Page 25

My chopsticks clattered into the noodle bowl. “You can’t be serious, Persie. Did you eat something poisonous while I was waiting for the food? Do I need to take you to the Infirmary so the medics can run tests?” Persie and I had returned from the market ten minutes ago and reconvened in the Repository with Genie. I’d thought it would be difficult to persuade the medics to let Genie out for a change of scenery, but apparently she’d been causing such a fuss that they’d been only too happy to get her off their hands for a while.

Persie tapped the side of her chair, struggling to look me in the eyes. “It’s not a decision I made lightly, but I feel like it’s the right one.” I had been a little worried at the market when Persie had gone missing. The slow noodles were ready and she was still nowhere to be found—but then she’d showed up and told me she’d explain everything back at the Institute when we had Genie with us. And now that we were all caught up, I had no idea what had come over her. I glanced at Genie to gauge her reaction, but she was busily slurping down noodles like there was no tomorrow.

“Genie?” I prompted. We’d somehow gone from being sworn enemies with this Reid character to flat out allying ourselves with him in one conversation. It was quite a leap, and quite a demand that Persie was making of us.

Genie pursed her lips, sucking up a slippery noodle. Her eyes stayed wide with surprise as she gulped it down. “Uh… well… he said it was an accident. People make mistakes, right? I don’t usually die after them, sure, but I’d rather give him a hand than have to deal with a swarm of Fear Deargs. You know, preventing the problem before it becomes one.” She dove right back into her munching. “I’ll tell you what, getting resurrected gives you a heck of an appetite. I could eat a whole Grendel and I wouldn’t be full. No offense, buddy.” She winked over at the Grendel’s enclosure, and he snorted as if he were laughing. It was an unusual response for one of Persie’s newly birthed monsters, but perhaps not for a sensitive Grendel—this one was already attuned to her, and the people closest to her. I made a mental note to add it to my files later. Either that, or he was beginning to understand social cues.

“Speaking of resurrecting…” Persie raised up cautious eyes. “Reid knows what you did for Genie, but I made it part of the deal that he doesn’t breathe a word of it.”

My stomach sank, my appetite gone. “And you believe he’ll keep it to himself?” I had fought so hard to keep that secret, and to think of it running wild in the hands of witch hunters… That was going to keep me up at night in a cold sweat.

She nodded. “He needs us, so yes. Plus, he doesn’t know you can’t resurrect yourself, so I don’t think it’d put you in any kind of firing line.”

“Forgive me if I’m not so eager to put him in such a cozy light,” I muttered, already thinking of ways I could protect my ability. Even if it meant making the temporary Suppressor I’d used to trick Readings in the past a little more permanent. My secret could not fall into enemy hands, under any circumstances.

“This doesn’t mean we’re going to become best pals,” Persie continued. “I told him about fifty times how much I hate him for what he did to Genie. But then I sort of… felt sorry for him. He’s in the same situation as me, only I can control my problem to a degree. He can’t, as we saw. The curse turned him into the Fear Dearg, and he hurt Genie because of that. He’s desperate, Nathan. And who knows how many people this thing has already infected, giving them the same issue. If we can fix it, we should, because…” She turned toward the window, fidgeting. “We should help because not everyone has a Necromancer up their sleeve, to stop their loved ones from dying. I don’t want blood on my hands, knowing I could have done something but chose not to out of bitterness.”

I heaved a sigh. “I suppose I haven’t got much right to argue, if you and Genie are on board. You’re the ones who suffered the most because of him.” I paused to collect my thoughts, trying to view matters from the perspective of these two women. I couldn’t allow myself to be driven by a personal vendetta if they weren’t. “And there is little use in cutting off our noses to spite our faces. You’re right… we should do what we can, so we don’t risk this situation escalating. But you’ll have to forgive me if I’m not ecstatic about aiding that cretin.”

Persie smiled. “Noted.”

“Oh my sainted Chaos!” Genie clutched one of the bottles of soda that I’d brought back for her. “What is this?! I don’t know if getting a second shot at life has screwed with my taste buds, but this stuff is incredible!” She downed half the bottle in one go, before letting out a satisfied, “Aaaah.”

“I hoped you’d like it,” I said. “It’s moon-melon flavor.”

She grinned, wiping her mouth. “I want more! Holy crap, I could drink a gallon of it.”

“I bought you a case.” I patted the canvas bag by my feet.

“Nathan O’Hara, I couldn’t love you more right now.” She guzzled down another few mouthfuls, oblivious to what she’d just said. I cast a discreet look at Persie, who hit me with an “I told you so” smile. I knew I shouldn’t read too much into it, what with Genie still being feverish and hopped up on delicious broth and sugary soda, but those words would spin around in my head for days to come. I just had to remind myself that it wasn’t me she loved—it was still much too soon for that—but the moon-melons.

Fortunately, Persie saved me from falling into a downward spiral of overthinking. “Does this mean we’re doing it? We’re going to help Reid with his curse?”

