Chapter 15
Unsurprisingly, Sage wasn’t thrilled by the idea of blindly trusting Viri, but after Jonas pointed out their lack of options, the purple-haired reaper grudgingly helped drag Reeve out of the apartment—but not without first warning Viri that there would be hell to pay if she was leading them into a trap.
Viri would have laughed at the irony if she hadn’t been so anxious about where she was taking them and the line she was about to cross. But Jonas had said Reeve needed someone with medical and magical knowledge, and there was only one person she knew who fit that description.
As quickly as they could manage while bearing Reeve’s unconscious form, their small group hurried to the wayportal. Viri stepped through first, guiding it not to the surface this time, but into the heart of the undercity.
“This way,” she told the reapers, sending up a prayer to avoid any Nox patrols—or worse, hunters—while she ushered them along a tunnel almost identical to those in the inner-mountains, its magically filtered air cool and slightly damp.
Like Mount Tembris, the undercity was mainly used for residential purposes, with levels upon levels of apartments.
But there were also communal areas, like Mount Verta’s market district, as well as recreational spaces similar to the Entertainment Guild’s renowned Encore Alley, and an assortment of businesses dotted throughout the labyrinthine tunnels.
It was frustratingly easy to get lost, and not just because there were many paths carved by the ancient mages that had yet to be fully explored.
Viri, however, knew exactly where she was going, and she didn’t hesitate to lead the reapers into a narrow passage off the main walkway, stopping at a dead end.
“Did we take a wrong turn?” Jonas asked, panting under Reeve’s weight.
Instead of answering, Viri reached for the rocky wall and ran her hand down it three times. On the third stroke, a click sounded, and the entire surface shifted inward, revealing a hidden door.
“Whoa,” Jonas breathed.
Sage looked at it with suspicion. “Warded?”
“No.” Viri pushed the wall-door fully open. “Just hidden from anyone who doesn’t know it’s here.”
“And how did you know it was here?”
“Because this is my best friend’s lab,” Viri said, gesturing for them to follow her into the large, circular workroom.
“It was a gift from her dad—a present for her fourteenth birthday.” It was also the only thing the mystery man had ever given Wynter, his letter arriving just before her Impartation ceremony with instructions on how to find the place, a warning to keep it secret, and an unhelpful sign-off saying, Use it well. With great affection, your father.
Before Sage could ask, Viri confirmed, “Yes, I’m talking about Wynter Starling, the Magistratus’s daughter. No, her mother doesn’t know about this lab. Only Wyn, me, and our friend Soren. That’s it.” She paused. “And now you.”
“Is there a reason it’s so secret?” Sage asked with an arched brow.
Viri arched her own in return. “Look around.”
As soon as Sage stepped fully into the lab, all it took was one sweep of her widening hazel eyes to see exactly why Wynter wouldn’t want her mother to know this place existed. Or anyone, for that matter.
“Whoa again,” Jonas repeated as he gaped around the brightly lit room, his gaze roving from the domed glass ceiling that offered a view straight up through Lake Mirtis—dark now, but when the sun rose, it would reveal all kinds of aquatic creatures drifting by—and then lowering to take in the rest of the space.
His eyes glazed with wonder as he spotted the shelves full of ancient leather books, many written in the runic language of the mages, but while his attention stayed there, Sage continued to peer around the rest of the lab, unable to hide her shock.
Viri understood her reaction. The room was teeming with too many illegal alchemical items to count, almost all of which had been included as part of the “gift” from Wynter’s dad.
There was the large terrarium full of magical plants and flowers—some of which were glowing.
Then there was the cabinet that housed a rare assortment of precious metals and gemstones—with some of those glowing, too.
And then, of course, there was the long workbench covered in vials of various colors and states, from liquids—like the zingzest elixir—to solids—like the impedidust—to smoky gasses in stoppered flasks—which Viri had yet to be subjected to.
She eyed those warily, but she was more concerned by the foul-smelling brown sludge oozing out of the hot furnace, and she made a mental note to not volunteer for that particular experiment, regardless of how much Wynter begged.
Casting her gaze around, Viri tried to see the lab through Sage and Jonas’s eyes, noting the hundreds of potions shelved along the walls and the unfamiliar ingredients interspersed among them, the plethora of tools for crushing and grinding powders and pastes, the collection of measuring glasses, pitchers, and vials, the numerous distillation vessels and tubes, and the pages and pages of parchment full of Wynter’s scrawled notes.
