Page 46 of Ira

“Look, I’m not like a… make-good-calls-in-a-crisis kind of person. Like, that’s not really an area of expertise for me. But I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you need to think whatever you’re doing through, and wait until it’s dark so your friend here doesn’t get fried by the sun.”

It was hard to tell in this form, but I could have sworn Verner nodded, the absolute traitor. He was meant to go home! I had a rampage to go on. My bag felt heavy, weighed down with the throwing knives Verner had sourced for me, as well as my thick notebook of memories.

I hadn’t entirely ruled out using the knives, but I was a fight-back rather than a fight-first kind of person.

Besides, physical violence seemed so… temporary.

I wanted to destroy him. I wanted to destroy hislegacy.

“Do you want a ramen bowl?” Harlow asked, heading into the room off her office. Immediately, the light that filtered throughthe door when she’d opened it shut off, and I could hear her closing all the blinds. “I have vegetarian ones.”

Honestly, that did sound pretty amazing.

Verner continued to hover nearby as I followed her into the room and hopped onto a barstool at the kitchen bench. Harlow’s apartment was tiny but sleek and modern—though with a lot of anime-inspired touches. I wondered if the Hunters Council funded it, since as far as I knew, she was still on their books. The reason Astrid worked so closely with her was because Harlow was a double agent.

“So,” Harlow began. “I assume the plan involves eventually returning to the shadow realm if your friend here is willing to wait—does your friend have a name by the way?”

“I’m not sure I should tell you that,” I replied hesitantly. “I don’t want to implicate him.”

Harlow glanced over at me from the bench where she was preparing two bowls of instant ramen. “Girl, what are you planning? Are you going to get arrested?”

“I’ll be back in the shadow realm before that,” I replied absently. Shoot, I didn’t have a phone. How was I going to call Adela Cooke without a phone? I couldn’t sneakily borrow Harlow’s without her knowing—she probably had some super tech-savvy security stuff on there, she’d know instantly.

It seemed foolish in hindsight that I’d left mine behind when I’d moved to the shadow realm.

Harlow spluttered. “What do you mean?”

“I’m kidding,” I said hastily. “I’m not going to do anything crazy.”

“Really? Because it sounds like you’re going to dopremeditated crimes,” Harlow replied with an accusatory look.

“Don’t you do premeditated crimes all the time?” I asked, genuinely curious. Whether it was for Astrid or for the Hunters, I doubted Harlow’s job description was entirely above board.

“Well, yeah. But on the internet, so it doesn’t count.”

“That’s a convenient loophole.”

“It is. Have you thought of one for yourself yet? It’s best to plan these things out in advance. Meditate on it.Premeditate on it, if you will.”

She handed me the bowl and some chopsticks, and I stirred the noodles around slowly, watching her. “I can’t decide if you’re encouraging me or not.”

“I can’t decide either,” Harlow said serenely before starting on her own noodles. Maybe Harlow was just one of those who liked to watch the world burn. A Verity, so to speak.

I’d never been one of those, not in the past. While I’d definitely concocted a few revenge fantasies over the years, I’d never had the means nor the courage to even consider pulling one off. No, that wasn’t quite right. Adela Cooke had offered me the means, and I’d walked away.

I’d never had therageto pull it off. But knowing that Randal Jackman was still out there, living his best life, unaffected by what he’d done when he’d ruined mine?

I couldn’t let that slide.

“I’m assuming this criminal activity of yours is directed against the Hunters, right?” Harlow asked, not sounding particularly bothered if it was. “You’ve picked a good time—they’re kind of in an uproar right now with everything that went down with Cal Thibaut and Lochan. I think the higher-ups are starting to realize how much control they’ve lost over the community—people are fractured and doing their own thing. Austin’s conspiracy theory-seeds have flowered nicely, and a lot of the middle-class band of Hunters have been distancing themselves from the group to avoid unwanted attention. For a while there, people were filming their neighbors’ driveways and posting online about if they went out frequently at night and stuff. It was wild.”

“All that from what Austin said?” I asked, surprised.

“Don’t underestimate the allure of a conspiracy theory. Or the willingness many people have to attribute Why Life Sucks to something nebulous and nonspecific.” She shrugged. “Sometimes that’s easier than, like, dismantling oppressive power structures and systems designed to keep us in little boxes and whatever. You know?”

“I do know,” I replied, though we were probably thinking about different things. I wasn’t exactly sure what it was that Jackman had involved me in, but there was a very real chance that it involved other Councilors. There was a chance thatI’ddismantle an oppressive power structure—or at least a small portion of one.

“Does that mean the Shades are in a good position right now, as far as negotiations go?” I asked, feeling a slight glimmer of unease. I didn’t want to ruin all of Tallulah’s hard work. Then again, Randal Jackman wouldn’t honor a goddamn thing he promised anyway, so what did it matter?

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