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

physical combat and a flying arrow and dagger, but I find my own fists unclenching around her. I won’t dismiss her as nothing but a weapon the same way the world does to me.

“My name means ‘bright star,’” Tala says as she stares into the night sky. “My parents tried and tried to have children but my mother continued miscarrying. They prayed to their phoenix companions, a crowned elder and a sun swallower, one last time to help usher a child into this life, and nine months later I was born. I was their bright star in a life they personally considered dark without me. Now their love is gone.”

“The love isn’t gone,” I say.

She jumps down from the ledge. “That’s why this all hurts so much! I’m carrying their teachings, I exist because their prayers were answered by their companions, but their remembrance ceremony brought me no comfort. I yelled at our new commander during the hour of silence so we would have a strategy in place to avenge them. That night every other Halo Knight stood tall in a field as all our fallen were set ablaze by their phoenixes until they were nothing but ashes. Meanwhile I was on the ground and crying in the shadows.”

This moment she had reminds me how furious I still am that the Blackout didn’t allow me the chance to have a public ceremony for my parents.

“I cremated Atlas with my phoenix fire,” I say. “I keep his ashes in a bottle he gave me.” I reach for her shoulder to comfort her, but pull back. “I understand how lost you feel without your parents. Don’t even get me started on losing a loved one. Pray to your holiest of phoenixes you never have to feel that burning fire of grief because it’s real and it’s unstoppable.” Somewhere out in this city are the people responsible. “I’ve been feeling touched by death after all of my losses this year. It’s time I start making others feel the same. If you came here to avenge your parents, let that be your compass.”

“I kept you alive so you could point me in the right direction. Introduce me to Emil Rey and then you’re free to go.”

“What if we partnered together? I don’t have the Spell Walkers, and you don’t have the Halo Knights, but we both want the Blood Casters dead.”

Tala considers me and holds out her hand as if she’s about to challenge me to an arm-wrestling match. “Do you vow to take lives for those that are lost?”

I take her hand in mine. “Absolutely.”

Tala squeezes three times and I do the same unsure if that’s important or not.

“May their deaths be forevermore,” Tala says as she releases me. “So where is Emil?”

“He might still be in a hospital with his brother, but it’s possible they’ve moved on by now.”

“You told me you knew. I should’ve gotten Wyatt to come with me, his companion Nox is a brilliant tracker and—”

“I have other ways to find out,” I say. “I just need my phone.”

We return downstairs and Tala retrieves my power-proof vest, car keys, and phone from a box in the closet. Maybe she thought this would’ve slowed me down from escaping if I woke up when she wasn’t around. She’s very wrong. I unlock my phone, and when I search Brighton’s profile on Instagram to send him a message, I see a new post. He’s alive and well—too well.

Brighton’s eyes are burning like an eclipse and he’s carrying sapphire fire sourced from the phoenix that Tala’s parents died defending.

Twenty-EightAnother Knight

EMIL

I really hope I’m living this life right.

I got to trust Brighton and let him prove himself, but I’m not an idiot; I know his ego can bring out the worst in him. Arrogance alone is one thing. Arrogance paired with superpowers is another. I’m responsible for Brighton now more than ever.

He’s all over the news this morning. Clips from last night’s live event are on every station and only a couple outlets are reporting it fairly. The others are excluding how we prevented the Blood Casters from achieving something that would’ve been catastrophic. All they see now is another target to fear at a time when there have been an increasing number of allegations against celestials. This isn’t helping Sunstar and Shine as the election approaches or the community as a whole.

The reports are heartbreaking: there’s an invisible high school coach spying on students in the locker rooms; the boss who threatened to burn his assistant from the inside out if she kept refusing dates with him; the mother who blinded the children who bullied her son at school; and so many more stories that paint gleam as weapons. Hope continues shrinking. I don’t think I’ll ever see this country as strong as I trick myself into thinking it can be.

I turn off the TV as Prudencia comes out of the shower fully dressed with a towel around her head. It was a lot harder to get sleep alone last night since Prudencia stayed in the room with Brighton, but I get it. They’re finally giving themselves a shot and there’s no better time than now. Life is short, especially when locked into a war, and having extra lives hasn’t exactly done me any favors.

“How’s Bright handling his fame?” I ask.

Prudencia lets out a deep sigh as she sits on the couch that used to be her bed. “I woke up to him literally drooling on his phone.”

“Eighteen years of sharing a room with him and that’s a first,” I say.

“It would’ve been a little more charming if it didn’t have me wondering how late he was up reading comments about himself.” Prudencia’s eyes glow as she telekinetically opens the window and lets some fresh air in. “I promise I don’t intend on using my power for everyday things.”

“You’re making up for lost time.”

“For a war I never wanted to fight in,” Prudencia says. “But with Atlas dead, Maribelle gone, and