Chapter 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 tired eyes.
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.
“I have something for you as well,” Wynter interrupted Viri’s thoughts, dragging her away from Reeve and Jonas and over to her workbench, where she’d lined up a small collection of vials.
“If everything goes to plan and you head straight from the Summit to your brother, I’ll feel better if you have these with you.
” She pointed to the vials in turn. “Impedidust and zingzest—you already know how to use those. The healing salve and morphenine, too. But this one is new.” She picked up a scarlet powder in a stoppered glass.
“I haven’t had a chance to test it yet, but it might come in handy. ”
Around a mouthful of food, Viri asked, “Do I swallow it?”
Wynter blanched and all but shouted, “No!”
Viri jumped and nearly choked on a piece of bacon.
“Sorry,” Wynter said, clutching the vial close. “But you definitely don’t want to ingest this. Don’t inhale it, either. Don’t even touch it if you can help it.”
“Then what—”
“It’s an explosive,” Wynter blurted, then winced at the look on Viri’s face. “Or it hopefully is. Like I said, I haven’t been able to test it yet. But I’ve been working on a new formula from one of my books, and I’m pretty confident I got it right.”
“On a scale of it doesn’t work at all to be careful not to blow yourself up, how confident is your ‘pretty confident’?” Viri asked dubiously, finishing off the last of her breakfast and tossing the bag into the trash.
“When I say ‘explosive,’ I don’t mean the incendiary kind, so you won’t blow yourself up—or anyone else, for that matter,” Wynter assured her, placing the vial back on the bench.
“It’s more that it works explosively, in the sense of it having a larger range than, say, the impedidust. If you find yourself attacked by a group of reapers—like you did last night—then smash the vial wherever they’re the most concentrated.
If the dust touches their skin, or they breathe it in, they should feel its effects almost immediately. ”
“What will it do?”
“If I made it right, it should block their ellixen-heightened abilities,” Wynter answered. “Speed, strength, healing—all of that will be inaccessible. It won’t drain them like your fillium, but it’ll put you on even footing in a fight, at least until the effects wear off.”
Viri stared at the scarlet powder in awe. “Like temporary nullicuffs, but in alchemical form.”
Wynter grinned. “Precisely.”
“You’re a genius, Wyn,” Viri said—something she’d told her friend many times, but that never made it any less true.
“Don’t thank me yet,” Wynter warned. “It might not work.”
“Doesn’t make you less of a genius.”
Wynter’s eyes warmed. “Love you, V,” she said softly. “Promise you’ll be careful?”
“Always.” Viri reached out to squeeze her friend’s hand. “And love you back. You’re the Orion to my Aurora, you know that, right?”
Wynter mock-pouted. “Why can’t I be Aurora?”
Viri chuckled. “Works for me. I’d happily chase you anywhere.”
“Speaking of chasing…” Wynter said slyly, her gaze drifting over to where Jonas and Reeve were talking quietly on the other side of the room.
“We only have a few minutes left before we need to go, so you’d better spend every second explaining how you kept such a juicy secret from me for so many years. ”
The breakfast wrap turned sour in Viri’s stomach. “Braedan—”
Wynter waved a hand. “I’m not talking about your brother—we’ve already covered that. I want to know about Reeve.”
Viri jolted. “What about him?”
“What about him?” Wynter repeated incredulously. “Have you seen him? He’s not my type—it doesn’t take an alchemist to know that mixing charm, intelligence, and confidence that borders on arrogance is a recipe for disaster—but, Elders, even I can admit that he’s beautiful to look at.”
Humor quirked Viri’s lips at the understatement, but then she sobered.
“Beautiful or not, he’s a reaper. I won’t deny that there’s…
something between us, some kind of spark, or attraction, or maybe just nostalgic feelings left over from the friendship we once shared.
But it doesn’t matter, because like I said—he’s a reaper. That overrides everything else.”
Wynter’s head tilted thoughtfully to the side. “He’s not, though. Not really.”
“He mightn’t siphon now, but he did once,” Viri said, refusing to forget what he’d done. “He killed someone. A girl. He told me so himself.”
Wynter didn’t have a comeback for that, but she lowered her voice to say, “I had a chance to speak with him and Jonas while you slept, and I have to admit, I like them. Did you know Jonas and Sage and their other friend—Ardin, right?—they only siphon from each other and other reapers? They don’t target children. They haven’t for a long time.”
Viri peered across the room at Jonas, watching as he petted Walnut’s head peeking out of his pocket. “I knew they could. But I didn’t know they did it exclusively.”
