Page 156 of Shades of Silver City

These people are more than just coworkers. They’re his family. It hits me then how Archer has a whole life I don’t fully know yet. A life I desperately want to be a part of.

“No sightings of Arlo Osiander,” she says, bringing the conversation back to its origin. I study the abundance of screens, trying to understand what we’re looking at. A few monitors have grids of greyscale footage from surveillance cameras—real-time feeds, if the timestamps are any indication. Other screens blast lines of bright green code, scrolling faster than I can keep up with.

Archer makes a contemplative noise. “I’m assuming you have both his name and face flagged?”

“Oh yeah,” she says.

I’m in awe. Something tells me she’s the true brains behind many of Archer’s operations. Archer is the obvious leader, Godric the brawn, Zeke the resources, but Pixel is clearly the one who ties it all together with her wit.

“Tell her to give me that ministry prick’s information,” Godric says to Archer. “That prick left her the night of the masquerade. She could’ve fucking died because of that asshole.”

“Godric,” Pixel says softly, giving him a long look.

“I’m with him on this,” Archer says.

“He didn’t hurt me,” she mutters, cheeks flushing. “Good Gods, this is the last time I mention my dating life in front of you guys. You’re a bunch of overbearing brothers.”

Godric seems to deflate. “Yeah…brothers,” he mutters, frowning.

“Okay,” Pixel says, clearing her throat. “What I did manage to do is unseal the previous lab owner’s records.”

Zeke steps forward, planting a kiss on Pixel’s head. “You little genius,” he says excitedly into her hair. Her cheeks turn as red as said hair.

“Get off her,” Godric says, jerking Zeke’s skinny frame back.

Curiously, I watch the three of them for a moment. What exactly is their dynamic? It’s entertaining, to say the least.

Archer, on the other hand, seems unfazed. “What did you find?” he asks.

“Well, turns out the previous owner bought Mesmeric under a shell company—a fake name. We never noticed before because it was well hidden. But…something felt off about it, all things considered. I took another look, tracing it back, and…”

“Who is it?” Archer leans forward, eyes scanning the words on a screen Pixel points to. “Artair Münryn…” He mutters something under his breath before yelling, “Fuck!” He slams a fist on the desk, and we all jolt, staring at him with shocked expressions.

“Who is that?” Godric asks slowly, seeming to sense the significance of the revelation.

“If Arlo’s word is true,” Archer says, running his hand obsessively through his hair and starting to pace, “I think that’s my biological father. The lab’s original owner.”

Thick silence blankets the room. I place a hand on Archer’s bicep, giving him a comforting squeeze. He softens under my touch, interlacing his fingers with mine.

“Apparently Artair died…a few years ago,” Pixel says.

“Shit,” I say. “So Arlo was upholding a family legacy—trying to get their land back? Maybe Arlo tried to replicate my dad’s dreamdust formula and took it too far?” Maybe that’s why the drug was so intense—so deadly when it came back. Maybe Arlo has actually been looking for the journals hoping to learn the original formula and scale it back. “What if he wasn’t trying to kill everyone but was only trying to cause enough mayhem for the city to destroy itself and fall from within? So he and his family could take the land back? He did say he wasn’t consuming souls for power, after all.”

“It’s making more sense now.” Archer sighs. “If Artair was living in the city, that explains how my ma met him. Her clientele was high-class. Rich. Powerful.” He pauses, stroking his jaw. “You know, Arlo did say she knew what the plan was—for them to ‘take back the city.’ I think you’re right. Arlo was trying to follow in his dad’s footsteps, and both times I’ve thwarted their plans.”

My pulse picks up as I rush to say, “That’s how my dad was glamoured, Archer!” I grab his arm, looking at him with wide eyes. “Arlo said he didn’t glamour my dad, but someone must’ve. My dad’s note implied it. It had to have been Artair. I bet his power is just like yours and Arlo’s, which means he can totally glamour.”

My dad didn’t betray me or the city. He wasn’t a bad guy, after all. He was a good guy, and an even better scientist, who got caught up with the fae, glamoured to do their bidding. Relief courses through me. I want to cry happy tears.

Is Artair the reaper I saw the night of my parents’ deaths? Maybe it wasn’t Arlo at all. He did say there were many reaper fae and that their job is to ferry souls.

“Uh, guys?” Zeke asks. “What the shit are you talking bout?”

I realize the room has gone silent. Even Pixel has stood from her computer to watch the interaction.

“There’s something we need to tell you,” Archer says to her and Zeke. He glances at Godric, then me, jaw tense. I nod in reassurance. “It’s time.”

Thirty minutes later, Pixel and Zeke are filled in on almost everything: what Godric and Archer really are, who Arlo really is, and even about my dad and the magic he injected me with. If Archer trusts these people, so do I. Plus, after everything that’s gone down during the past few weeks, it’s not exactly like I can ignore that side of me anymore.

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