by Mari Dietz
William recalled the feeling of having Xiona and Sam help around the house. She was right, it wasn’t normal. It wasn’t like William had left everything to them, but it was a compact house and there was only so much to do. He studied his brother. Part of him wanted to let go of the burden, but he’d made a promise to him about the sky, and he couldn’t leave his brother behind. What color is the sky, Brother? His brother needed to stay with him. He didn’t trust his father with the radiant anymore.
“He stays with me. You can’t call me a hypocrite as you sit here drinking coffee made with magic.” Maybe, just maybe, he could undo what he’d done to his brother.
His mother stood, and the chair clattered back from her rushed movement. “Samuel, come and get your duty for the radiant.”
Sam’s gaze lifted, but he stayed seated. His mother grabbed him and tried to drag him out with her. He stood, but he didn’t budge.
“Samuel! Come and get your duty as a radiant.”
Faces turned toward them, and William removed his mother’s grip from Sam’s arm. “He won’t go.”
“What do you mean he won’t go?” she spat.
“He won’t leave my side.” He shouldn’t have said anything, but he worried about Sam’s abnormal behavior compared to other radiant.
Her brows shot up. “We must take him to your father immediately!”
William blocked her from his brother. “That isn’t happening. We left the radiant community, and honestly, we were never given a choice to be part of it. Father has no power over those who don’t choose the path.”
“You’re our sons!”
“That doesn’t make us your property. Come on, Sam.” William left his mother alone in the coffee shop. His hands trembled, but he didn’t turn back to see if she followed. Not caring anymore, he hired a water taxi to take him back. They got out several stops before Kai’s house and took a few turns to lose anyone who might be following. He didn’t think his mother would follow them, but he didn’t like the feeling he’d gotten from her. Did she think she and father owned them? Sam had had a point before he’d purified him. Everyone else got a choice except those born to the radiant path. No relics to pass down except the rings, and they needed the credits their family provided. Compared to reapers, the rings only collected a tiny amount of blight at a time. They weren’t taught how to survive in Verrin.
William opened the door to Kai’s house and placed the clothes in Sam’s and Xiona’s rooms. He slept on the sofa while Xiona and Sam got the beds. He took a shower and put on his new clothes. The blue made his eyes seem happier. As he toweled off his hair, he spotted red hair out of the corner of his eye. Vic sat on the sofa with Sam.
“The shower’s open, Sam, if you want.” Sam grabbed his new clothes and left to shower.
William sat down across from Vic. “What brings you here?”
The silver ring he’d made last night rested on her fingers. She slipped it on her finger, and it fit perfectly. “You’re doing pretty well. It may not be as hopeless as I thought.” Her smooth lips twisted in a wry grin.
“Glad you think so.” Dark circles showed against her pale skin. Wasn’t she sleeping enough? She brushed back her hair, revealing a minor cut on her face. “Rough night?”
“Hmm? Oh, just training.”
William’s jaw clenched. Who had cut her in training? “What kind of training leaves those cuts, and I’m assuming you’re also bruised?” He went to get the med kit Kai left in the house.
He heard her sigh and a shuffle. When he returned, she was lying on the sofa. “The second doesn’t like me, so he’s training me personally. More like giving me a personal beating.” She looked more comfortable in the house today.
His heart thudded, and he swallowed. He brushed her hair out of her face, then cleaned the scratches and applied ointment to them. It wouldn’t heal her as fast as imbued ointment, but it would help. “Doesn’t Kai know? Shouldn’t he stop him?”
She crossed her arms. “I can handle myself.”
He’d said the wrong thing again. He could never connect with her. There was always this feeling of distance that she’d never had with Sam until he’d become a radiant. “I know. I just think he should stop it.”
Vic sat up and pulled her hair back into a bun. “He has enough on his plate.”
“But you’re important to him.” Weren’t they dating? Shouldn’t Kai care more? Did William care too much? He put away the med kit.
