Similar cantrips littered the ground like discarded coins. Valuable, if not in the monetary sense. Yet anyone who touched them would be dead within minutes.
“Someone left them lying around on purpose,” said Dex.
“Exactly my thinking.” I kicked dirt over the nearest cantrip, smearing it into the mud.
Behind me, the node ignited as a figure appeared within it. I conjured fire to my palms, extinguishing it as Tay approached us.
“How’d you shake them off?” I backed up a step, in case Lex leapt out behind her.
“Adair wasn’t there,” she said breathlessly. “Lex, though… she’ll be back.”
“What’s this in aid of?” I indicated the cantrips on the ground. “Someone’s been busy.”
“We’re too late,” whispered Tay. “The assassins already spread them all over the city. That was always the plan. Nobody will know how lethal they are until it’s too late.”
“You’re joking.” She wasn’t. There were a half-dozen cantrips on this street alone, let alone throughout the rest of Elysium.
Tay drew in a breath. “We have to get back to the House of Fire. It’s the only—”
Blurred movement came from the rooftop as she spoke, and her words cut off in a choked noise. Then Tay fell across me, a knife buried in her back.
“Tay!” I lowered her to the ground, scanning the roof for her attacker—but he was gone, as though he’d never been there, leaving nothing behind but the knife jutting from Tay’s back. Her heartbeat fluttered against my fingertips as I held her, numb disbelief seeping through me.
Blood beaded her mouth when she whispered, “The House… get to the House.”
“Tay… no.” The words stuck in my throat like broken glass. “Tay. Stay with me.”
Movement stirred on the rooftop nearby, and I sprang to my feet. Fire leapt to my palms, coalescing into a whirlwind which I sent straight at the assassin above me. He crumpled to the ground, rolling over in an attempt to put out the fire, and Dex flew at him in a shower of sparks.
I crouched beside Tay, the assassin’s death throes becoming distant as everything aside from Tay’s stifled breaths faded to white noise. “Tay. Hang on. I’m sure I can get a healing cantrip—”
She cut me off by gripping my hand in hers, blood peppering her lips. A rattling groan escaped her, and she half pulled me down so she could whisper in my ear.
“You’re better than they are,” she said to me. “You always were.”
Then she breathed her last.
Tears burned my eyes. I bowed my head over her body for a long moment, my throat raw, my vision blurred. Part of me knew I needed to get away from here in case Lex followed her out of the node, but I couldn’t bring myself to let go of her. It wasn’t until a shadow fell over me that I looked up. Miles approached, and his arms enfolded me. “Bria. Thank the Elements.”
I held him for an instant and then got to my feet, swallowing hot tears. “She’s dead.”
“She’s the one who took you to the Family, right?” He squeezed me tighter and I held on right back.
“No,” I mumbled into his chest. “No… Adair did. He was controlling her using his powers, but she fought against him until the end. She helped me escape. Risked her life in the process.”
Miles released me, scanning the alleyway. “Is that the guy who did it?”
My gaze went to Dex, who hovered above the limp body of the assassin. “Yeah. Did you manage to get one of Devon’s cantrips to take to the citadel and turn off the node?”
“Ryan’s taking care of it,” he said. “As soon as I realised you were gone, I came back here to look for you.”
I looked down at Tay’s body, my heart clenching. “Tay… with her last words, she told me to go back to the House of Fire.”
“The House of Fire?” he said. “Why?”
“I don’t know, but she said it was the only way to stop them from spreading those cantrips around the city.” I glanced at the golden disc on the ground. “They’re everywhere. It’s how they’re distributing the virus, and they cut off the nodes to ensure nobody can get out.”
Anyone who picked them up would unknowingly get infected. How were we even supposed to fight against an invisible force most people weren’t even aware of?
Dex flew up to me. “When your friend was on her way to rescue you, she was talking about the House, too. And… she mentioned a cure for the virus.”
I clapped my hands to my mouth. “Is that what she wanted me to go back for?”
Did the House have the cure, or had she hidden it herself while she’d been imprisoned? It wasn’t like we could get near the House of Fire either way, unless we got past the earthen barriers surrounding the middle of the city and then fought our way through the chaos. Not good odds.
“You’re sure she didn’t want you to get arrested again?” said Miles. “Just saying, a cell is safer than being outside at the moment.”
“Not while the city is in this state,” I said. “I doubt there’s anyone left in the House to arrest me at all.”
A bright light dazzled my eyes as the glow around the citadel intensified, forcing me to turn my head away from the vibrant light. We still needed to shut down that transporter, but Tay had died to give me a fighting chance to stop the cantrips spreading the virus around the Houses. If we didn’t stop it, the transporter wouldn’t matter. Everyone in all four Houses would be dead.
“All right,” said Miles. “If you’re sure it’s in the House of Fire, I’ll hold the fort out here, and you take Dex with you.”
I opened my mouth to argue and then closed it again. “Okay, but if things get too rough out here, run. I don’t want you touching one of those cantrips and getting infected.”
“I know, don’t worry. We’ve lost too many people already.”
Tears threatened, but I blinked them
