Viri shrugged. “She wants to stop the Reaper Priest as much as anyone.”
An oddly dark chuckle left Reeve. “More, I’d say, given everything at stake.” His expression cleared as he went on, “Regardless, you’re currently on the run from the law.”
Viri’s lips pressed together. “Thanks toyou.”
“And Sarielle Starling is the Magistratus,” he continued, ignoring the bite in her voice. “No matter how close you two are, she has a legal obligation to report you. If you approach her about this—or aboutanything—she’ll have no choice but to call for theNox.”
“She’s the one who told me there was no cost too steep if itmeant finding the Reaper Priest,” Viri argued. “She all but gave me permission to break you out of the Underlock.”
“That’s probably a stretch,” Wynter murmured. “You know how Mom is.”
Viri opened her mouth to object but then closed it just as quickly. Sarielle loved Wynter and Viri more than anything, but her life and career were both rooted in her integrity. If push came to shove, Viri wanted to believe her guardian would protect her, and she knew that was what Sarielle wouldwantto do, but the truth was, Viri couldn’t be entirely confident.
Sighing, she asked, “What do we do, then? If Sarielle does have more of my parents’ things, she doesn’t keep them in our apartment.”
“Mom has an entire storeroom attached to her office,” Wynter said thoughtfully.
“That’s for files and legal reports and other council-related stuff,” Viri returned, having visited Sarielle during work hours plenty of times.
“I’m pretty sure it’s also where she kept your fillium,” Wynter shared, a pensive look on her face. “If she’s safeguarding anything else, that’s the first place I’d search.”
“I can’t exactly walk into the Summit at the moment, Wyn,” Viri said, frustration leaching into her tone—not at her friend, at the situation. “And before you offer to go for me, if the map only works at my touch, then I’ll need to be there in person to identifyit.”
“And I’ll need to be there to identify the talisman,” Reeve said, fiddling with the onyx ring on his finger.
Viri laughed incredulously. “Youdefinitelycan’t walk into the Summit. You’ll be arrested on sight.”
He arched a challenging brow. “Then we’d better come up with a plan, hadn’t we? Because we can’t stop Brae without those two things, and in order to get them…” He trailed off, his brow arching higher as he waited for Viri to finish his thought.
She sighed again, louder this time, as she realized there was only one path forward. “We need to break into the Summit.”
“Great idea.” Reeve flashed a winning grin. “I’ve always loved a good heist. Now here’s what I’m thinking…”
20
The plan they devised was relatively straightforward, especially once they realized they could infiltrate the Summit without anyone ever seeing them.
It wouldn’t have been possible on any other day, but the High Council held a weekly meeting every Friday at midday, which guaranteed a full hour when Sarielle and her colleagues would be holed up in their conference chamber. Her assistant, Galen, would still be a problem, since his desk was right outside her private office, but Wynter was confident she could tempt him away for lunch with the help of a little flirting from her “new friend” Jonas. That would leave the path clear for Reeve and Viri to sneak in, get what they needed, and sneak out again—hopefully without being arrested in the process.
When the plan was as solid as they could make it, enough time had passed that the glass dome overhead showed sunbeams trickling into the lake and an assortment of creatures swimming by, proof that morning had well and truly arrived. Viri was almost relieved that they couldn’t do anything until midday, since it meant she was able to curl up on Wynter’s couch and rest her tiredeyes. She’d planned to only take a short nap, but everything from the previous night caught up to her the moment she lay down—fighting the reapers, Reeve’s poisoning, Jessalyn’s abduction, the star-crossed comets, Braedan’s desire to find the Guardian, and the imminent destruction of the obelisks—and she ended up sleeping for much longer than intended. She only startled awake when Wynter shook her shoulder and handed her a pile of clothes, nudging her in the direction of the lab’s adjoining bathroom.
Still half asleep, Viri scrubbed away the filth covering her from head to toe, then donned the outfit Wynter must have retrieved from their apartment while she’d been dozing—a fresh set of black hunting leathers and a clean scarlet cloak. A quick look in the steamy mirror revealed her lavender eyes to be bright and more rested than she’d expected, her red-and-silver hair wet but clean and braided over her shoulder once more, and the claw marks on her cheek completely gone thanks to Wyn’s healing salve.
Feeling somewhat human again, Viri left the bathroom to find that Reeve and Jonas had also washed and changed while she’d been sleeping. Jonas now wore a different sweater-vest—this one checkered pink and purple, with another front pocket for Walnut—while Reeve was in his usual black, minus the blood and grime and dagger-slashed fabric. His hair was still damp from bathing, his eyes clear and alert enough that he must have curled up for his own nap sometime that morning.
“It’s nearly time,” Wynter announced. Her trainee-physician robes were nowhere in sight, but Viri decided not to comment, especially given the looming deadline for Braedan’s plans and their need for Wyn to be researching the comets in what little time remained.
“Here,” Jonas said, shuffling over to Viri and handing her a brown paper bag identical to the one Reeve held. “I grabbed this for you when I went to get Reeve’s clothes.”
Viri opened it warily, only to be hit by a delicious smell that instantly made her mouth water. “Egg-and-bacon wrap. My favorite.”
Jonas beamed, his eyes flicking to Reeve, who was concentrating almost too intently on pulling a blueberry muffin out of his own bag. “I heard.”
Viri could have let it affect her, the knowledge that Reeve remembered her favorite breakfast from seven years ago and had shared it with Jonas. She could have felt moved or annoyed or sad or elated or any other number of emotions. Instead, she chose to ignore everything but her rumbling stomach and bit into her wrap. Only, as she did so, an image of Jessalyn flashed across her mind, making it difficult to swallow. Had Jessy been given food since her abduction? Were she and the other children being taken care of? Were the reapers—
No,Viri told herself.Stop.
Soren was out searching for his sister. Sage and Ardin were with him. Viri had her own mission, and her concern for the young girl would only distract her.Focus, not fear,she reminded herself. Jessalyn would be all right—she had to be.
