“It’s kind of sad if you think about it,” Ash went on. “Pigeons were domesticated for years and years, taken out of their natural habitats and integrated into human settlements. Our cities grew, technology advanced.Pigeons weren’t useful anymore. So what did we do? We abandoned them, like we do everything that no longer serves us. They’re stuck here now because they’ve lost their real homes and they don’t know any better, trying to eke out a life on concrete and rotting pizza.”
Surin snapped her knife shut. “You okay? I know the press con didn’t go as planned, but it wasn’tthatbad. There was that weirdo who crashed it, but you did good. Very calm. Very suave. Doesn’t warrant getting philosophical and mopey over pigeons.”
I was thinking about how we’re supposed to be doves, but we’reactually pigeons. About how the normies are so quick to turn on Exorcists every time something bad happens, even though we’re risking our lives every day to protect them.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” Ash said instead. He was well aware that theGuildwasn’t a pristine dove; it was a pigeon, adapting to its ever-changing environment, willing to do the dirty work of surviving.
“Got an update for me?” Surin asked. She’d missed the meeting earlier.
“We’ve sealed away any evidence of the bodies that were discovered. Any images online have been taken down, but I assume some might be circulating on the dark web. Our early surveillance reports indicate that the normies believe it’s ordinary Revenants that did it. No one’s speculating seriously about Hybrids yet or that it was magic that desecrated the bodies. All in all, the situation is contained, but it’s only day one.”
“More bodies will show up.” Surin sounded grimly confident.
“You think so?” Ash had his suspicions too, but he wanted to hear her take.
“The first body Teshin found at the warehouse district by the port? The Hybrids were trying to hide it because they didn’t want us to know they’ve figured out how to transform normies into monsters through magic. But look at where the new bodies were. Out in the open on a public playground for children to discover.”
“In other words, you’re saying it was deliberate because the Hybrids wanted everyone to know.”
“That’s what my gut says. We’re not dealing with brute monsters anymore. The Hybrids have cunning. They want to take us down, and they’ll use anything to add pressure. What better way than to skew public perception and cause chaos?”
“They’re doing a good job,” Ash admitted. “We look weak and incompetent.”
Surin’s features hardened. “What if the Hybrids aren’t interested in hiding in the shadows anymore? This feels like a message—an open declaration of war. Maybe they’ve pivoted in their plans because they have a new advantage and they’re feeling confident.”
“I’m afraid you might be right. The Hybrids do have something that works in their favor.” Ash filled her in quickly about the talisman Zizi had created.
Surin let out a low whistle. “I knew there was something between Rui and that boy. I wasn’t expecting this, though. Poor Rui.” She patted Ash on the shoulder. “I knowyouhad hopes for Zizi. For what it’s worth, I liked him too.”
A death god being a healer, a protector of life—ironic, isn’t it?
Ash remembered the scrawny boy he’d met all those years ago when he was still a cadet. He’d gone to the Night Market out of curiosity, despite knowing his grandfather would disapprove. There he chanced upon a child with messy hair crouching in one of the alleyways. Dressed in expensive-looking pajamas, the boy was chanting something under his breath, a feverish light in his pale blue eyes as he held on to a small, hissing ball of black fur.
Intrigued, Ash watched as the boy coo softly to the injured kitten struggling in his arms. The kitten’s hind legs were bent at an awkward angle, and it was mewing in pain and panicking. The boy didn’t seem to mind that he was getting scratched up, and he didn’t pause to acknowledge Ash’s presence. Minutes later, the kitten calmed down and the boy set it on the ground. Miraculously, it walked on all four legs, purring loudly as it snuggled against the boy.
The boy had clapped his hands triumphantly, turning around to grin at Ash. He must’ve known Ash was there all along. “I knew I could help her,” he’d boasted.
Ash had struck up a friendship with the boy with the strange name and stranger eyes. Even though Zizi enjoyed riling him up for laughs, he seemed to like Ash well enough. But through the years, Zizi remained steadfast in his refusal to be recruited to the Academy and the Guild—until Rui’s well-being came into question.
Odd as it was, their friendship had meant something to Ash, and he wished he’d had the chance to say goodbye. But Zizi was out of the picture now, and Ash had to focus on more important things.
“The Hybrid leader is likely to keep the talisman close at all times,” he said.
“Makes sense,” Surin agreed. “If I were a genocidal megalomaniac, I’d hang on tightly to the most precious thing my monster gang has. We find the talisman, we find the leader, and vice versa.”
“Destroy the spell, destroy the leader, whichever comes first.”
Ash wished it was as easy as he’d made it sound. Despite their best efforts, the Exorcists had not been able to pin the Hybrids down to a permanent hideout. They’d found less than a handful of sites, all of which had been long abandoned. It irritated Ash to no end that they were dealing with an enemy that was this intelligent and resourceful. Life seemed easier when it was just the original Revenants. At least those creatures couldn’t scheme.
“The underground magic community might have a way to track down the rogue spell,” Surin said with a gleam in her eye. “I’m not beyond forming a necessary alliance.”
Ash wasn’t against it either, but he knew the Guild Council would never approve. “I’ll have a think about that. By the way, Cadet Mai Lang has been briefed on the existence of Hybrids. She was nearby when Cadet Mak got knocked out at the port, and she saw someone or something running away.”
“Someone orsomething?”
“As I recall, she described it as a humanlike figure with pretty purple tendrils coming out of their spine,” Ash replied dryly. “Anyway, she’s a good addition to my A-Team.”
“Your A-Team?”