“I need to support him. I can handle it.”
“Fine. Don’t get so cut up, then. Maybe dodge the attacks.” He shut the cupboard harder than necessary.
“Got it.” She started to leave, but William wanted her to stay.
“I’m about to make lunch. Did you want some?” His tone came out high pitched. What was wrong with him?
She paused, her face strangely blank. “Sure?”
Sam got out of the shower as William chopped up some carrots. “Sam, can you set the table? Xiona, can you grab the fish?”
Vic watched them cook from the doorway. “Can I help?”
“We got it.” Maybe he should smile at her. Was that too forward? William settled for a half grin he hoped didn’t look creepy. She’d come over before. What had changed? Maybe the fact she seemed so tired or alone. He’d missed it on her last visit.
“Why do you call Samuel Sam now?” She didn’t miss much.
William finished cooking the fish and mixed it in with the vegetables. He handed it to Xiona, who dished out the meal for the four of them. Sam poured them water.
After a lengthy pause, he finally answered, “I’m not sure. I’d call him that sometimes before, but now he seems like a Sam.” He gestured for Vic to sit, and he sat next to her.
She placed her hand on his arm. “He’s still there.” He looked down at her hand, and she took it away, blushing. “I’m sorry I was awkward around him. I didn’t mean to leave you alone.”
William nodded, and he suddenly wished her hand was back on his arm. “You have a lot to deal with. I-I want to see if I can bring him back.” He stared down at his food. Why had he told her that? His hand came back empty again as he tried to straighten cuffs that weren’t there.
“If anyone can do it, you can.” Her face brightened. “I’ll help you.”
For the first time in weeks, William returned her smile. A full one. “What can an ex-radiant and a reaper do?”
She shrugged. “Who knows? But we can try.”
William’s heart pounded, and the meal had flavor today.
5
Vic
Vic passed the peppermint oil to Ivy, and she placed some under her nose before putting on her mask.
“Another lovely night spent in sewage,” Ivy said and passed the oil to Freddie.
He grunted and put some under his nose.
The smell of mint had overwhelmed Vic at first, but it was preferable to human waste. “Wish we would have used this trick before.”
“There isn’t a lot of peppermint oil. You have to buy it fast. I’m willing to waste my credits on this to survive our new home.” Ivy tucked her short hair under her hood.
Today, they were on sewer duty again, but tonight, they needed to find and gather any large bones. At the moment, they assumed Boreus reapers were leaving them to attract mogs into their territory. Apparently, other Nyx reapers had found more bones near Boreus territory. They’d brought the bait back to the Nyx Order entrance. That way, the bait would benefit them. Kai needed to go the political route. There were no rules against putting out bait for mogs, but no Order had dared to try. Either Boreus wanted to boost their numbers or GicCorp was behind it.
Bomrosy was working on opening the sewer entrance in the back of her shop. She wanted to have more gates to prevent mogs from getting in, and she had some new tech she wanted to try out that would open the gates remotely. They had sealed it off a while ago because of the smell, but it would make accessing the sewers and baiting the mogs easier.
The oth
er reapers Kai had sent out had reported more missing people in Nyx. The quiet streets seemed more eerie now due to the lack of light showing through the drapes of abandoned homes.
Their blight count lowered each day, and some had noticed the less-than-generous helpings of food. Nothing increased the tension more than hungry reapers, especially ones who’d spent the night on sewer duty. Ivy and Freddie never made Vic feel bad, but weariness would seep into their postures when they’d read the schedule.
They went down into the sewers to get the bait before the Boreus reapers came out at sunset. This time, every reaper took a different tunnel. They had orders to run and not stop for anything. Vic went down one of the main tunnels. She kept her eyepiece on so she wouldn’t get any surprises, but she sprinted down the slippery path.
