Infinity Reaper by Adam Silvera (new books to read .TXT) 📕

as I’m on her turf, but she shares anyway. “Tala Castillo. All my life I’ve been taught that there is nothing more horrific than someone who kills a phoenix for their power. My parents told me all the stories about how your father was paraded as a champion, but we know that he was simply a thief dressed up as one.”

In some ways, Tala might have a better understanding of Bautista than I do. Whenever Mama and Papa spoke about Bautista, they always framed him as the kind of person who didn’t have the same greed for powers in his heart as other specters. But no matter what, the hero is always someone else’s villain, and for the Halo Knights, that would’ve been Bautista among every other specter with phoenix blood.

“I’m not defending Bautista. I don’t know him. The past few weeks have only brought so many revelations, including that I’m Bautista and Sera Córdova’s daughter and the true power of phoenix specters. I’m sure Emil Rey is on your radar.”

“Fire-Wing,” Tala says.

That nickname from the media didn’t exactly stick. “Well, Emil is Bautista reincarnated, and Bautista is the direct scion to Keon Máximo.”

There’s a world-shaking wonder in Tala’s eyes. “But . . .”

Halo Knights put their faith in the concept of resurrection, and Emil is now walking proof.

I walk Tala through everything I’ve discovered since Emil came into my life one month ago: the family secrets my own parents kept from me but that Iris’s parents shared with her; the ghost specters, in particular June; and the true intentions behind the Blood Casters pursuing Gravesend instead of an ordinary century phoenix.

Tala bites her lip. “So Luna is running around immortal.”

“She isn’t. No one is. Emil’s brother Brighton drank the Reaper’s Blood and he’s dying because of it.”

“Those powers were never his to have,” Tala says.

“He could’ve done good with them.”

Tala gets up and puts on her jacket. “If I only had a dollar for every time I heard that hollow-hearted sales pitch about a specter, I could afford a place like this instead of renting it from a true phoenix activist. Follow me upstairs.”

Upstairs?

I’m wobbly but find my footing as we walk across the loft with its walls covered in mirrors and black-and-white photos of a woman interacting with different phoenixes in the wild. She must be the activist. Around the corner there is a spiral staircase that takes us to this rooftop garden with stone benches and a bubbling hot tub big enough for Roxana to curl inside. The light howler is underwater and somehow hears us approaching, or maybe even senses our presence, and her drenched head comes out from under the steaming water and shakes it off. I get splashed and the water is as hot as it looks. Not a problem for a phoenix, I suppose.

Tala kisses Roxana between her lightning-blue eyes, which are as large as fists. “Phoenixes have existed before humans and yet the majority of us don’t respect their glory. It’s rare, but there are still some phoenixes alive today who have cycled through thousands of lives. If you want to talk about doing good by them, find other ways to honor them that don’t involve sacrificing them for human benefit.” She strokes the yellow feathers on her jacket’s sleeve. “These feathers come from Roxana. Some are from shedding, most of from when she’s died over the years.”

“Died how?”

“The standard cycle of a light howler is one year before they pass and begin again a month later,” Tala says. She grabs two green apples off a small tree, and the phoenix grabs one with her beak and chomps away. “From growing up in Cebu and spending some time in Cairo, I have protected Roxana from ever being killed by alchemists and hunters.” She scratches the phoenix’s neck but Roxana only cares about that apple. “I have vowed to put my life before all of hers.”

“Did your parents do the same for their phoenixes?”

“All Halo Knights do. This is our oath,” Tala says. “In return for our services we’ll be reincarnated as phoenixes.” She looks to the stars. “I’ll be reunited with my parents one day. If not in this life, then the next.”

I’d forgotten that this was built into their beliefs. Even as someone who is part specter and may have that ability, I still don’t believe this to be true. “If a pair of phoenixes landed beside us right now, how would you know if they were your parents or not?”

“I’ll feel it in my heart,” Tala states simply. “The same way my ex-girlfriend Zahra knew the butterfly that landed on her shoulder during graduation was her grandmother reincarnated.”

I cross my arms. “Faith isn’t proof. I would love to believe any time that the wind blows is because my dead boyfriend is casting it in my direction, but I’m not going to pretend I’m not grieving.”

Tala stands and Roxana perks up too. The slightest hint of danger pricks me. “Death is part of the cycle and the only death to fear is one that breaks the cycle.”

“Then why are you hunting down your parents’ killers, if this is natural?”

“Murder isn’t natural.”

Tala turns her back on me and hops onto the ledge of the roof. For a second I think she’s going to jump. Roxana would have to be as fast as my research claims light howlers are to catch Tala because she would hit that ground in under a minute. I would know, having jumped off countless buildings. Tala teeters on her heels and toes, really trusting in herself to not fall over. I stand beside her.

“My parents were everything to me. My first loving hands, my compass. I am who I am because of them and I expected them to live longer to nurture the best parts of me and wring out the worst,” Tala says.

Even though she’s one harsh wind away from falling off the edge, Tala’s composure is the most relaxed I’ve seen her. Not saying much, since our meeting involved