by Mari Dietz
“I should help them clean since I made the mess.”
“If you track wine all over, that’ll be more mess to clean.” He turned to push open the door, and his shoulder rose to protect her head.
Her gaze traced his jawline. Nothing like viewing him from a fresh angle. He had a firm chin. “I see,” she whispered.
He placed her in a chair. “Wait a moment.” He left and brought back a wet cloth. When he bent over to wipe her feet, Vic jerked them back.
“I can clean myself.”
His blue eyes met hers. “I know you can, but let me help.” He pulled her foot to him, not caring that she got wine on his pants. He then carefully wiped off her feet, making sure no wine was left on her.
“Um, so, how’s the magic going?” Vic looked anywhere but at her feet. It felt like a foot rub, and after days in reaper boots and tonight in heels, it kind of felt good.
“I can control the output, so that’s in my favor.” He put her foot down and picked up the other one. “The applications for GicCorp open next week. They may hire me based on my first-generation relic alone.”
As unfair as that was, Vic agreed. “Are you doing okay?”
He put down her other foot and looked up. “Yes?”
She curled her toes against the icy floor. “I mean, with using magic. You’re different from when I met you, and this is a lot to take in in a short time.”
He straightened the cuffs of his waiter’s uniform, and she grinned at the action. “I still don’t think magic is the answer to Verrin’s problems. The radiant are as corrupted as the reapers.” He sat back on his heels. “I don’t like who I became. I thought my father was who I should model my morals and beliefs after. The way he treated our mother. The way we weren’t supposed to force the change. I can see now why Samuel was worried about me.” He held out his hand to help her stand. “I think I’m becoming myself again.”
“Maybe we should give Bomrosy your ring. She can help us figure out how it works.”
His hand on which he used to wear the ring flexed. “I’d like that. The thing is, we have to fix the blight first. Even if we brought back Samuel, he still doesn’t have a gicorb. I don’t want to save him only to have him turn into a mog.”
“Ah, I didn’t think of that.” Loud laughter sounded from behind the closed doors. The party went on as though she’d never interrupted it. “Do you think they even care?” The vitals became part of what Verrin stood for and believed. How could they change the entire system if they didn’t understand it?
“I watched certain faces. Your father told me to. He provided a waiter uniform for me. Honestly, the woman you were talking to before you threw around glass bottles seemed most affected.”
Vic snorted. “Wouldn’t that have been a better scene? I’ll toss one at Steel’s head next time since he keeps wanting me to marry his lazy son.”
“I may have overheard that.” William laughed, his face lighting up, and Vic liked seeing him happy.
She nudged him with her elbow. “Then why didn’t you rescue me? He was spraying me with fish cake.”
William gripped her hand, and she faced him. “You don’t need to be rescued, Victoria.” His thumb traced her hand and rested on the ring she’d forgotten to remove.
They paused at the door. Something passed between them. He’d changed, and while she’d worried that he might fall apart as his world changed, he’d taken the chance to view the world in a fresh light. Vic swallowed as he tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. The soft touch warmed her, and she liked the changes she saw in him. William had proved she could rely on him. Now that he had a task, he could pull out of his guilt. If he could grow, maybe she could also try to see what a world would be like without the blight. Was it possible? What did they even know about it, except that it turned people who didn’t charge into mogs? She made a silent promise to help him with Samuel.
“Thank you for the cleanup.” Vic pulled her hand back.
“No problem.” They peeked through the door. “It’s winding down. I better head out to practice. Are you coming over tonight? This is your big day off from sewage work.”
She occasionally complained to him about her sewer life.
“Yeah.” These days, she found she preferred being with William than with the Order. Even though she wanted to make connections there, Landon infected everything. She was tired of him complaining about her being a founder.
He headed out the back door.
“You did well.”
Vic jumped at her father’s voice behind her. “Blight, let a person know you’re in the room.”
“Would you have noticed?” Her father straightened his tie.
