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Iwalked along the cliff path, keeping a weather eye to the rainclouds gathering on the horizon. It had been several days since the kidnapping, and my near-kiss with Genie, but both the culprit and the opportunity to get close to Genie again had proven decisively elusive. Summer had presented its glorious swansong, bringing with it a relentless heat and clear skies for the last three days. Now, a storm was threatening to break, attempting to relieve the tension in the air. If only the tension between Genie and me could be resolved with a downpour.

With the investigation into the kidnapper running dry, I had decided to take matters into my own hands. In a small footnote of a tome I’d paged through dozens of times, I read that a Fear Dearg left traces of dread in the atmosphere, which could linger for days after the creature had moved on. In essence, we were dealing with a Fear Dearg, even if it had an unprecedented ability to turn into a man, and vice versa.

“Please work,” I murmured as I plucked two items out of my pocket: my trusty specterglass and a second circular piece of bluish-tinted glass. Naomi had referred to this blue-tinted glass as a Pelios Lens. With Pelios being the God of Emotions, I supposed that made a great deal of sense, considering that was what the lens detected—the visible auras of emotion. I’d had to beg the lens off her, under strict instructions to bring it back in one piece, as she was using it in one of her experimental contraptions. She’d explained it to me at her usual breakneck pace, and I’d gotten the gist of it—she hoped to build a device that could concentrate human emotions and reflect them back at Purge beasts. Essentially, this would subdue them prior to capture. It appeared she’d forgotten that, during captures, hunters were often scared or panicked or running on pure adrenaline. But I wasn’t going to be the one to tell her it wouldn’t work. I’d been proven wrong many times before.

Anyway, Naomi had inspired me to do some experimentation of my own. Ordinarily, the specterglass showed signs of spirits and spiritual activity, as well as the faint glitter of non-humans who’d been touched by Chaos. There was room for one more lens in the brass frame of the specterglass, which was where the other one would come in. If my assumptions were correct, the specterglass would act as an atomic booster of sorts to the Pelios Lens, letting me see the emotional residue of a Purge beast as it clung to the lasting traces of Chaos in the air. The only trouble was, the subtle shimmer of a Purge beast that wasn’t ancient was barely perceptible through the specterglass, so I’d have to search as carefully as possible. I hoped I could use my invention to track down the Fear Dearg before anyone else got hurt.

A few minutes later, I reached the lookout spot where Genie and I had found the weakened pixies. I paused there for a moment, looking out at the churning sea. This was the place I came to in order to think about my work problems and iron out the kinks in my research. Now, standing here, my research and my work were the furthest things from my mind. As was my status quo, I could think of little besides Genie.

I either have to do something about it or give up the idea of being with her altogether. The lookout spot did its simplifying work as well as ever, as the two options came into my mind with impeccable clarity. I couldn’t keep letting my nerves, my fear of rejection, and my stupid shyness stop me from asking Genie out. To keep skirting around things wasn’t fair to either of us. The fact of the matter was, I couldn’t let go of the idea of being with her.

And if that wasn’t my answer, then I had no right to call myself a scientist. The lookout spot had spoken; it was time to stop being a coward about it.

But first, I needed to see if these lenses had anything to show me. Giving Persie and Genie some good news would be an ideal excuse to see Genie again, an opportunity to put my money where my mouth was.

Slotting the Pelios Lens into the frame of the specterglass, I lifted the combined forces as close to my eye as I could while keeping my glasses on. I scanned the area, focusing mainly on the spot surrounding the gorse bushes. I narrowed in on the shrubbery, squinting hard. A feeble glint of something hovered in the air above the bushes, but I wasn’t sure if I was just seeing what I wanted to see. There was only one way to find out. Stepping closer with the dual lens glued to my right eye, the weak glitter shone brighter and brighter, until I could make out wispy dreads of purple undulating through the air.

“That’s it,” I whispered. “These are the dreads I’ve been looking for.” And, unbidden, I thought, I wish Genie was here to laugh at my terrible Star Wars joke.

I sent a quick text to Genie and Persie: I think I’ve found something important at the lookout spot, with regards to the kidnapper. Will report back when I return to the Institute.

I pocketed my phone and lifted the lens again, following the trail of wispy strands farther down the cliff path. I was definitely going to get eye strain after this, but I didn’t care. I would endure that and more if it meant I could get justice for Persie and ease Genie’s worried mind.

What if she wants to know more about my family again?The story was too depressing, and I didn’t want to think of bad memories when I was with her. I only wanted to see the good in the life I had now, the life I’d built for myself. And I didn’t want to keep evading the truth, either. I had lied to Victoria with alarming ease, but Genie was different. She had a way of opening me up, cracking my defenses, making me want to say more than I’d done in years.

The lies had worked before, but should a relationship start on those terms? Probably not. And if she found out later, her faith in me would be shattered. I could tell her the truth and trust in her brilliant mind and good heart not to judge me as others might. But what would I say? How would I even broach it? It wasn’t something you blurted out over dessert.

I have to take the leap. I have to tell her how I feel. I could deal with the rest later. Or maybe it would all come out organically anyway.

“Genie, there’s something I have to tell you. Two things, actually,” I said, doing a practice run of what I might say in the hopes of making my choice clearer. “I’ll start with what I hope will be the good news, and then I’ll tell you the bad, and I’ll give you as much time as you need to figure out if I’m the sort of person you could—” A sudden brightness in the lenses made me stop. Two concentrated flashes of light, emerging from the wispy, purple trails, getting closer by the second. Puzzled, I took the lens away from my eye… and my blood ran cold. Barely a few yards away, a seething mass of shadow and red mist barreled toward me, with two fiery red eyes fixed right on its target.

Me.