“I hurried back to work to raise the alarm, but the reception guards told me eight kids had just been saved and returned home, including some of Jessy’s friends. So I rushed back to our apartment to see if she was there, but she—she wasn’t.”
A sound left Viri’s lips, part gasp, part moan, all horror. She swayed on her feet and only kept from falling because Reeve’s hand curled around hers, his touch grounding her. She didn’t even consider ripping her arm away. Instead, she held on tight and turned to him, seeing the same realization in his stony features.
The four kids they’d lost in the alley—Jessalyn had been one of them.
“This is allyourfault!”Sage’s voice raged across Viri’s memory.“You’rethe reason we lost those kids!”
Soren kept speaking, explaining how he’d sought out his sister’s friends and begged for information about where she might be, but they’d known nothing. Viri barely heard him, a tightness pressing against her chest so hard that she was beginning to see black spots at the edges of her vision, Sage’s words still screaming in her mind.
“Breathe, Little Shadow,” Reeve whispered into her ear, interrupting her shrieking thoughts. He leaned so close that the warmth of his body was almost enough to melt the ice encasing hers. “Breathe, or you’ll pass out.”
At the authority in his voice, Viri sucked in a painful breath, then another, her vision returning, the tightness in her chest easing, the enraged words quieting. But her horror remained, more acute than ever.
“And then finally I spoke with a boy, Mateo, and he told me they were saved from a group of reapers by a red-cloaked hunter and three people who moved so fast they could only be reapers themselves,” Soren said. He glanced at Viri, taking in the now-dry alley filth and crusted blood covering her, then cast his gaze over Reeve, Sage, and Jonas. “It was you, wasn’t it? You saved those kids?”
Viri was still struggling to breathe, let alone speak, so she didn’t correct him about Jonas and only nodded.
Reeve, however, said, “We did. But unfortunately, there was a small group that disappeared while we were fighting.”
“Mateo told me that as well.” Soren’s face was pale as he stared at Reeve. “It’s why I came looking for you. Please, I have to find my sister. I can’t—” His voice broke. “I can’t lose her. I’ll do anything. Just—Just tell me what to do.”
Viri felt as if a knife were stabbing her heart. It was unheard of, a Nox asking a reaper for help, and yet, here they were.
For a long moment, Reeve and Soren just looked at each other, silver eyes meeting brown, but then Reeve turned to Sage and said, “Viri and I need to go after Brae, but in case things don’t go as planned, we still need boots on the ground to find those kids. Track down Ardin, get him to work his connections, tell him we only have until Sunday before the comet arrives.”
“Sunday?”Soren turned alarmingly paler. Wynter was at his side in an instant, wrapping an arm around him and murmuring in comfort.
Reeve continued to give Sage orders. “If we can’t find the kids, then we need to know where the sacrifice is taking place. But keep in mind, the Nox and hunters will be searching as well,so be careful not to cross paths with them since they won’t know we’re allies.”
There was that word again—allies. Viri never would have thought it possible before tonight, but all evidence suggested Reeve and his reaper friends were doing exactly what they’d claimed: helping. She didn’t have to like them—Elders knew that would never happen—but it was time she put aside her misgivings and at least tried to trust that they were all on the same side. For Jessalyn’s sake, if nothing else.
“Understood,” Sage said with a solemn nod.
Reeve nodded back, then gestured between her and Soren. “Archer, this is Sage D’alia, a fierce warrior and loyal friend. If you can stomach working with reapers, then she’ll take you to our other friend, Ardin Avarni, and they’ll do everything they can to help find your sister.”
Seeing the uncertainty on Soren’s face, and still feeling guilt over Jessalyn’s abduction, Viri said, “Maybe I should go with—”
“No,” Reeve interrupted, his hand squeezing hers. She’d forgotten he was still holding her, and hastily unwound their fingers. “I can’t stress enough how important it is that we find your brother.”
Viri was aware of Wynter whispering to Soren—filling him in about the Reaper Priest’s identity and Viri’s history with Reeve—but despite the shock she could feel coming from her friend, Viri’s gaze remained locked on Reeve as she said, “Soren needs me.Jessyneeds me.”
“This wholecityneeds you more,” Reeve countered. “If we don’t stop Braedan from what he’s about to do, then everyone on this island is going to die.”
His words were like a thunderclap, leaving a ringing silence in their wake.
But then Viri realized exactly what his dramatic declaration meant, and she said, with clear accusation, “You know what he plans to do with the comet’s power, don’t you?”
A muscle feathered in Reeve’s jaw as he debated whether or not to answer. It took a moment, but with a long, resigned sigh, he finally revealed, “If the sacrifice goes ahead, the power drawn from Aurora will be strong enough to destroy the obelisks.”
Viri stared at him, certain she must have heard wrong.
She wasn’t the only one, since Wynter asked, her words choked, “But—if the obelisks are destroyed, then the wards around the city will be destroyed with them. There’ll be no protection from the blackmist.”
Soren pressed a hand to his temple, looking queasy. “There’ll also be no way for kids to Impart—which means reapers will have an unlimited siphoning range to choose from.”
“They won’t, though. If kids don’t yield their magic, they’ll burn out,” Wynter argued. “Without knowing how to avoid it, they’ll die. Or if they survive, they’ll become living shells.”
“Do you think reapers will care if the person they siphon from is cognizant or not?” Soren argued back. “They don’t give a damn where their ellixen comes from, just as long as they get it.” He glanced at Reeve, Sage, and Jonas and grimaced, as if belatedly remembering he’d come to them for help, and grudgingly added, “No offense.”