If the room hadn’t been so tidy, it would have been overwhelmingly chaotic. Instead, it was—
“Magical,” Jonas whispered, looking as if he might cry. “This place is magical. Walnut and I want to stay here forever.”
Peeking out from Jonas’s pocket, Walnut didn’t seem nearly as enchanted by their surroundings, though his nose did twitch adorably as he took in the foreign scents of the lab.
“There’s a couch over here,” Viri said, leading them to the far side of the room, then helping lower Reeve onto it.
It was strange to see him lying there, especially since Viri had spent so many hours on that couch herself, keeping Wynter company while she worked, or, less enjoyably, fighting off side effects caused by Wyn’s experiments.
There was even a first aid kit at the foot of the couch for just that purpose, full of forbidden magical remedies all made by Wynter: a soothing gel for burns, an anti-itch cream, a warming potion, an anti-nausea tonic, a morphenine painkiller, and a healing salve—though the latter was more often used to treat Viri’s hunting scrapes than anything Wynter’s tests put her through.
As helpful as the supplies were for minor wounds and ailments, there was nothing that would cure Reeve of a magical poison, and by the look of him, he didn’t have time for guesswork.
My fault, my fault, my fault. Viri heard the words in her mind, replaying the moment when he’d tackled her away from the dagger and yanked it out of his side with a sickening squelch.
Saliva filled her mouth at the memory, and she knew—she knew—she would never forgive herself if he died from saving her life.
“All right, you got us here,” Sage said, breaking into Viri’s spiraling thoughts. “Now where’s your friend? I assume she’s the one you think can help Reeve?”
“Wait here,” Viri said, moving back toward the door. “I’ll go wake her.”
But Viri barely made it halfway across the lab before the hidden entrance echoed with a clicking sound and the wall shifted inward again.
Sage reacted instantly, unsheathing two blades and raising them in a defensive stance.
Jonas also reacted instantly, uttering a squeak of fright and leaping behind the couch—making Viri belatedly realize why he hadn’t been out fighting with his friends that night.
He was, without a doubt, the strangest reaper she’d ever met.
But with a quick shake of her head, Viri’s attention turned to Wynter, who appeared through the hidden doorway and came to a stuttered, wide-eyed halt at the small group assembled in her secret laboratory.
“I can explain,” Viri blurted, all too aware that she stood there with a clawed face and filthy, wet clothes, and was in the company of three strangers, one of whom was unconscious, and all of whom were covered in blood—mostly Reeve’s.
On the plus side, Wynter couldn’t see Sage and Jonas’s darkened veins, though it wouldn’t take long for her to guess what they were.
“I promise to tell you everything, but first, we need your help.”
“Are you crazy?” Wynter shrieked, pushing through her shock and marching forward, her glossy black hair swaying behind her.
“Do you know how many people are looking for you? I’m only awake because Darik barged into our apartment and woke Mom and me, claiming you attacked him.
He has half the Nox out searching for you.
And, I assume, him.” She jabbed a finger in Reeve’s direction.
“That’s Ashton, isn’t it? The right hand to the Reaper Priest?
” She then pointed to Sage and Jonas. “Are they his reaper buddies?”
Viri winced, wishing her friend wasn’t so clever. “I hoped we’d have more time before they came for us.”
Wynter’s sapphire eyes flooded with disbelief. “I’m all for bending the rules, you know that.” She indicated the magical contraband surrounding them. “But what the hell, V?”
“I needed Reeve’s help with something,” Viri said. “It’s important.”
“It’d better be life and death for what you did. Do you have any idea how much trouble you’re in?”
“It is life and death. He has information that could—”
“Yo!” Sage interrupted, a fierce scowl on her face. “Can you two maybe play catch-up when our friend isn’t dying?”
Viri winced a second time, knowing Sage was right. “Please, Wyn,” she begged. “He’s been poisoned by a grimblade.”
At the mention of the rare magical weapon, Wynter’s eyes rounded with surprise, then narrowed again just as fast. “Why should I help a reaper?”
The answer rasped out of Viri. “Because the blade he took was aimed at me.” She held her friend’s gaze and whispered, “He saved my life. Now I need to save his.”
There was a pause while Wynter stared at Viri, weighing her decision, but then she sighed. “Tell me what happened. The weapon, the poison’s effects, everything.”