Page 19 of Infinity Son (Infinity Cycle 1)

Atlas kisses my knuckles after Wesley leaves. “I’ll be back in thirty.”

There are times I wish we never had to leave this room. Ever since Nova shut down in May because of funding, it’s been hard settling in, knowing sooner or later we’ll have to relocate when we inevitably get discovered. I was hesitant to ever unpack, but one night I returned to find string lights stretching across the walls and my favorite belongings set up around the room: Papa’s binoculars hanging by the window; Mama’s reading glasses sitting on top of the Colombian fairy tales she read me when I was young—well, younger—and the bottle of star-touched wine Atlas got me for my eighteenth birthday two months ago, which I’m saving for the day I clear my parents’ name. He turned this history classroom into our home and I pray to the stars that enforcers never find us because we won’t have time to pack.

“Hurry back,” I say.

Before Atlas can leave, our door opens, and Iris lets herself in. Everything good within me vanishes as fast as a blink. This isn’t like when we were growing up, and Iris and I shared everything—clothes, toys, beds, secrets. I don’t barge into her room, and she sure as hell shouldn’t be barging into mine.

“Excuse you,” I say.

“Save it,” Iris says. “We have an innocent to rescue. Where’s Wesley?”

“He just left,” Atlas says.

“We need all hands on deck,” Iris says. For someone so short, Iris has always done a solid job of making herself appear more powerful, more dominant.

“Why? Who’s the celestial?”

“He’s a specter,” Iris says.

This is the first time I’ve laughed in weeks. It’s great.

Iris glares. “I’m serious, Maribelle. I’ve been trying to track down more specters with white phoenix fire like we’ve seen since the Crowned Dreamer woke up, and in a viral video, I found one—attacking another specter with phoenix abilities who seemed surprised. I don’t think he’s one of Luna’s guys, but you can bet that she’ll be sending out the Blood Casters to hunt him down.”

“Wait. Is this a rescue mission, or are we trying to take down the gang?”

“Two phoenixes, one stone.”

I’ve never met anyone who came to be a specter for understandable reasons, so I can’t believe we’re risking our necks for someone who’s likely just as power-hungry as all the others. We gear up quickly, hoping this rescue isn’t going to screw us over and get us killed, but just in case, Iris is kissing her girlfriend, Eva, at the door.

We know better than anyone that loved ones don’t always come home.

Ten

Enigma

EMIL

My entire body feels like I’ve been dropped out of the sky.

I groan as I wake up in a hospital room. Brighton is quick to his feet and looks down at me with eyes redder than whenever he stays up all night editing.

“You’re okay,” he says. “Don’t get up.”

The bright ceiling lights hurt my eyes. I take deep breaths, thinking about what makes me happy to try and calm myself down. That very first memory of being in the Sunroom for my thirteenth birthday comes to mind, and just as quickly, the happiness of it all warps. How did that kid who posed in front of gorgeous replicas of phoenixes grow up to find their blood inside of him? “I just don’t understand,” I say. “I didn’t do this to myself—I would never.”

“We’ll figure that out later,” Brighton says. “Right now, we have to deal with Ma. She was losing it when she saw you in this bed, so Prudencia took her to the cafeteria to calm her down.”

“Does she know? About me?”

“I told her we got jumped by a specter. She doesn’t know anything about your powers, but we can’t keep it secret.”

He hands me his phone. A video of the subway fight has gone viral. It’s weird playing viewer to the moment those gold and gray flames surface for the first time. I can even make out the shape of a phoenix in the fire, flickering in and out. “They’re calling me Fire-Wing,” I say, reading the top comments. “I’m not some comic book superhero.”

“Yeah, and there are better names out there,” Brighton says.

&n

bsp; “I have no idea how I got us out of there. I wasn’t even trying to throw those fire-darts at him.”

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