Yiran didn’t know how to respond. Yuki had painted a portrait of a young man who’d had a loving family and a comfortable life. Someone who’d just graduated high school and had experienced a stroke of bad luck when the Blight infected him. Someone who had gone on to join the Hybrid pack because he had no other choice. Now Yiran wondered about all the things Yuki had shared about his human family, about the young sister whom he’d doted on—were they all lies?
Told you he couldn’t be trusted.Yiran wanted to leave. That would be the rational action to take. Yet his feet stayed in place, bound by a baseless feeling that somehow, despite everything, heknewYuki.
The Hybrid had gone back to work on the huge padlock. His hair fell over his eyes, covering half his face as he fiddled with the bobby pin. He seemed nervous. But it wasn’t about the lock. Whatever it was, it must’ve caused him to lash out.
Seconds later, he spun around with a self-satisfied grin, the rusty chain and padlock in his hand. Shaking his head, Yiran followed him out to the rooftop. The surrounding apartment blocks formed a wind tunnel, and the rush of air made a steady whistling noise like a kettle boiling over. Yuki had picked a good place to have a conversation without anyone eavesdropping. It was freezing at this height, and Yiran pulled down his beanie to cover his stinging ears.
“Now you see it,” Yuki murmured. The wispy strands of hair near his shoulders fluttered in the wind as he stared into the distance, an indecipherable look on his face.
Yiran followed Yuki’s pointing finger to the softly shimmering river that divided the city starkly in two. On one side, the spectacular skyline of modern skyscrapers and brightly lit bridges was breathtaking, a beautiful playground set aglow. On the other side—the side Yiran and Yuki were on—were dimmer, murkier neighborhoods full of cramped high-rises and narrow streets. Homes of the people who kept those playground lights on. The difference between the wealthy and the working class.
The stars in the sky mirrored the city lights, as if there was anotherworld up there, looking down on this one. Dawn would arrive soon. And when the sun rose, they would never see each other again, and Yiran would have to move on. He smothered the gnawing feeling in his chest. Might as well cut it off now.
Yuki was still looking at the bright lights across the river.
“I’m done waiting,” Yiran said. “Tell me everything or I’m leaving.”
“I’ve heard them talking about you in their meetings.”
Yuki tended to use the wordthemwhenever he spoke about the other Hybrid Revenants. Did he hold himself apart?Doesn’t mean he won’t kill out of necessity or hunger, or that he doesn’t want a world without Exorcists, Yiran reminded himself.
“Go on,” he said.
“The leadership seems veeeeery interested in the boy who can cast a defensive shield so large and strong it single-handedly withstood multiple sustained attacks from one of their strongest.”
So the Hybrids knew what had happened that day during the Guild mission when Eddy died. Magic had streamed out of Yiran, and it was that magic—that false, unnatural thing in his body borrowed from Rui—that had saved him and Ada.
“They’re interested,” Yuki continued, “because the boy was allegedly born with a weak spirit core, and he couldn’t do magic until recently. They’re interested because Song Yiran is an anomaly, and anomalies draw attention.”
“I can’t do magic anymore,” Yiran said bitterly.
Yuki shot him a piercing look. “Are you absolutely sure about that?”
“I’ve tried. I’ve put on that stupid glove so many times, but nothing happens.”
“That’s not what I mean—”
“Then whatdoyou mean? Stop talking in circles, Yuki. I’m tired of—”
“They want to meet you.”
“What?”Yiran must’ve heard wrong.
“They’re curious. Like I said, you fascinate them.”
“If you think I’m just going to waltz into their evil lair like some free gift for the taking—”
“But then you’ll know where their lair is, and you can share the location with your precious Exorcist Guild.” A wry smile tugged at Yuki’s lips. “Did you think I couldn’t tell that you only let me get close because you wanted information from me? I didn’t lose my brains when the Blight infected me, remember?”
I let you get close because I wanted to, Yiran almost yelled. But Yuki wasn’t wrong. The two of them had been dancing around each other for weeks in a discordant waltz. Back and forth, round and round, but never quite in sync.
“Anyway,” Yuki said, scrunching his nose in a way that was too endearing for no good reason, “don’t be dramatic. It’s not an invitation to the evil lair. I’m only telling you what I heard. The boss seems to think that maybe you’re not a normie. Maybe you’ll be able to do magic once you figure out a way to access it again.”
Yiran’s fingers throbbed, a reminder of pain from the past. Old memories buried in the far corners of his mind were digging their way out. He squeezed his eyes shut, refusing to acknowledge them, refusing to face them, beating them back into the ground.
“Are you okay?”
He heard the concern in Yuki’s voice and immediately wished he hadn’t. He felt Yuki’s touch on his arm, and his eyes flew open.
