ropes would be at her hands. With the blade free, she cut the rope around his arms. The first rope snapped open, freeing Kai’s hands. He slid down, and she freed his torso.
Kai took the knife from her and swiftly cut through her rope. She welcomed the pain as blood rushed back into her hands and arms. He cut through the ropes binding her legs and then his.
They stretched out their limbs, then faced the iron bars.
“Now what?” Vic asked. She’d already gone through this once. Was it only this morning she’d left the cell?
“Unfortunately, I think all we can do is wait. I didn’t know these cells were here, so I don’t think anyone else knows either.”
“Last time, I had to pretend to be a radiant to leave.” She swallowed. “I think this time they might bring in William’s father. I think it’ll work out better for them if I don’t disappear.” Kai’s hand gripped hers as she continued. “And you …”
“Will be left here.” He scanned the walls and bars as if assessing his new home.
“Kai … I can’t become … that …” She couldn’t claim to know what a radiant thought, but it seemed worse than death. Vic eyed the knife and pleaded with him with her expression.
He gripped the knife in his other hand. “No, you can’t ask that of me.”
“If you make the cut deep enough, they won’t be able to stop the bleeding.” Shame filled her for asking this of him. “Would you want to become a mindless human? My body will be alive, but my mind will be gone? They’ll use me against my family.” She gripped his hand tighter. “I know this is asking a lot—”
“Asking a lot? You’re asking me to slit your throat. Asking me to live with that memory while I rot down here.”
Vic hugged herself. “You might get out, but if they bring a radiant down here to purify me, I’ll let you decide … after. I want you to know my wishes before I can’t tell you them anymore.”
Kai let out a shaky breath. “I can’t promise you, Sparks. I’m sorry. I’ll try, but I can’t promise.”
“I understand.” She was giving up. There were no other words for it. Xiona wouldn’t make a mistake this time. Vic would fight until they sucked her soul from her body, but even a fool could see this was the end. “If you get out and your family is safe”—she took a deep breath—“will you help my sister?”
“Please don’t give up so easily.” He glared at the blade. “I wish I’d stayed tied up instead of talking about this. It isn’t over yet.”
“For me it is.” Her blood pumped through her ears. Images of the turned radiant flashed in her mind. Their empty eyes and smiles. Was it so bad to die rather than become that?
His shoulders slumped, and with those words, she defeated him. She reached for him, but the sliding sound of stone forced her to turn. A flash of white cloth appeared in the doorway, and she whimpered. Without a thought, she snatched the knife out of Kai’s hand. Her heart beat frantically as she turned away before Kai could stop her. The cold blade calmed her down, and she took a deep breath.
“Sorry.” She pressed it against her skin.
A body tackled her from behind. She writhed against him. “I can’t! I can’t become one of them!”
Warm hands cupped her face and forced her to look into a pair of startled blue eyes.
“William?”
“What do you think you’re doing? Trying to kill yourself without putting up a fight?” His grip tightened on her face. “What made you give up so quickly? There’s still hope.”
His heavy body pressed her into the stone floor. Vic grew limp and let the knife clatter to the floor. “Hope? My sister wouldn’t come with me. My Order is led by a murderer, and my city is as corrupt as the blight we fear.” She’d fought to get her sister to follow her, but she’d been wasting her time. “How much more pointless can my life get?”
William shifted off her and pulled her up. “You told me I didn’t have a right to decide what was right for my brother. What gave you the right to decide what’s right for your sister?”
Samuel stood in the cell’s gateway.
Vic sighed. “That’s low, throwing my words back at me.” She grinned crookedly. “I didn’t want her to leave me.” A warm tear tracked down her cheek. She’d left her home and fought to be a reaper, only to hold her sister back. Her sister was right: she didn’t trust her. But could her sister see what was happening? “We both thought we were saving the other. Blight take us and our stubbornness.”
Kai put his arm around her. “This whole time, you only had your sister in mind. I think she knew that.”
“I still feel uneasy about Haven. It wasn’t what Tristan said, but how he said it. Am I overreacting because I’ll miss my sister?”
Kai tilted his head. “We’ve only scratched the surface of what’s wrong in Verrin.” He sounded tired. They all wanted to protect their families, but it was proving impossible.