“It would appear so,” I replied, remembering to take a breath. “Is it hot in here, or is it just me?” I fanned my face with my hand, knowing my cheeks must have been purple right about now.

Genie deftly scooped up her bowl and sipped the hearty soup. “I think it’s this. My insides feel all warm and toasty, like a big, fluffy stomach hug,” she said between slurps. Thanks to her Atlantean constitution, I guessed the surface world medication was making her loopy. And it was utterly adorable. If I didn’t have the shadow of helping out her killer looming over me, I’d have watched her for hours. Suddenly, she sat up like a gopher popping out of its hole and yelped, “Ooohhh, you know what would be the best idea ever? Let’s let the pixies out! I feel like I haven’t seen them in aaaages.”

Persie clasped her hands together. “Pretty please?”

I didn’t try to protest—it was always futile. Besides, with Genie still on the mend, I would’ve done just about anything to make her happy. I didn’t say that, of course, and I put on a fairly decent act of reluctance as I got up and went to the pixies’ orb. Now that the pixies had their color back and didn’t need any more tonic, Boudicca and I had made peace. She fluttered her eyelashes at me as I approached, while Cynane zoomed around in circles and Spartacus got on his knees and pretended to bow to me.

“You’re going to behave, right?” I stared them down as I opened up the iris.

Boudicca flashed a mischievous grin that said, “Probably not, but you’re still going to let us out because you’re as soft as pudding.”

With the iris open, they flew out and made a beeline for Genie. I observed with interest as they smothered her in kisses, Boudicca cooing softly and stroking Genie’s face. This was unusual—they always went for Persie first. Persie didn’t seem to mind, though, wearing a content smile as she watched her pixies ladling adoration all over her best friend. Cynane perched on Genie’s shoulder and stroked her silver hair softly, while Spartacus marched back and forth on top of Genie’s head, preparing to do a high dive into the bowl of noodles.

“No,” Persie warned, waggling a finger at him. Sulking, he plopped down on the center of Genie’s head and crossed his arms. He certainly put the two ladies to shame with his pouting skills, though I knew he’d soon get over it.

I walked back to my seat. “It’s strange… They seem to know that something happened to Genie.” The pixies possessed a selective kindness, but I’d never seen them quite so attentive to Genie. Nor had I seen them be so gentle with anyone. Usually, Persie got the lion’s share of their affection, and even that tended to devolve into a rough sort of love, with hair stroking quickly turning into hair pulling.

Genie giggled, rubbing her cheek against Boudicca’s tiny one. “I missed you!”

Boudicca clung to Genie’s face, hugging it with her eyes closed, and Cynane wrapped herself up in Genie’s hair like a blanket. On top of her head, Spartacus had snuggled up into a fetal position, his snores startlingly loud for one so small. Evidently, the feeling was mutual.

“They’re still attuned to Necromancy.” I mused out loud, noticing that their bioluminescent spots had turned a lilac shade. “And even the briefly dead carry a residual trace of their death long after resurrection.” I wondered if that was why the Grendel had snorted, too, having felt Genie’s joy at being alive again. Goodness, monsters really were remarkable. They had more nuances than I’d ever be able to observe in my lifetime.

Persie leaned back in her chair. “It’s sweet.”

“Very sweet,” I agreed, though I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I might’ve liked. “Although, we should really talk about the sour. AKA, this Reid Darcy. If we intend to help him, then we need to go over our options. Whichever way you look at it, this is going to be a difficult investigation. As I’ve said before, this would be far simpler if we knew who the curse caster was, but as he’s blown that out of the water, we’re really starting with nothing.”

Persie nodded, scratching at her neck in thought. “First, we need to decide how far up the chain of command we go with this. Do we keep it between us, or do we alert Victoria and the hunters to Reid’s return?” Her brow furrowed. “I’ve been going back and forth since I left him at the market, and I think I know which way I want to go with it, but I need to hear someone else’s opinion.”

I laced my fingers together and cracked my knuckles. “I don’t know anything about the organization he belongs to, but if they’re watching magicals and potentially hunting us, then their creed alone makes them incredibly dangerous.” I couldn’t believe what I was about to say, knowing we’d be putting ourselves in a tight spot. “However, that would be reason enough for the magical world to consider them a deadly threat. And I’m sure I don’t need to tell you, but the magical world might decide, because of that, that all of these witch hunters would be better off dead. Or mass mindwiped, at the very least. Maybe even incarcerated for crimes against magicals. The Institute would certainly approach the problem as a code red, meaning permission to use lethal force. It’s how they approach most threats, really: they identify it, they analyze it, they eliminate it.”

“Even though they’re human?” Persie shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

I shrugged. “I suppose that would depend on their analysis of how ‘human’ they are when they’re under the curse. If the Institute decided that they veered more toward the monster side of things, it would be a free for all.”