She focused on breathing in the sharp minty smell. It helped her feel cooler while she ran. Her boots thudded on the stone, and she soon reached the end of the tunnel. She’d hoped she wouldn’t find any bones, but there they were, a bit out of Nyx territory. The long bones still had bits of meat hanging off them.
She quickly grabbed them, and the leftover meat squished in her grip. Maybe they could attract more mogs. This wasn’t an end-all solution, but GicCorp wasn’t helping them. It seemed like they were headed for an end game, but only GicCorp knew the score. They barely had time to keep their heads above water or, in Vic’s case, sewage. Tristan’s words haunted her, and she couldn’t avoid the feeling of powerlessness that permeated her thoughts. She needed to get her sister away from them.
Strange movement caught her eye, and she turned in time to dodge a figure that pounced at her.
“Not this time.”
As they passed, she swung the two large bones and hit their back. They let out a small sound as they rolled into the sewage.
Vic pointed the bone at them. “It’s your turn to take a bath.”
She jumped down. Her boots splashed in the shallow river. The figure got up and ran away. She debated giving chase. Running through sewers holding mog bait was a bad idea. She didn’t want to die that badly. She threw the bones onto the path and chased after the figure. This one seemed different. It was hard to tell, but they ran with shorter steps, and they seemed slimmer than the one who’d attacked her the other night. She hoped there wasn’t more than one masked figure down here, but maybe it was Boreus.
She caught up to the figure. As she reached for them, the figure stopped, and she plowed into them. They fell over. She shot out her hands to catch herself and slid on the stone floor.
Her palms smarted as she stood. Black-clad figures crowded the tunnel ahead of her. The person she’d run into crossed their arms and faced her.
“Blight,” Vic swore and turned to run.
She pumped her arms, the thudding of footsteps growing louder behind her. Fingers brushed against her shirt. She dodged down a tunnel and broke away from them. Her plan to get back to the main entrance wouldn’t work. The smaller tunnel would only let a few of them run side by side. Vic tried to picture her location in the sewers. This tunnel should connect to the one Freddie scoped out. The path opened up in front of her, and the opening shone like a beacon. Then something hit her back, throwing her off balance. She slowed to catch herself, but someone kicked out her knees and pushed her face-first into the stone path.
They yanked her arms behind her and tied them behind her back. A fist smashed into her head, and her nose hit the stone floor. Blinking back tears, she twisted, but a heavy weight pressed her down. A shout sounded, followed by screams of pain. The weight left her body, and Vic scuttled forward, pushing with her feet. Her face and body scraped against the ground. A small pressure, then the ties snapped apart, and she scrambled to her feet, her head spinning. She turned to look at where her attackers had come from but saw only a wall of glass.
“Dad?” Were the sewers the new hangout for founders now? “Why are you down here?”
“No time.” He ran toward the main tunnel.
Vic followed him and held back questions.
When they made it to the main line, her father said, “You need to return to your team. Don’t come down here alone again.”
“Wait, what?” Her dad ran off before she could make him answer. She gingerly touched her nose. “I don’t know what’s going on anymore.”
Had her dad been following her? The sewers were getting too crowded. A disgusting new hangout place. Couldn’t they all meet somewhere above ground? She tucked her hair back under her hood and jogged back to the front to meet up with Ivy and Freddie. Her dad hung out in sewers, William used magic, Kai ignored her, and Bomrosy wouldn’t leave Xiona alone. Her small group was slowly going mad. Then there was the biggest question of all: GicCorp.
Up ahead, she saw her team, and Freddie’s brows rose when she came from the wrong tunnel.
Ivy placed her hands on her hips. “You’re covered in poop again.”
“I hadn’t noticed,” Vic replied dryly.
“And your nose looks broken.”
“Thanks, Ivy.”
Her team member frowned. “What’s going on?”
Vic brushed her palms off as best she could. “I wish I knew. I keep finding masked people in black down here. Tonight, a pack of them came after me.”
“What in the blight?” Ivy tugged on Freddie’s sleeve. “She can’t go on her own.”