William nodded. “Why don’t we look into it, then? I’ll help you.”
“Thank you.” Vic glanced between the brothers. “What are you doing here?”
“I’d like to know that too.” Kai stood back quietly, and he picked up the knife Vic had dropped. He stored the knife away, and he didn’t meet Vic’s gaze.
“We should leave. Dei is here, and they’re attacking Nyx.”
“What?” Kai didn’t wait. He burst out of the cell and ran up the set of stairs.
“You couldn’t have led with that?” Vic ran after Kai. “We really didn’t have time for all the chatting!” she called behind her.
“I didn’t know you’d be down here trying to stab yourself!” William shouted after her.
She assumed he’d keep up. What was Dei doing? They didn’t know that only a few reapers were turning humans into mogs. Dei might kill innocent reapers. She’d lost sight of Kai, but she heard the clash of battle before seeing the carnage. The hall was filled with the shouts of black-clad reapers as they rushed past. No one noticed her as they ran. She couldn’t stand around without a weapon.
“What are you going to do?” William asked.
“We have to stop this fight. Most Nyx reapers don’t know what’s going on.” She stared at him. “You couldn’t wear anything besides white?”
“I might be the only safe one. I don’t think they’ll aim at me.”
“I don’t think they’ll care if they kill you since you shouldn’t be here.” Didn’t he understand how much magic users hated the radiant? Now she’d need to protect the brothers.
William’s jaw tightened. “I’m the only one who knew how to get in the cells. You’re welcome.”
Vic shook her head and went toward Xiona’s office. She doubted Xiona would trust Bomrosy again with Vic’s scythe. She ducked past the fighting. She needed to find Nel and explain. The Nyx reapers had no reason to listen to her. Kai was the only one who could stop this on the Nyx side.
She reached Xiona’s office, and the door hung loosely on its hinges. Dei had gotten here first. Vic hoped that Xiona had gotten taken before she could hide her scythe. Vic darted into the room, William still following. “You know it won’t be easy for me to protect you.”
“Says the person I saved twice,” William muttered.
Vic left him alone. Who was she to tell him where to go? If he wanted to get stabbed, that was his choice. “Maybe you should tell Samuel to wait for you.”
Vic rushed through the office and let out a happy yelp when she spotted her weapon. Kai’s weapon stood next to it. The fool had run off w
ithout a weapon. She grabbed them both.
“I tried, but he won’t listen.”
Vic didn’t have time to understand what that meant for a radiant. She needed to find Kai before he got himself killed. “I need to get to Nel. Did you see her?”
“Most of the reapers are out in the courtyard.”
Vic ran out of the office. Her boots pounded against the stone floor. She held a folded scythe in each hand. She slipped on the ground and saw red smears of what could only be blood. Vic gritted her teeth and ran. The bitter scent of copper mixed in the air as she made her way to the courtyard. Most of the reapers stayed engaged in their own battles in the hall. Maybe only ten battles at most. She forced herself to keep moving past bodies on the ground. What was Nel thinking? She’d claimed she didn’t want a war, yet here she was attacking. Vic’s blood pounded in her ears. She’d known that trusting Nel was foolish, but she admired how Nel looked after her reapers. Was this a power play, or did she really want to stop Xiona?
“Vic, help!” a Nyx reaper called out to her.
As Vic ran by, she slammed her folded scythe against the Dei reaper’s legs. He fell down with a thud. Before the other reaper could kill them, Vic raised the scythe and thwacked it against the Dei reaper’s head. She looked at the Nyx reaper. “Let’s not get a high body count if we don’t have to.”
She raised her brows at her. Who was Vic that the reaper would listen?
Vic sighed and continued to jog. She had no power here. She guided her weird radiant parade out the main doors. She froze at the sight of reapers fighting. Dei outnumbered them since Nyx only recruited one reaper every quarter and their numbers were in the eighties. Hundreds of black-clad bodies fought in the stone courtyard. Clangs and shouts echoed in the courtyard. In the dim light, only a brief glance at a brand could tell friend from foe.
“Do you see Kai?”
“No, but I see Nel.” William pointed to the right, at Xiona and Nel locked in battle.
“I don’t suppose I can convince you to stay here?” She didn’t want him to get hurt. This wasn’t his fight.