Vic furrowed her brow. “What’s that supposed to mean?” She fiddled with the beads on her dress. William was nice to be around. Calming. Was that a crime?
“Nothing.” He gestured for her to step aside. “A few founders approached me. You must be extra careful. I don’t think Nordic is worried yet, and that worries me.” He looked at her like she was made of glass.
“I’ll be fine, Dad.” They both shifted. “Um, so, how’s the magic going? Do you need me to throw around some food now or …”
He shook his head. “Go. I’ll let you know if there’s anything new to report.” He handed her the discarded heels. “Do you need any of the founders to help you with Nyx?”
“I’m not sure how the other reapers would take that. The second is already mad that I’m a founder.” They probably needed something built in the sewers to corral the mogs they were baiting.
“Is Kai still letting you go down into the sewers? Did you find out who the masked people are?”
“You never told me why you were down there. It is after the party now.”
“A wasted effort on my part. The sewers are massive, and I’d heard rumors of an old structure down there. I’m looking for anything related to Verrin’s history, but I’m not having much luck.”
“That’s it?” She raised her brow. “With Tristan down there, I think there’s more than that. I can keep an eye out, but I’m only in one section of the city.”
He glanced away. “I’d rather you weren’t down there, but that would be helpful.”
She wanted to press her father, but he didn’t seem as forthcoming as she’d hoped. “Well, I guess I’ll be off then.”
It felt like he wanted to hug her, but she went to her room to change.
She waited for the guests to leave, then snuck out the back. She avoided the partygoers and headed out under the blight-filled sky to Kai’s house.
7
Vic
“If you break that, I will break your fingers.” Bomrosy snatched the device out of Vic’s hands.
“What is it?” Most of Bomrosy’s devices didn’t require magic. Vic didn’t always understand the full effort of imbuing, but Bomrosy’s tech—her term—was even more foreign to her.
“I’m working on a latch for the gates we’re putting down in the sewers.” Bomrosy held up a large metal clamp. “Put the bait in one of the divided cages, and as the mog eats, we close the latch, trapping them. Then you just stick in your relic and drain it.”
“Wow, our lives are getting cushy.” Vic reached over to steal a slice of orange off Bomrosy’s plate.
“Are you here to eat my ration?” Bomrosy pressed a button, and the large hinges of the cage opened. She pressed a different button, and they closed on their own.
Vic put the orange back. “I haven’t seen you since, you know, and I wanted to check up on you.”
“You mean to make sure I’m not bringing Xiona here?”
“Should we be saying her name?” Vic glanced at the door.
“No one’s here, Vic.” Bomrosy faced her workbench, picked up a tool, and started working on a latch.
“More reapers will be here since the sewer entrance is through your shop.” Watching out for Xiona was important to Bomrosy. With everything else going on, she wanted to make sure Xiona stayed away from the Order to avoid c
reating more problems with other reapers. Her shop wouldn’t be empty during the hunting hours.
Bomrosy pushed aside the latch. “Yeah, the smells coming through have been great.”
Normally, they entered through a manhole to stop the smell of the sewers from wafting through the Order, but they didn’t want another Order to steal their stolen bait, so they were setting traps that would hopefully stay hidden for a while. When Boreus figured out their bait wasn’t going to the mogs, they might stop placing it.
“Are you okay?” Vic asked. This seemed to be her standard question these days. Since the battle, everyone’s lives had changed. “I only knew Xiona as the person who killed people, but you knew her before. I’m sorry if I didn’t understand. It must have been hard to watch her change.” She couldn’t muster up enough empathy for a murderer, but she wanted to understand her friend.
