by Adam Silvera
“Don’t be so high and mighty, and don’t get yourselves killed using powers you shouldn’t have. You’re all I have left.”
Then, on command, I get myself to cry. Actors always make it look so easy, but I learned that’s not the case for everyone. They cry because they’re tapping into their own personal wells of pain, and my trigger is thinking about how much my life has gotten worse without my mother.
The camera is switched off and Russell shows no sympathy for me. He immediately returns to the Senator’s side. “Thank you so much for trusting me with these interviews, sir.”
“Oh, please. I’m grateful to have incredible supporters such as yourself,” the Senator says.
“I’m having friends over the evening of the debate. We can’t wait to watch you destroy Sunstar.” There is so much hate in Russell’s heart that I’m sure he’s actively cheering for Sunstar’s literal demise like so many others. “Please let me know if I can be of service to you again.”
“Absolutely, my friend.”
“And feel better!”
Roslyn escorts Russell out.
I drop my morph, and the Senator sits across from me.
“Does it make you proud how you’re cheating to win?” I ask.
“I am fighting fire with fire, Eduardo. Celestials have always had the advantage over us, and I will do whatever it takes to level the playing field in this country. The work you have done so far has been incredible, son. People are arming themselves with wands for protection, and a dozen celestials have been killed since your videos have been posted. The American people understand that I’m the solution to this great threat our nation is facing,” the Senator says as if he’s trying to convince me of all this once again.
It’s not a surprise that celestials have been killed, but the confirmation hurts. I have no access to even seeing their faces, which might be a blessing so I can’t be so haunted by them that I transform into them in the middle of the night.
Gray light washes over me and I morph into the man sitting across from me. “This is the face of the nation’s greatest threat. No matter what you tell yourself.”
The Senator grins. “That face is very presidential. No matter what you tell yourself.”
Thirty
The New Ember Sanctuary
EMIL
I grew up thinking Storm King State Park wasn’t real because its name feels fresh out of a fantasy novel, but it’s legit. Months ago Dad talked about taking us all there when he got better. He had so many plans for us, all of them involving Ma too, and she’s not with us either. During this hour-long car ride with Brighton and Prudencia, I’ve brought up how maybe Wyatt and Nox can track down Ma the same way they found Tala. It’s just enough hope to hold on to.
We drive past countless trees, freshly grazed by autumn with their orange, red, and yellow leaves. The deeper we get through the park the more we see massive boulders along the side of the road with different phoenixes painted onto them. The bright paintings are so bold they could probably be seen from the sky. Prudencia follows the path as I finally answer the seventh of Wesley’s calls and immediately apologize a thousand times and update him on everything.
“So you’re on the way to their super-cool phoenix palace?” Wesley asks.
The Halo Sanctuaries I’ve seen images of over the years are gorgeous: a Gothic mansion in New Orleans that worships obsidians like Nox; a town house a quick drive from the Grand Canyon where gray suns have been known to dive; a hilltop castle in Paris that tends to crowned elders so they’re comfortable in their immediate old age. I wonder what the New Ember Sanctuary looks like; I’m keeping myself in suspense since this may be the only time I’m ever personally welcomed inside of one.
“We should be pulling up soon, I think,” I tell Wesley as we drive through a clearing and a brown phoenix with emerald-colored wings and a scorched belly lands inside the nest of a tree. These evergreen blazers are true champions of nature, best known for swallowing any flames during forest fires as if it’s nothing but scorching hot food. If I weren’t on the phone I’d record this sighting. “I don’t know how long we’ll be here, but—”
“You have some nerve,” Iris says, surprising us all as her voice comes over the speaker. “Not only did you run away from safety at a time when your powers aren’t dependable and Brighton is new to his, you left Wesley, Ruth, and Esther vulnerable by letting them think you were home. What if they’d been discovered and needed your help while I was out looking for Eva and Carolina?!”
