“Two minutes,” Wynter said firmly, hauling Viri not just across the lab, but out of it entirely, into the darkened dead end of the tunnel. Only when the door was sealed behind them did she release Viri and say, “I meant the breather part literally. What you just shared was heavy—let it settle, take a second to regain some control. Then we’ll go back in there.”
“I don’t need—”
“Yes, you do.”
Viri ground her teeth together, hating that her friend was right. She’d let her emotions take over, and now she had to find a way to reel them in again before she stormed back into the lab and did something she’d regret.
Forcing herself to stay in the tunnel, Viri closed her eyes and filled her lungs with the damp underground air, its earthy scent reminding her of the calming smell of rain. She inhaled once,twice, three times, allowing the anger to cool from her veins, the tension to ease from her muscles. Her grief, though…that stayed with her. It always had, and always would.
“Better?” Wynter asked after a moment.
Viri slumped against the wall. “A little.” She bit her lip and met Wynter’s eyes. “Are you mad at me? For the secrets?”
“Everyone has secrets.” An unreadable look crossed Wynter’s face, but it quickly turned into a guilty smile as she gestured to her illegal lab. “I know that better than anyone.”
Viri huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, I suppose. But still—”
“I’m not mad,” Wynter promised. “Disappointed that you didn’t tell me, yes. But I also get it. That kind of betrayal, especially from someone you love…” She shook her head. “I’m so sorry you went through that. That you’restillgoing through it.”
Viri wasn’t sure if Wynter was referring to Braedan or Reeve—or both. Either way, she rubbed a weary hand over her face and said, “I hate this.” She speared a glare at the closed door. “And I hate that it means I’m stuck working withthem.”
“I’ll admit to being unsure of the whys, but you never do anything without reason,” Wynter said, smoothing her cobalt sleeves. “I’m assuming this is one of those ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ kind of deals.”
Viri grimaced. “ ‘Friend’ is too strong a word. But…” She sighed. “We’re allies, I guess. In the loosest definition of the word.”
“Any chance you feel like explaining that?” Wynter jerked her chin in the direction of the lab. “You said before that Reeve has information you need, something about life and death?”
The reminder was like a bucket of ice water crashing into Viri. As much as she wanted to walk away and leave all her problemsbehind—especiallythe three reapers waiting beyond the door—the missing children were counting on her. She refused to let them down.
“I’ll explain inside,” Viri said, taking one final, calming breath and pushing off the wall. “Let’s go interrogate some reapers.”
17
When Viri stepped back into the lab, Reeve and Sage immediately halted what looked like a tense conversation. Jonas, on the other side of the room, jumped guiltily away from the magical terrarium, wonder splashed across his features—as well as angelrose luster, indicating he must have touched the petals and then wiped his fingers under his glasses. Walnut, too, was glowing slightly, his brown coat dusted with pink speckles, his whiskers twitching.
“Everything all right?” Reeve asked Viri as she and Wynter approached, his tone hesitant. Wary.
Viri understood his caution, but she was back in control now—and ready to finally get some answers. She launched straight in with the first thing that came to mind. “Why were you out in the alley tonight? Why did you save those kids from your own kind?”
If Reeve was surprised by her opening questions, he didn’t let on, his features unwaveringly calm as he replied, “I promised you answers, so ask anything you want. But keep in mind, I already told you we have the same goal.”
Viri couldn’t keep the doubt from her voice. “To stop the Aurora sacrifice.”
Wynter held up a hand. “I’m sorry, the what-now?”
Reeve ignored her to tell Viri, “We”—he indicated himself, Jonas, and Sage—“have been working for months to foil as many transfers as possible, ever since we first heard whispers about the children being taken, and why. Ardin has a vast network of connections within the reaper world, so whenever he learns about kids being shuffled around or relocated, he finds out the route they’ll be taking, and we intervene. Usually it’s only one or two at a time—not enough for your Nox friends to investigate, since the kids we help are returned safely without ever knowing the real reason they were taken in the first place. They rarely even realize it was reapers who took them—or reapers who saved them.”
Viri thought of all the red threes she’d visited who had already found their way home and wondered how many of them had Reeve and his friends to thank for it.
“But tonight was different,” Reeve went on, his tone lowering with concern. “I’ve never seen a group as big as that.”
“You know what that means,” Sage said, her face grim. “If they’re taking that kind of risk, with that many reapers as a guard…andthose kids were considered ‘spares’…then there can only be one reason.”
Jonas paled. “The comet must be nearly here.”
“What comet?” Wynter frowned. “And what’s this aboutkids?”
“So tonight,” Viri said, her focus solely on Reeve, “when you knocked me out with magic—and you’d better believe we’ll be talking about that later—it was so you could go andsavethe children? All to keep them from being included in the Aurorasacrifice?”