Bomrosy sat back from the table. “The thing is, I don’t think she changed. Her heart was always with the Order, and I’m sure when Nordic made the offer, she chose the reapers’ lives over others.” Vic opened her mouth, and Bomrosy raised her hand. “I’m not agreeing with the choice. Why do you think I sided with you and Kai? I’m only saying I understand her choice.” She pushed back her braids. “I didn’t know she would end up this way. Otherwise …”
“You wouldn’t have helped us?” Vic tried to see the situation from her side. She thought maybe it compared to how her father was acting differently. She hoped he hadn’t killed anyone. The lines of right and wrong blurred more and more by the day.
“I would’ve still helped. I knew she might die in the fight, but you would have rather died than be purified.” Bomrosy’s expression was distant as she traced the latches, and her work paused.
“What if William and I find a way to reverse it? Maybe we could,” she muttered, “reverse Xiona.”
Bomrosy jumped off the bench and wrapped Vic in a tight hug. “Really?”
“I wanted to bring you his relic, but I didn’t know how you’d feel. I know you see him briefly when you visit, but I’m not sure how you’d get along.” The interactions that Vic had noticed had remained polite. She didn’t expect Bomrosy to be friends with William. He’d broken the law, but they’d protected him anyway. After all, in a strange way, they were protecting Xiona too.
She stepped back. “I know changing her was the only choice. I may not like it, but I can’t blame him.”
“Too busy blaming yourself?”
Her lips pressed together. “Like Xiona, maybe he felt like he didn’t have a choice. If we can reverse it, would there even be a trial for her crimes? Where do we stop?”
Vic slouched down. If Xiona went to trial, so would William. She rubbed her temples. Too convoluted. She didn’t want to stick up for Xiona, but she didn’t want to turn in William.
“Something like that.” Bomrosy handed her a slice of orange.
The door slammed open, and they both jumped. Landon stood in the doorway, a sneer on his face. “Apparently, I’m now a messenger for founders.”
Vic raised her brow. “Aw, got that promotion you always wanted?”
His eye twitched. “Another founder bitch is here to see you.” He turned on his heel and shouted over his shoulder, “Don’t be late for training.”
She rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“You should tell Kai.”
“Tell him what? That I don’t want to go down to the sewers? That there are masked people down there attacking me? That I can’t handle it? The second makes the shift schedule. I don’t need any more reasons to be the privileged person of the Order.”
Kai hadn’t said it outright, but he probably already knew. He wouldn’t involve himself unless she asked. It didn’t matter that Landon used to rotate between teams daily so others would get a chance at the sewer. But every day he’d pick her to spar with. Kai had enough problems. Vic could handle this.
“Wait, masked people attacked you?” The latched clunked onto the wooden table.
“Yeah, I have it under control.” Vic waved her off. A minor detail that she’d almost gotten captured. Those thoughts could be shoved out of her mind too.
Bomrosy held up her hands. “Who’s attacking you?”
“GicCorp lackeys, reapers, founders? Who knows? I keep running into founders down there, so maybe it’s a masked ball I wasn’t invited to.” She needed to stay in the sewers to help her father look for evidence of Verrin’s history. What did she know about the history of Verrin? That the first-generation relics had built up the city using magic to create a haven away from blight? There wasn’t much information. The library had flooded before she was born, and they’d lost many historical journals and texts. No one had thought to recreate them. With all the magic they used to preserve and build, you’d think they’d have protected the books better. Unless they’d wanted to destroy them.
“You’re not taking this seriously enough.”
It isn’t like she could do anything about Landon. “I’ll stay with Freddie and Ivy, but I need to go see who’s here. Take care, and I’ll get William’s ring to you.”
Bomrosy’s forehead creased as Vic left her workshop. Landon didn’t say where the founder was waiting. She tried her room first.
Vic opened the door. Maddox stood next to the window, holding a purring Scraps.
“You always wanted a pet.” Maddox grinned sheepishly.
Vic crossed her arms. “Yes. Is there a reason you’re here, besides to pet my cat?”
Maddox gently placed Scraps back down in his sunny spot. “It was good seeing you at the event.”
“Really? Did we have a different conversation I’m not aware of?” From the nervous twitching, Vic guessed that Maddox was ready to admit the truth.