I must be so damn red in the face because I’m burning up. “I’m sorry, it all happened so quickly. This Halo Knight’s phoenix might be able to track down Ma and Eva; then we can all team up—”
“No! Teams are built on trust and communication, and you didn’t honor either of those when you all stole Wesley’s car without telling anyone.”
“You’re so right, Iris, we didn’t mean—”
Brighton turns around from the front seat and snatches the phone. “You’re one to talk! Don’t come down on us like we got Wesley’s family killed, when Atlas might be alive if you’d been honest with Maribelle about everything!”
We hear nothing but Iris breathing for a few moments. “I hope Maribelle’s hospitality will be as generous as ours. You’ve chosen your side. Don’t contact us.”
The line goes dead.
“Bright, why’d you have to swing at her like that?”
“She was acting all high and mighty, like we’re the bad guys!”
“Iris is grieving too,” Prudencia reminds him. “Maybe not as hard as Maribelle, but I’m sure she’s already blaming herself. You’re better than that, Brighton.”
It’s hard getting Brighton to stay quiet, but if he’s actually trying to make something work with Prudencia, he needs to get better at not lashing out at our friends and allies. I’m tempted to call Iris back, but I’m going to give her some space.
We drive around a mountain and there’s a drawbridge stretching toward a home fitting for Halo Knights—a two-story stone castle with turreted-observation towers that are reaching for the sky. If Iris doesn’t ever want to see us again at the cottage, hopefully we can all cram into a closet here or even the garden shed that overlooks the Hudson River. Wyatt, Tala, and Maribelle are waiting outside the Sanctuary’s front doors while Nox and Roxana bob for fish in the nearby stream.
“I’m not driving across that old-looking bridge,” Prudencia says as she parks the car off to the side.
We walk across with the river flowing beneath us. Roxana eyes us for a moment before swallowing another fish whole. All Halo Knights are vegans, but they don’t push that on the phoenixes in their care. While phoenixes are generous spirits to their companions, it’s the Halo Knight creed that they serve phoenixes, not the other way around.
“You made it,” Wyatt says. He checks his watch. “Good time too.”
“How’d you get here so fast?” Brighton asks Maribelle. He looks around. “Did you drive Atlas’s car?”
“I parked the car back at the loft last night after messaging you. I hitched a ride with Tala.”
“But she hit you!” Brighton says.
“Not as hard as she hit you,” Maribelle says.
Brighton’s black eye has darkened significantly in the past hour. Though nothing is more beat than his ego since he couldn’t overpower someone without any powers of her own. He looks as if he wants to challenge Tala to another round. She looks like she would welcome that.
Wyatt grabs the brass door knocker that’s shaped like an egg. “Before inviting you inside we must remind you that we are all guests on these sacred grounds.”
“Considerable exceptions are made for you specters.” Tala stares us down, lingering longer on Brighton. “Any harm that befalls the phoenixes will be paid for with your final breath.”
Wyatt scratches his head. “Uh, just be careful with the phoenixes, please.”
He pushes open the door and I don’t feel worthy of being within thes
e walls or under this majestic sky. A rainbow of phoenixes are flying across the courtyard. The closest I’ve come to a sight like this is back at the museum where we had the model phoenixes hanging from the Sunroom’s ceiling. A sky swimmer dives into a lake, splashing a woman who is chasing after a little sun swallower.
“Quite the sight, yeah?” Wyatt asks.
“Yeah. Legit music to my ears too.” I wish I could understand all these squawks and chirps and get in on all of the conversations. “I’d listen to this any day instead of people cursing each other out on street corners.”
“We may not be able to understand them, but I’m positive the phoenixes are swearing up storms at each other too.”
The unity between phoenixes and people seems utopian, especially given everything going down in the city. I’m not likely to find a sun swallower’s ankles chained or beak sealed shut here like back at the Apollo Arena where that poor phoenix was forced to battle that golden-strand hydra. Watching that sun swallower fly away is a good reminder that I haven’t completely done harm in my time as a Spell Walker. But the lives I’ve saved don’t outnumber the ones I’ve lost.