“It’s quite remarkable, really,” Wynter said.
“They can never stop siphoning entirely because of their addiction, but the way they do it means allowing themselves to be stronger or weaker depending on who needs the ellixen more. It’s almost selfless, if you think about it.
” Seeing Viri’s expression, she added, somewhat carefully, “They’re not like other reapers, V.
I’m not saying they haven’t made mistakes, or that I condone what they’ve done in the past—we both know how they became what they are, and how steep the cost was.
All I’m saying is…it sounds like they’ve been trying hard to make up for their choices. And that’s admirable, if you ask me.”
Unsure how to respond, Viri swallowed and looked away from her friend’s probing eyes.
Part of her agreed with Wynter—it was admirable that the reapers were going against their ellixen-motivated natures and choosing a redemptive path instead of more violence.
But on the other hand, no one had forced them to become what they were.
At one point in time, they’d chosen to take innocent lives, and while it was commendable that they were trying to make amends, the hunter in Viri couldn’t forgive their crimes so easily.
She could work with them, even trust them to a degree, but that was where she had to draw a line.
“I know this is hard for you, especially after what happened to your parents,” Wynter said quietly. “But just…maybe try to keep an open mind. Something tells me there’s a lot more going on here than we know. Especially with Reeve.”
“Reeve can keep his secrets,” Viri said, wishing she meant it. “I’ll be glad when all this is over and I never have to see him again.” She wished she meant that, too.
Unfortunately, Wynter saw right through her lies, judging by the amusement lighting her features. But all she said was, “If the way he stares at you when you’re not looking is any indication, I doubt he feels the same.”
Viri couldn’t help glancing back in Reeve’s direction, finding him still engrossed with whatever Jonas was saying. But as if he felt her gaze, he looked up and met her eyes, arching a brow in question. She hurriedly turned away, willing the heat from her cheeks at having been caught.
“Seven years is a long time,” Wynter went on, a smirk teasing her lips, “and you know what they say about absence and the fondness of hearts. As much as I love being one half of your star-crossed comets, I think your real Orion might just be—”
“Oh, look, it’s time to go!” Viri said loudly, causing Wynter to snicker but effectively keeping her from finishing her sentence. “Is everyone ready?”
Reeve and Jonas approached the workbench as Viri pocketed the alchemy vials, both confirming they were all set.
“I’m a little concerned about the flirting part of this plan,” Jonas said, removing his glasses to polish them nervously on his vest. “Walnut gets jealous when he sees me with other men.”
Viri had to bite her cheek to keep from reacting to that, and an ill-timed look at Reeve showed he was doing the same, his eyes bright with mirth as they locked with hers, which only deepened her urge to laugh.
But just as quickly, her humor dissolved, turning bitter.
She wished things were simpler, that she and Reeve could laugh together as they once had.
But that wasn’t possible anymore. He was a reaper, and she was a hunter.
They couldn’t be what they once were—or anything else.
Allies for now. Enemies forever.
That was the way it was. The way it had to be.
“Don’t worry,” Wynter said to Jonas, patting his shoulder, “after I introduce you to Galen and get you both settled with lunch, I’ll take Walnut on a nice, long stroll around the market district. He’ll never know.”
Jonas still looked torn, but he sighed and told Viri and Reeve, “I’ll keep Galen away for as long as possible, but don’t linger in the Magistratus’s office if you can help it.”
Viri was acutely aware that she and Reeve would be risking capture with every passing second, but they weren’t the only ones the plan might endanger.
In a place as busy as the market district, it would be difficult for any roaming hunters to sense Jonas or see his darkened veins—especially since Sage had siphoned most of his stolen ellixen last night—but it wasn’t impossible.
The Hunters’ Guild was small compared to the Nox, but what they lacked in numbers they made up for in skills, one of which was constant vigilance.
Jonas might be able to blend into the crowd, but he’d still need to stay on his guard.
“We’ll be quick, in and out,” Viri promised him. “And then you can come back here and bury yourself in books.”
Her words had the effect she’d been hoping for, replacing his nerves with excitement. “I can’t wait. Wynnie’s already said she’ll teach me some more runes. We’re going to have the best time researching the comets.”
Viri looked at her friend and mouthed, Wynnie?—to which Wynter just coughed and shook her head as if to say she didn’t have the heart to tell the unnaturally sweet reaper what nickname to call her. Or not call her.
Eyeing them all, Reeve spoke up to say, “We only have a small window while the Magistratus is with the High Council, so we need to make the most of it.” With a devious grin, he finished, “Let’s go break some laws.”