I already wanted more for Ness when I thought his father was just abusing his powers, but to discover that Iron tried to blow up his son? There are no words.
“You’re probably thinking it can’t get worse, right? Luna turned the Senator into a specter with shifting powers of his own.”
I don’t give a shooting star what anyone says; this insanity feels like it’s ripped out of some dystopian novel, and I’m scared I might be one of the heroes expected to save the world.
“Okay, that’s absolutely wild, but we can stop him. This is the power-binding potion from Bautista’s journal. You just mix a specter’s blood into a vial of the Starstifler and their powers won’t work anymore.”
“Knowing our luck, it won’t work.”
“I’ve seen it work. I sort of went back in time.”
“You did what?”
There’s so much to catch him up on, all the way back to the Crowned Dreamer battle where Brighton stole the Reaper’s Blood, but I focus on what brought us here to the New Ember Sanctuary—our temporary split from the Spell Walkers, discovering Maribelle and I could retrocycle, going through Bautista’s and Sera’s lives, learning about Luna being Maribelle’s mother, and bringing back the ingredients to the Starstifler.
Ness is staring in awe. “I’ve just been grounded in my bedroom and impersonating a bunch of people.”
“That’s definitely a lot.”
He begins pacing around the lab. “This makes sense. Luna was telling me about having a child, which was news to me and . . . I never thought it was Sera Córdova. Being the Senator’s son ranks high in awfulness, but so does being Luna’s granddaughter.”
“No offense, but Maribelle pretty much only went to the Bounds to kill Luna.”
“None taken. I hope she gives her the death she deserves.” He stops pacing in front of the cauldron. “So this can disempower the Senator.”
“And us,” I say. I turn off the cauldron and the Starstifler smells like nature, which my city nose appreciates. “It’s ready.”
I let it cool down while reflecting on everything that had to happen to get to this point. My powers had to manifest, no matter how much pain they’ve put me through ever since, and now I’ll be able to protect so many people by disempowering the Blood Casters, Iron, and any other specter. But no matter how much Prudencia and I tried cracking Sera’s codes, we owe so much to Wyatt and his theories that got all the retrocycling in motion. Part of me feels like he should be here with me now as I’m using the steel baster to fill up the first vial of Starstifler that’s existed in my lifetime.
“That doesn’t look very drinkable,” Ness says.
“That Blood Caster downed it.” I fill up six vials and hand him one. “You can too. Enjoy your freedom.”
Ness eyes the potion. “So I drop some of my blood into this and then my powers are gone?”
“Bound, but yeah.”
“I’m looking forward to drinking this once I’m positive the Senator is no longer a threat,” Ness says, setting the potion down on the counter. “Once he realizes that I wasn’t killed in the Bounds, he’ll come looking for me again. This time he won’t even have to be discreet about it since everyone knows I’m alive. The media can circulate my face while not knowing that he can change his.”
I don’t want to know what it’s like to be hunted down by an entire country at that scale.
“But if you drink it now he can’t ever force you to use your powers again.”
“Then what, Emil? Do I become some honorary Spell Walker? Or am I going to get kicked to the curb because I might not be worth the trouble I attract?”
“Where I go, you go.”
“But why? I barely know you, but you’re also the only person alive who I trust. Why are we going through such great lengths for each other?”
I lift my shirt, only high enough to show him the scar in my side from where he stabbed me. “You did this to save me and I believe you. Trust goes two ways.”
“But even that . . . killing you would’ve been more merciful. Instead I keep protecting your life and you keep protecting mine. Why are we doing this? Are we friends? Or are we more?”
“I think we’re more than friends.” My heart is hammering as he steps closer to me. “But I also thought you were dead and . . .” It really sucks that retrocycling doesn’t let me change the past because I would like to avoid everything I have to say now. “. . . I started connecting with Wyatt. He’s not my boyfriend, but we’ve been bonding since I got here and I’m even thinking about becoming a Halo Knight. It’s not like the world is going to forget my face after I give up my powers, so I might as well keep doing some good.” He takes a step back and I want to grab his hand, but that’s not right. “I’m sorry.”
“For what? You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I feel like I did.”
Ness shakes his head. “You thought I was dead, and even then, you’ve never owed me anything. But I am interested in how you feel now that you know I’m alive.”
I’ve had so many regrets these past few weeks, so many things I wish I had done and said. “I want to get to know you better. Not just who you’ve become because of this war, but who you were before it and who you want to be when it’s done.”
“If it ever ends,” Ness says.
“I’m going to make sure of it,” I say, shaking a Starstifler. “I want to make sure you never have to hide your beautiful face ever again.”
Ness smiles. “Beautiful, huh? You’ve come a long way from only being able to say my