“So what’s the deal with this place?” I ask Wyatt to distract myself. “Does the New Ember Sanctuary have a specialty?”
“It’s in the name, no? The Haloes tend to phoenixes upon their resurrections. Each breed has their own need, especially according to their True Age of how many lifetimes they’ve lived.”
Another evergreen blazer, this one the size of a hen, flies directly onto the raptor glove of a man who is looking my way. No, he’s staring me down. I’m uncomfortable so I turn away only to find pretty much every other human outside my party watching us closely with rage in their eyes.
“These people hate us,” I say.
Wyatt lets out a low whistle. “They’re certainly not fans of specters with phoenix blood, but our commander Crest made a call and ordered for their cooperation as we explore our work. Granted access to the castle is one thing. Acceptance is another.”
“We should bounce then,” I say.
“Bounce?” Wyatt asks.
“Leave,” I clarify.
“Oh, no. These trainers are harmless. They’ve all seen the videos of your powers and will know better than to try and scrap with you, Infinity Son.”
If only the Halo Knights knew how much respect I have for phoenixes, if they knew my true story about how I became a specter, I doubt they would see me as a threatening weapon. “Feel free to tell them I’m harmless. Luna Marnette stabbed me with an infinity-ender blade and my powers haven’t been working right since then.”
“Good gods, she stabbed you?”
I’m surprised that surprises him. He might have scars on his neck, but I have them across my body during my short time in this war. “I was trying to protect Gravesend.”
Wyatt’s blue eyes follow Brighton as he tries petting the sky swimmer in the lake and gets splashed in return. “And Tala tells me Gravesend’s essence is now coursing through Brighton among that of a hydra and ghosts. Between that mouthful and Maribelle’s soap opera family drama it seems I’ve arrived at an exciting time to help.”
“I swear you’re going to turn on us any second and attack,” I say.
“It would probably be to my advantage to keep that fear alive, but I’m disastrous with any weapon. I pierced my own mum’s shoulder with an arrow.”
“Yeah, but how long ago was that? When you began training?”
Wyatt blushes. “That happened this summer.” His little snicker that follows reminds me of people who find something funny at funerals and are struggling to keep it together. “Anyway, Tala’s flair for combat suits her role as a field Halo, but I work more closely with the phoenixes themselves.”
“Then you should be more pissed off at me and everything I represent,” I say.
We’ve almost caught up with the others at the opposite gate when he rests his hand on my shoulder and stops me. “I’ve traveled the world meeting with countless organizers that specialize in alchemy, caging, slaughtering, and hunting to get them to cease all harm for their own personal benefits. I’ve met specters who either don’t value creature lives or believe they’re more equipped to do good with powers that don’t belong to them. You’re the first specter to say you want to end this too. Your first life may have started this mess, but you’re not stoking that flame, Emil.”
It’s almost as if I can’t feel every other Halo Knight’s eyes on me knowing I have one who believes in me.
“That said, to pay for Keon’s crimes against phoenixkind, you have to clean up all droppings from the grounds.” He cracks a smile.
I almost smile back as we rejoin the group, but things feel so tense between Brighton and Tala that I’m scared another fight is about to break out. Even if Tala throws the first punch, we’re the ones who will be blamed for bringing chaos to the Sanctuary. I doubt Wyatt will be able to vouch for us then. I stand at Brighton’s side, ready to hold him back if he gets bold.
“Anyone care for a tour of the castle?” Wyatt asks. “It’s been years since I’ve last been here, but it’s truly marvelous and—”
“This isn’t a field trip,” Tala interrupts. “While your parents may be living their best lives in London I can’t say the same for mine. If you can’t help these specters figure out this potion, then send them packing so we can fully focus on the Blood Casters.”
“Absolutely,” Wyatt says. Tala walks away without another word and Maribelle is ready to follow. “I’d give her a moment, Maribelle. Personally, I’d give her an hour because I’ve learned the hard way what happens when you try to be helpful.” Wyatt mimics getting punched in the face.