Just what she needed: someone to babysit her. “I’ll be fine.”
“Tell Kai we can’t be in the sewers. It’s already hard with our team of three, and now you have people coming after you every night.”
Vic knew Ivy didn’t mean to sound condescending, but she flinched at the word three.
“Kai has enough to worry about. I’m sorry about all this.” If they were coming after only her, she might need to be down in the sewers to find out what they were after. She couldn’t possibly have been in the wrong place at the wrong time two nights in a row.
Ivy stood on her toes, which brought her up to Vic’s chin. “Stop saying sorry, and let’s solve this together. If you won’t tell Kai, I will. Landon shouldn’t keep us down here night after night anyway. He’s abusing his power, and Kai needs to stop him.”
“He’s doing the best he can!” Was he, though? Vic tried to understand what he was going through. Landon would be hard for anyone to manage.
Ivy snorted. “Let’s finish our rounds. I left the bait by the tunnel to the Nyx cells.”
They finished the rest of the rounds in silence. Vic’s nose burned, but she didn’t complain. At home, she showered off the muck, and the healer set her nose. Her eyes were still watering from the pain as she flopped onto her bed. If her father hadn’t been there, what would those people have done to her? She hated the feeling of being pinned down. Scraps curled on her lap, but Vic couldn’t avoid the loneliness creeping inside her. If she supported Kai, who supported her? Vic missed her sister. She fell asleep. Her back and nose throbbed in pain.
“This is a horrible plan.” Vic eyed the onyx gown in the mirror. It clung to her thin frame and glittered in the light of her room. The black material offset her pale skin flatteringly. In her mind, she showed way more cleavage than necessary to win over a founder. The long dress was a perfect tripping hazard, and she already itched to remove the scratchy material.
Her mother wrapped one arm around her and squeezed her arms to her body, holding her in front of the mirror. “It’s so wonderful to have you back.”
Vic’s shoulders bunched up, and she looked awkward, like a kid playing dress up. Her mother, in an elegant flowing gown of light green, remained the image of put-together perfection. Blond curls were all in place, and even her smile stayed perfect. The grace of her mother couldn’t be outdone, and the only ones who saw the sadness in her were her family.
“Mother, I’m here for the event. I’m not moving back.” Vic stepped back from the mirror, only to trip on the hem. A frustrated sigh escaped her as she kicked out the bottom of the dress.
Her mothe
r placed some vivid crimson heels down.
Vic groaned and stepped into them. The torture devices pinched her feet in all the right places.
“I see it’s going as well as expected.” Her father came into the room and placed a soft kiss on his wife’s cheek. His dark gray suit matched her mother’s dress. In the mirror, they all seemed perfect.
Light entered her mother’s expression. She was more animated than usual. “About as well as expected. Emilia was the one who loved dresses.” Her eyes faded again, and she lifted her hand to put away an imaginary loose hair.
Her father’s expression tightened. “I need to talk to our daughter.”
Vic watched her mother leave the room. “Are you going to tell me why you were in the sewers?”
“Yes, but not right now. We should meet in my office after the party. It isn’t life altering.” He went over to her jewelry box and lifted the lid.
“How much does Mother know about everything with Em?” She deserved to know since it involved her daughter.
“Everything.” He shut the lid again and paced the large room.
Vic raised her brow. “Will she be okay?”
Her father glanced at Vic’s reflection. “Your mother is stronger than you know. The disappointment hit us both. I became angry, and she became withdrawn. Acting like the perfect founder socialite gives her comfort.”
Her father was being very open. It was strange to have him treat her like an equal. “I could’ve helped.”
Vic had charged ahead and mostly made mistakes in the last year. She’d broken her connection with her family and assumed her sister would follow. Emilia was always going to do what was best for the family, and Vic should’ve seen that. The vital heroes didn’t have much choice.
“I wanted to keep you and Emilia safe.”
