Chapter 66 Yiran
Yiran
“Leave us,” his father said.
The Hybrids shuffled off, some more reluctantly than others. Yuki cast a worried glance at Yiran. Yiran ignored him; he couldn’t
let himself be distracted.
“You seem to be taking things well,” his father remarked, scrutinizing him.
Yiran needed to dispel his suspicions. He raised his left hand, showing his scars, reminding his father of who had given them to him.
“I hated the old man,” he said with a sneer, even as his chest hurt. “I’ll admit I was shocked you did that at the teahouse.
Wish you’d told me your plan and what would come after. I wasn’t prepared, so I ran. I didn’t know what was happening after
the block on my meridians lifted. But I suppose all’s well that ends well.” He raised his other hand, the gloved one. “I’m
in full control now.”
Curiosity pooled in his father’s eyes. “And what else did you find out about your abilities?” He was laser-focused on one
thing and one thing only.
“I’m an Amplifier.”
The news didn’t go down as well as he’d thought it would. While his father seemed impressed, he also looked suspicious. “How
did you know that?”
“The white lantern that Yuki brought me to for healing told me about them,” Yiran lied.
A chill settled in his father’s voice. “Yuki knew what you were all this time?”
Shit. Yiran hadn’t meant to drag the Hybrid into this.
“It was a private conversation between me and the white lantern. Yuki doesn’t know.
I haven’t told anyone else until today.” He scoffed lightly.
“I didn’t believe the white lantern at first, to be honest, but then the teahouse happened.
I felt the surge of energy and magic inside me—it wasn’t just a release of the block on my core and my meridians.
It was something more. I went to look for the white lantern afterward, and she confirmed everything. ”
“Amplifiers have always been a rumor in Guild circles. I was never completely sure if they existed. But I suppose knowing
how the Guild and its Council work, there’s always truth in the rumors.” His father sounded bitter.
“Like how they keep denying that Hybrids exist,” Yiran said, driving the needle in.
“The Council will be after you now.”
“I figured. The white lantern said that under the right circumstances, I’d be able to absorb spiritual energy directly. That’s what happened when the first separation spell was cast on me. Somehow, it unlocked part of that ability that was
suppressed. I can be more powerful if I hone it.” Yiran laughed. “The Council should be afraid of me.”
He let that thought linger, certain that his father’s mind was whirring with the possibilities of exploiting his son’s innate
abilities.
Hoping for more information about Surin and the other abducted Exorcists and the talisman, Yiran said, “I couldn’t help hearing
something about the next phase. Are we transforming the Exorcists? I’d love to watch.”
“Tonight would’ve been the first of our trials,” his father revealed, “but Celeste waylaid me.”
So the Exorcists were imprisoned here. The compound was big. Yiran had to know their exact location. “The night’s still young,” he said. “Where
did you get the spell from, anyway? What does that talisman even look like?”
His father smiled faintly. “An agreement.”
He’d ignored Yiran’s implicit request to see the talisman. Was the talisman really on Song Liming’s person? Yiran only had
Yuki’s word for it. He tried a different tactic. “What’s up with Celeste? She didn’t seem happy with your plans and about
me.”
“Divergent views will always arise in a big group,” his father said dismissively.
Yiran adjusted his glove absently, feigning indifference. “You know, you could cast the spell on me.”
His father’s eyes flashed, and he regarded Yiran more seriously.
He’s tempted. It was so easy.
Yiran wanted to slap himself. He’d been so starved of parental affection that he’d believed what his father had said that
day at the cliffside. Believed that they had a chance for a real relationship. It seemed his father didn’t see him as anything
more than a tool to advance his ambition. The truth hit harder than expected. Anger and sorrow tangled inside him, but how
he felt didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was his task.
“It’s a risk I’d be willing to take. Like you said, revolutions live and die by their leaders. You said a leader needs the
will to do things, however unsavory. If Cel and the rest are unhappy about me, I should earn my place, prove that I’m all
in with them—that I’m in this with you.” Yiran was speaking faster now, excitement teeming in his voice. “I’ve had a similar
spell cast on me before, and it was fine. It worked well, in fact—because my core is special.”
His father didn’t look fully convinced, but he was listening intently.
“Power is the only thing that matters,” Yiran went on, looking meaningfully at his glove. “I don’t ever want to be in an inferior
position again. Think about what this new spell could do for me.”
His father narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. “Let me show you something.”
He led Yiran to the back of the warehouse where the exit was. To Yiran’s surprise, it was connected to another, smaller building
that had been hidden from sight. The outside of the building looked old, like the rest of the warehouses. But the inside had
been reconfigured. It was empty except for a control panel on the side. A hexagonal platform made of glass stuck out in the
middle. Above it, a large skylight on the roof mirrored the platform. There were no cages or cells to house any prisoners
that Yiran could see.
Curiously, he walked to the glass platform and looked down.
There was a basement—a dungeon—below. Mysterious crates had been placed in a seemingly haphazard manner across the concrete
floor. An eerily familiar feeling rose in Yiran as he stared at the crates, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. He struggled
to contain his shock when he saw what—or who—was tied up and shackled to various pillars. The kidnapped Exorcists and cadets bore injuries, and they all seemed unconscious,
as if they’d been drugged. He’d found them. Now he needed to get the message out. But how?
Song Liming wasn’t paying attention to him. Instead, he was admiring the place, looking almost giddy.
“I designed all this myself,” he said. “The skylight allows moonlight to shine through to the level below us, and it’s especially
potent on a night of the full moon. But what makes it even more effective is this.” He pressed a button on the control panel.
There was a hissing sound from below. Gooseflesh rose on Yiran’s arms. This feeling . . . he knew it—
“Those crates are Revenant nests, aren’t they?”
“That’s right,” his father said. His eyes had a fervent, obsessive light in them. “We discovered that the spell works differently
depending on who it’s cast on. First, it allows us to extract yinqi from the original Revenants, and we can flood someone’s
spirit core with it when we cast the spell again on a human, enhancing the results of the energy transfer. This machine concentrates
the yinqi. The process isn’t perfected yet, but perhaps what I need is the right specimen to test it on.”
I have to stop him. Yiran could feel the sweat breaking out on his forehead. His friends, the city—everyone was counting on him.
“Well, I’m right here,” he said evenly.
His father stepped back, assessing him. Yiran couldn’t tell what he was thinking, if he would decide to test it on his own
son right at this moment. But his father made no move to take out the talisman. What if Yuki was wrong and Song Liming didn’t
carry it with him?
There was a sudden whooshing sound. Something wrapped around Yiran, yanking him up so fast, it felt as though his back would break.
Celeste leaped down from the open skylight, moving quickly as she knotted and spun a dozen ropes, leaving traces of her yinqi
on them. Yiran yelped as the rope around him started to burn.
The Hybrid smiled sweetly at father and son. “I’m afraid there’s been a change of plans.”