“I’ll take my chances,” Maribelle says as she jogs across the courtyard to catch up with Tala.
“Wouldn’t you all stick together? I thought you were all teammates,” Wyatt says.
“Think again,” I say.
“Friends?”
I let out a little laugh.
“Duly noted.”
Wyatt takes us into the castle. The great hall isn’t as big as I expected it to be, but its greatness is legit. I step inside a circle of bronze statues, admiring all these well-crafted phoenixes, and I back away when I notice a Halo Knight kneeling before one in prayer. Colorful banners hang from the high ceiling and whoever sewed the patterns did so lovingly; the gray sun with its golden feathers in particular is so beautiful I want to make it my phone background. Brighton confuses the sky swimmer at first for the century phoenix since they’re both blue but once I correct him he takes a selfie under the right banner. Not even being able to tell apart Gravesend’s breed from phoenixes known for flying underwater is the thousandth reason Brighton shouldn’t have her powers, but I’m staying shut because I don’t want to ruin this experience.
We pass a circular room with all sorts of weapons on the walls—staffs, crossbows, daggers—and two blindfolded women are having a swordfight. I’m so nervous as metal clangs against metal, but no matter how fast they are every sweep and jab of the sword never cuts into either Halo Knight. Wyatt explains that these extreme training methods are one of many reasons he has avoided taking on a more active combat role like Tala. Brighton swears he could endure all of this, but also doesn’t think it’s necessary to be well versed with weapons since he’s such a powerhouse. There’s a frightening truth there.
While crossing the bridge to the next tower, the second courtyard comes into view. There’s a young Halo Knight sitting on top of a blaze tempest, the phoenix with a body the size of a small hound. The blaze tempest has massive wings that carry them through the air and I’m so nervous the child is going to fall off, but they’re being supervised by an older Halo on their own phoenix.
Wyatt points to a corner where a sun swallower is breathing fire onto a large suit of armor that’s sparkling. “You see that there? My great-great-great-grandmother fashioned the very first armor for phoenixes.”
“She created Herculean Fea
thers?”
Years ago, I was in a flea market and stumbled onto a Polaroid of a phoenix with armor that perfectly fit its head and body. I thought this was some kind of servitude until I researched it at home and discovered the Halo Knights used these armors made of diamond and sun-dust to give phoenixes an extra layer of protection in battle.
“Incredible, yeah? I certainly didn’t live up to my family’s legacy when I failed to construct Herculean Feathers for Nox at age fourteen, but it was more practice than anything since Nox isn’t a war phoenix.”
Brighton watches in awe as the sun swallower’s deep orange flames keep everyone at bay. “This is incredible. How do we get our hands on some pet phoenixes?”
He’s the smartest, most clueless person I know.
“Phoenixes aren’t pets,” I say.
“Certainly not,” Wyatt says. “Just last week I freed a domesticated crowned elder from a woman in Tampa who was calling herself the Phoenix Queen. A phoenix’s home is their choice.”
I would give anything to tap out of this war as a soldier and instead become a guardian who saves phoenixes from being caged, eaten, worn, and, most critically, slaughtered for their powers.
“I didn’t mean pet-pet,” Brighton says. “But having some phoenixes can give us the upper hand. Especially for Emil, since his powers are down—”
“Bright, chill.”
I’m trying really hard to bury my rage. It’s bad enough that we’re specters with the blood of creatures that are literally worshipped here in this castle, but now he’s suggesting that I make up for my damaged, stolen powers by using a perfectly fine phoenix who doesn’t need to fly into my battles.
“I’d love to borrow Emil for a bit,” Wyatt says. “Could I interest you two in some lunch?”
“Yes, please,” Prudencia says.
“I got to catch up on my DMs anyway,” Brighton says as he glares at Wyatt.
He takes us all past the kitchen that smells of baked bread, soup, and potatoes. Prudencia takes Brighton’s hand, settling him down, but he still looks over his shoulder as they walk into a dining area with three long tables that remind me of our high school cafeteria.