“I don’t want to be a vital,” Maddox blurted.
“I figured as much.” Vic sat on her bed and gestured for Maddox to sit in the chair. “Over the years, I learned when you’re that defensive, you either did something wrong or would do something wrong.”
Maddox sat and rolled her neck. She smoothed out her black curls, and her lips turned up slightly. “I’m that predictable?”
Even though months had gone by since they’d seen each other before the party, Vic could feel them slip into a comfortable groove as though they’d never parted. “Your parents finally dropped the hammer?”
“So to speak.” Maddox traced invisible wrinkles in her dress.
The Stones had played favorites with their daughters since they were young. They made them compete in everything. “When do you go?”
“The next ceremony. I’m of age, and there’s no need to wait.” Her fingers dug into her knees. “You’re right, I don’t know anything about being a vital. I’m supposed to feel proud, but I feel scared.” Her lips trembled. “If I leave the house, they’ll take my relic. But GicCorp says they’ll take everything from my parents too. Your parents never officially kicked you out, so you got to keep yours. I’ll either become a vital or a mog, or my family will chase me down.” Maddox leaned in. “I want in.”
“In?”
She jumped up. “In on the plan!”
The plan? Vic bit back a grimace. Did Maddox think they were organized like some rebel army? “Well, Mads, the only thing we’re doing is trying to find out information about GicCorp. My father is organizing the founders.” She wasn’t sure how her father was organizing them or trying to. He claimed he had a decent number on his side.
“And?”
Vic flinched at her eagerness. “We’re working on it.” She didn’t want to tell her they were sending William in as a spy. Maddox was her friend, but her desperation might lead to loose lips.
Maddox slumped back in her chair. “After that scene you caused, there’s no plan.”
“We need founder support. The first step they want to try is voting out the Nordics.” That might not happen in time to spare Maddox from becoming a vital.
“Well, my parents are out. They built this entire cit
y with stone. GicCorp is generous to our family.”
The Stone house had one of the largest production lines. They also went around fixing the roadways and sometimes the sewers. The sewers. “Wait. Did you see anything strange in the sewers?”
Maddox wrinkled her nose. “I don’t go down there. Why?”
“My father is looking for the oldest parts of Verrin in the sewers for a hint of the history.”
“A hint in the sewers?” Maddox said the words slowly, as if it would make them less vague.
“Yeah.” Why had her father made her cause a scene? Vic grew embarrassed that she didn’t have more to offer her friend.
“I came here because I thought you were organized and had a plan. From what I’m getting, your dad is wandering around the sewers, looking for something, and you’re recruiting founders to do something.” She rubbed her forehead. “This was a waste of time.”
“We need the founders to overthrow GicCorp.”
“And then do what?”
Vic understood her frustration. Her selfish goal of getting her sister back didn’t work for everyone. She didn’t care as much about her father’s agenda. She stared at her friend slumped in the chair. “I’m sorry, Mads. We’re just starting. I’ve been down in the sewers every night, getting attacked by strangers. Then we’re trying to block the mogs inside Nyx territory so the Order can survive.”
“I heard you weren’t number one anymore.”
“We’re running low on tempers and food. We’re stealing the bait that Boreus is using to lure mogs away, but we’re trying to work it so the mogs stay in our territory. If we put up gates in the sewers, it may draw too much attention.”
“Gates?”
Vic pointed at her bedspread and mapped out the sewer. “We can open up to the swamps to let them in. This is dangerous, so we want to close off the side tunnels so they’ll only go to our entrance with the bait.” She drew more invisible lines. “That way, we’ll be safe.”
Maddox scrunched her face at the invisible drawing. “Do you remember the doors in my house?”
The stone doors fit seamlessly into the walls of her home. Unless you knew where to look, you wouldn’t know there were doors. “That could hide them during the day, but we’re a bunch of reapers, and I don’t think we can hire your family.”
