Infinity Son(63)

“I told you I can handle myself,” Prudencia says. Her eyes are fiercely glowing like ping-ponging stars. “I’m going.”





Thirty-One


The Trade


EMIL

My best friend has been a celestial all along.

“I wanted to tell you,” Prudencia says to me as we speed away from Nova.

“Why didn’t you?”

No matter how often Brighton, Prudencia, and Ma have been there for me, these have been the loneliest weeks of my life. When Dad passed, we were all united by grief. But no one could fully be there for me when I came into these powers because they didn’t understand firsthand. That’s what I legit thought.

“Enforcers only mistook my mom as a celestial, Emil, but my dad was. My aunt made me promise to never use my powers again if I lived with her. That was fine. I didn’t want them after seeing my dad killed for his.” She shifts to me with this energy of someone who’s finally able to share her secret with the world, but I still hate that I’m making her relive this decades-old horror. “I was so torn because I could’ve been training to fight back like the Spell Walkers, but I also didn’t want to be defined by my power, so I fought back in other ways. The podcasts, protests, any activism I could manage.”

“Does Brighton know?” I ask.

Prudencia shakes her head. “Only Iris.”

Maribelle flips around. “She what?”

“My power was the only way Brighton and I could go on the missions.”

“She’s not supposed to have secrets,” Maribelle says. “I cannot believe her.”

Ness lets out a long whistle. “Drama galore, but we’ll use this to our advantage, right? No one knows you’re a celestial.”

“I wish Brighton hadn’t taken off to the cemetery without me,” Prudencia says. “I could’ve protected him like I did when we fought Orton.”

Everything is clicking into place. When Orton was blazing up and charging at us, it wasn’t the fire holding him back, it was Prudencia. I remember the moment on the train when it seemed like she was about to chop Orton in the neck, but she was actually about to swing with her power. All this time I’ve been going off about how difficult my life had become while she privately suffered, so determined to lead a normal life that she didn’t even open up to us.

“I’m sorry,” I say. “We’re going to set all this right.”

“I hope so,” she says.

Thirty minutes later, we’re a couple blocks from home with a plan in place. I never thought I would find my way back here. In my heart, this place will always be home, even if I’ll never be able to live here again, no matter if I manage to expel these powers or not. We park on the opposite corner, and I instruct Ness to go out and see if the Blood Casters are here yet.

“Wait,” Maribelle says. “He’ll morph and run away.”

Ness looks out the window and studies a man who’s carrying grocery bags. He closes his eyes and shifts into him. “Can’t wait to surprise you,” he says in his own voice.

“Do you really trust him that much?” Maribelle asks.

“I trust him enough.”

I’m counting on our interests being the same—stop Luna and get out of this life.

A few minutes later, a woman enters the car.

“Sorry, this isn’t a Lyft,” I say.

“The Blood Casters are here,” the woman says as she morphs into Ness. “Stanton’s cycle is parked around the corner, and I spotted Dione on the rooftop. No sign of June, but there are acolytes in the lobby turning residents away.”

“So we stick to the plan,” Prudencia says.

We get out of the car and enter the neighboring building from the back entrance. As we go up the stairs, I’m reminded of the times Brighton and I would hide from our friends during rounds of manhunt, when we were so hard to find that they would text us when they gave up. This isn’t a game. We reach the roof and there they are. Brighton is on the ground with his hands tied behind his back and Stanton is holding a wand to his head while staring straight at us. Luna is nowhere in sight, but Anklin Prince is here.

I summon my blazing wings and shakily glide across one rooftop to the next. My landing isn’t graceful either, but I stand tall. Atlas and Maribelle carry Ness and Prudencia across the gap and join me.

“Give me my brother,” I say. Brighton has never looked so scared.

Stanton smirks. “Luna is looking forward to seeing you again, Ness.”

Maribelle draws a dagger. “Not enough to show up herself.”

Stanton digs the tip of the wand against Brighton’s temple harder. “Luna learned her lesson after this one took a shot at her.”

We coordinate how this will go down. I’ll accompany Ness in the middle, and Anklin will release Brighton after he’s verified the authenticity of the urn. Once I have Brighton back, I will clock Anklin, and Prudencia can call for the urn before the Blood Casters can reach it. I don’t want to hang around and fight, but if it comes down to it, we’ve got them outnumbered for once.

We meet in the middle. Anklin takes the urn from Ness and it shakes, as if the ghosts are trying to fight their way out. Brighton’s eye is swollen shut, and there’s dried blood across his face and arms. Brighton keeps shifting between me and Ness with his good eye and subtly shaking his head. I don’t get what he’s trying to say, but spellwork explodes across the roof and we all duck.