“What the hell does Bautista have to do with me?”
“No way!” Brighton’s hands fly to his mouth.
“Lestor and Aurora raised you,” Iris says. “They’re your parents, but—”
“Save it, Iris, I don’t care about your secret intel. I’m a Lucero. End of story.”
“You’re Bautista and Sera’s daughter, Maribelle. To our knowledge, you’re the first child born from a specter and celestial.”
No one says anything. Even Wesley stops sobbing and stares in confusion. Emil is the only other person in this room who has a sense of what I’m going through, and even then, our experiences are different. His past life is my biological father. I have no idea when Mama and Papa decided to raise me as their own or how that even unfolded. Was that Bautista and Sera’s idea? Finola and Konrad’s? Why didn’t anyone tell me? Why was this a secret?
The question that pains me: “Who else knows?”
“No one,” Iris says.
Even Eva is shaking her head. “Iris, how could you not tell her? This wasn’t some intel like before. This is her family.”
“I was sworn to secrecy! Maribelle, I didn’t want to disturb your history. That wasn’t my place.”
“The hell it wasn’t! You were the only person who knew! Atlas died without ever knowing the real me. I could’ve died never knowing the real me!”
“My job was to protect you. It’s what Lestor and Aurora wanted.”
“Don’t you dare use their memory against me!” Everything suddenly makes sense about why Iris would keep up this lie. “Oh my stars, no wonder you kept it all a secret. You thought that if I knew that I came from Bautista and Sera, then I would take over as leader of the group.”
Iris pops up from her seat and slams her fist on the table so hard that it caves in. “You have never once tried to make this impossible job any easier! You were my best friend, you were like a sister to me, yet all you do is come down on me when something goes wrong, and you never credit me when I get us a win. I have sacrificed my life to lead this group.” I can’t remember the last time I saw Iris crying. “You don’t care about my pain because you think I’m unbreakable, that I’m strong enough to carry everyone on my shoulders. News flash, Maribelle, I’ve been heartbroken since the Blackout too. Thanks for asking.”
I turn my back on her. I’ll never forgive her. I sit beside Wesley and try to understand my life. I’m a celestial and a specter—it’s possible after all. The levitation isn’t an extension of Mama and Papa’s flight. Are their powers the reason they were chosen to raise me? To trick me? If my powers are coming from Bautista, then what do I get from Sera? She had powerful visions, and I have . . . I have good instincts. Intuition when the going gets tough in battle. The dream and sickening gut feeling I had before Mama and Papa left me for the last time—I knew they weren’t going to come back. It wasn’t paranoia, it was a warning.
I could’ve prevented the Blackout if I’d understood and nurtured my power.
“What do we do now?” Brighton asks with some take-charge spirit. “We have a building full of celestials who need to be more involved. I can—”
“You’re not doing anything, Bright,” Emil says.
“You don’t speak for me,” Brighton says with a fire that’s missing around here.
“We’ve got Gravesend’s egg. We won. Luna is screwed.”
“This isn’t what victory looks like.”
“We have been tortured. We’re lucky to be alive. Time to call it quits.”
“Then you can stay out of it. We’ll stop Luna without you.”
“You cannot come on any more missions,” Iris says. “We just lost one of our best celestials—one of our best friends. Atlas was powerful and good, and now he’s dead. If we couldn’t bring him home alive, we can’t guarantee your protection. It’s too big a risk, and if you hop in one of our cars again, I will throw you out myself.”
Brighton’s face is red. “First I’m not worth a rescue mission. Now I can’t enlist in this war because I might die? You’re not safe just because spellwork can bounce off your skin. Wesley isn’t so quick that he hasn’t been hit. I’ve seen more action than Eva.”
“Brighton, enough,” Prudencia says. “Be with your family. Be with me. No more blood should be lost.”
“I’m not turning my back on everyone,” Brighton says. “But good on you all for being able to do so.”
He leaves.
Iris approaches Wesley. “We need to relocate everyone. It’s too dangerous.”
I’m energized by Brighton’s fire, and I stand. “Don’t worry about the Blood Casters. I’m going to get to them first. Take care of June and the others for good.”
“Spell Walkers don’t kill,” Iris says. “Can we at least see eye to eye on that?”
“You all don’t kill. But I will.” I get up and head for the door. “I quit.”
My first thought when I see Atlas underneath the blanket is that he must not be able to breathe. I pull back the blanket, and I’m frozen for seconds before the sobs burst out of me. Too many memories rush through me, like the date I planned for him on Nova’s rooftop and whenever we showered together and when I kissed him for the first time and whenever he made me laugh so hard that I forgot all my pain. He became my home, and now I don’t know where to go.
Before I leave Nova, I have to take care of him.
I step out to grab rags and water and find Emil sitting in the hallway. I keep walking, but he follows me.
“I get what you’re going through—the family thing. If you want to talk—”
“That has no effect on me,” I interrupt. “You’re not my father.”
“I know I’m not. Definitely not trying to pull
