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

for a fool who can’t see young love.” Luna might get that haughty smile knocked off her face if she isn’t careful. “It must’ve been painful when you carved into him like he was nothing but roasted meat. How much harm do you think would befall him if everyone knew the truth about who he is? About who he was?”

It’s my understanding that a lot of people grieved Bautista de León. There were so many memorials for him across the country, even fans across the world were impacted by his death too. But there were many that celebrated this news. And then there’s every living soul who hates specters with their entire being who would take to the streets if they could pin all their anger on Emil. They wouldn’t even care that Emil doesn’t have a single memory from those lives, or that he’s his own person who would never do what Keon Máximo did. He could become the most hunted person alive.

I’ve hurt Emil enough for one lifetime. I can’t let others know about all of his.

“Why hasn’t the Senator used this yet to villainize Emil?”

Luna grins. “As I told you, I only reveal my secrets when they benefit me. I have given Iron a blueprint to success that stands strong without him knowing that resurrection is possible.”

“Why do you still care about keeping secrets? You’re dying. Set the world on fire.”

“You spent the better part of this year under my care, and you still think I’m nothing but a match. There has been a lot of death, I would never deny that, but I have always been in pursuit of resurrection and immortality—of life in all forms. Out of the hundreds of alchemists across the globe, I’d wager only dozens are worth anyone’s time, and for the most part, we have failed humanity. No one has figured out how to cure the common cold, cancers, deadly infections, blood illnesses such as mine.” There’s color in her cheeks, but she still looks the weakest I’ve ever seen her. “Some have bought time, but never all of it,” she adds with a sadness.

Her illness, haimashadow, is simply described as a sickness that blocks life. There’s no known cure, though Luna was always hoping the Reaper’s Blood could regenerate her arteries and make them good as new.

“If you care so much about the world, Luna, maybe you should’ve spent more time trying to protect those in it.”

“I don’t have to care for those who won’t mourn me.”

“It wouldn’t hurt you to be more selfless,” I say. She could’ve learned a lot from Emil if she weren’t more interested in torturing him.

“There is nothing wrong with being selfish. You’re allowed to have an agenda born out of your own need—fame, love, security, power, revenge. For some, it’s all those and more.”

It seems really greedy, but I’ve wanted all of these things too. There’s been a lot of privilege in being a politician’s son with my own bodyguard and living in a manor with a panic room. Not to mention all the financial security we’ve had. I dreamed of trading convention stages for the ones on Broadway and theaters across the country. Red carpets, press junkets, popping into drama schools to share my wisdom. I was looking forward to getting older and discovering the power of my own choices, but instead I’m wondering how I can get my revenge on the Senator and Luna, who stole my free will with manipulation and threats. And there’s love, which maybe starts with running into a building to save someone when you’re finally free to become yourself.

“I see it in your eyes that you don’t disagree,” Luna says.

Even though I swear I’m masking my emotions, she still sees through me.

“What’s your point?” I ask.

“That it became clear to me ages ago that I wouldn’t achieve dominion over life and death in an average life span. It takes alchemists decades to master their craft, and even supreme ones such as Keon and myself were advanced thanks to the works left behind by those before us. Loss has put me on my journey, but don’t you think it would be a great sadness to rebuild the world and not live in it? That doesn’t seem fair at all.”

“And it doesn’t serve you,” I mock.

She’s stone-faced. “It does not. What I want most in this world is my dear sister, Raine, to be more than ashes in an urn. I have gone through incredible, unnatural lengths to bring her back to life, and despite my many breakthroughs and discoveries, I needed more time to solve the puzzle of true resurrection, which the Reaper’s Blood would’ve afforded me.”

She’ll die before I apologize.

“For the longest time, I carried many regrets. There were opportunities to claim powers of my own, especially when I was young enough that it wouldn’t pose the great risks to me that we’ve seen with those who are older, but the dawn of specters was still new. Their powers may be extraordinary, but above all, specters are still mortal; even my miracle June won’t live on forever. Thankfully, I didn’t make any rash decisions, since there’s nothing to suggest that phoenix blood on its own would’ve brought me back as I am, and we’ve seen that to be true with Keon and his scions. The creation of immortality always meant playing the long game, and I’ve done just that, from working alongside Keon to nurturing my marriage to empowering all of you Blood Casters.”

“I didn’t know you were married.” Before she can say anything, I add, “I get it. It wasn’t my business.”

Luna’s smile is interrupted by another cough, blood painting her palm. She wipes it on her crimson cloak, not bothering with a handkerchief. “Once Keon was killed by the Halo Knights and didn’t resurrect, I believed him dead and sought out other ways to get closer to death. There were quintuplets in Colombia, all brothers haunted by their deathlike powers.”

I prop my elbow on my