“Then… maybe we don’t go to Victoria or any authorities until we can alter their perspectives a bit,” Persie offered. “If we could first figure out a way to make the Veritas understand that magicals aren’t a threat, then we could go to the higher-ups and potentially circumvent any lethal-force orders that might come into play. I mean, they’re humans. They’re probably just freaked out because they’ve only just found out that magic is real, and so are the monsters living under the bed. Who wouldn’t be a bit trigger-happy after that?”

I gave her what I hoped wasn’t a condescending smile. “It’s a nice thought, Persie, but it’s a little idealistic.”

“You’ll have us all singing our kumbayas next.” Genie chuckled through a fresh mouthful of noodles. “I like peace, love, and unity as much as the next gal, but utopias are a fantasy. I lived in one, so I’ve got the scoop. To put it in Atlantean terms, there’s always a bigger fish. And the smaller fish hate the bigger fish because it can eat them. This is the same thing: these witch hunters think we’re going to eat them. It’s why magicals have a thing against Atlanteans. To them, we’re bigger fish. Sharks, maybe, or those massive groupers that can swallow a diver whole.” Her rambles were making a lot of sense in a weird way, though I couldn’t stop looking at the slice of carrot she had wedged between her chopsticks as she gesticulated wildly. It would surely go flying at any moment.

I nodded, relieved when she finally ate it. “To achieve what you’re suggesting, we’d need to know more about Veritas and their methods. If they really are the ones abducting magicals, torturing them and then dumping them, trying to convince anyone they aren’t dangerous will be an impossible sell.”

“So… we have to do this alone?” Persie dropped her chin to her chest, wringing her hands anxiously. “I didn’t want that to be the case, but this curse might be more of a threat than the witch hunters themselves. If we think of Reid as ‘patient zero’ and the curse has already started spreading and turning other people into Fear Deargs, then it’s not a huge leap to think that they’ll probably spread it, too. And I will never be down with the idea of culling a group of people, no matter who they are. We have to act while the numbers are still small.”

“Did he say they were small?” I pressed. Knowing what we were dealing with would determine how we proceeded. If too many people were already infected, it might cement the stark truth that there was actually nothing we could do. If the group of hybrid Fear Deargs was still manageable, then there’d be hope.

Persie lifted her shoulders in a hesitant shrug. “It sounded like it. He said it had infected the people who were close to him, which suggests it hasn’t gotten out of hand yet. Plus, if it was a large number, he’d have told me. He needs us, after all, so he has no reason to cover up the facts.”

You’re putting a lot of faith in a stranger, here. I held my tongue, though she could probably read every neon doubt blinking across my face. Still, part of me did agree with her analysis of his words. If he belonged to some kind of splinter cell of this Veritas organization, then that had to be a fairly select group. I hoped, anyway.

She took out her phone. “I’ll ask him, so we’re sure.” She typed a quick text and waited, staring at the blue screen. It pinged a moment later, and she looked up at me. “It’s isolated to his ‘people.’ He thinks upward of fifty, but the number is rising, and more are being seen by their doctors due to adverse effects. I’m paraphrasing.”

How many people are in this organization? I supposed it didn’t matter right now, since we were going ahead with this regardless. But there was every chance it could matter later.

“Okay, then,” I said dumbly.

“Woo! The three amigos ride again!” Genie whooped, brandishing her chopsticks like swords. I wanted to laugh, but my heart felt heavy with the seriousness of the situation. This would mean going against Victoria and working in secret. I didn’t like that any more than Persie obviously did, but nor did I like the idea of people being rounded up and punished due to a lack of understanding. Victoria wasn’t heartless, by any means. For starters, she’d made it her life’s work to defend the non-magical world from monsters and the havoc they caused. On the other hand, if she had to pick sides, I knew which one it would be. When push came to shove, she’d prioritize the safety of the Institute and magical kind, just as non-magicals would prioritize themselves if the roles were reversed. And it wasn’t just her—that went for every echelon of the magical authorities and magical security.

Persie turned to me, her expression full of newfound grit. “Innocent people will get hurt unless we find a way to stop the curse. Sure, it’s currently isolated to these witch hunters, but what if it goes beyond that and starts infecting people who have nothing to do with Veritas? What if it already has, and Reid just isn’t aware of it outside of his group? It could have infected anyone and everyone that they’ve come into contact with, even someone they’ve just passed in the street. We don’t know how this transmits.”

I grimaced. “I was literally just thinking the same thing. If we haven’t been affected, we can assume that magicals are immune. But I highly doubt there’ll be selective immunity in non-magicals.”

“Right.” Persie propped her chin on her palm, her mood gloomy. After the promise she’d made to give full honesty to Victoria, this would be a heck of a knock for her. And, though I hated to admit it, I knew it was the best course of action.

“Get your olive branches out—it’s temporary truce time, baby!” Genie punched the air with her fist and stayed frozen in that position for a while. It wasn’t the solemn agreement I’d anticipated to kick this investigation off, but it served the same purpose. Our decision was made. We had to help the witch hunters. And I knew exactly where to begin.