Page 99 of Shades of Silver City

Then Godric must hit a button or something, because the electric gate slowly wheels open, and he exits the shack.

“Let’s go,” he says.

I hand the canister to him and watch as he douses the ground with gasoline, creating a trail up to the lab. The building is made mostly of steel, to protect the chemicals and experiments inside, undoubtedly, but a good chunk of the front offices are made of wood and glass.

Once Godric has emptied the container, he backs up, joining me a good distance away from the building. He pulls a pack of matches out of his back pocket.

“Wait.” I reach out, stopping him from striking the match.

Every time I blink, I see Godric lying in his own blood on my ma’s kitchen floor. I see Tasia’s shell-shocked face as she stands before the Scouts. I see her crying in the shower over wounds I can’t see.

I see the look on my ma’s face before she left the apartment for the last time, never to return.

I see Sofia’s face, pale and gaunt, as she seizes from too much dreamdust and fades from the world.

And then, it’s as if the pipes inside me burst, letting out the rage I’ve stifled down. This lab and its drug are not taking anyone else from me. Whoever is behind it will pay dearly.

Red fills my vision as I snatch the box from him. I strike a match, holding it up in front of my face. I stare at the flickering flame, and its heat reaches out as if it’s itching to burn something to the ground.

Tasia’s sobs in the shower last night gutted me.

“Never again,” I mutter.

Her father might not have hurt her physically, but he hurt her nonetheless. Everything vile in this city can, in some way or another, be traced back to Mesmeric.

With zero remorse, I toss the match. The moment the flame kisses the spilled gas, it ignites into a roaring monster. Heat bursts over me, gripping me with its intensity. Fire explodes down the slick line, ready to consume the building.

“Come on!” Godric yells. He tosses the canister into the grass, and we break out into a run.

We barely make it across the street when the explosion rocks the world behind us, the blast forcing us to the ground. Debris clatters all around us. I cover my head with my arms. My ears ring, and I glance back at the inferno.

What did I just do?

I never get my hands dirty.

Ever.

Not even after losing Sofia. But the thought of losing Tasia, too? It shattered something crucial inside of me.

Godric is the first to get up. He rushes to my side. His mouth moves rapidly, but I can’t hear what he’s saying. A persistent, high-pitched tone reverberates through my skull. A sharp ringing.

Flames burst up into the night sky, reaching for the stars and consuming the front of the lab. The sight is so bright that I’m forced to squint.

What did I do?

My gut sinks as the gravity of the moment settles in.

What bothers me most is not that I did it, but that I’d do it all over again.

For her.

"…human perception is limited to the standard spectrum of colors available—between 400 nm to 700 nm. I have yet to unlock the ability to perceive electromagnetic radiation beyond my ordinary range, but the fae have soul-shades, as do animals. They are simply imperceivable by the human eye.”

-Excerpt from the personal journal of Dr. Claude Foster, Director of Faeology at Mesmeric Labs

CHAPTER 23

FANTASIA

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