Infinity Reaper Adam Silvera (best books to read in life .txt) 📖

“I’ll be enjoying a book and a bubble bath if we don’t get arrested,” Wyatt says.

“I can’t leave Esther,” Ruth says with her hand to her heart. She’s always been a sweetheart who feels guilty when she shouldn’t. “I’m sorry. Carolina, you’re welcome to spend the evening with us. I’ll do better to protect you if there’s more trouble.”

Carolina offers a warm, tired smile. “Thank you.”

“I’ll be here too,” Wesley says. “Maribelle, I hate to play this card, but . . . Atlas’s parents are still jailed for going above the law with their powers. He wouldn’t want you locked up too.”

I’m not going to have Atlas’s memory used against me, and I won’t get caught.

“I won’t be useful to you,” Eva says. “I’m going to stay.”

Iris grabs her hand. “Me too. I didn’t lose you to run away again so soon.” She addresses Emil and Brighton. “I can’t stop any of you, but I will also guard your mother with my life if enforcers find us.”

“Thank you,” Emil says.

“Let’s go,” Brighton says.

Tala leads us to a closet with training gear, not allowing anyone to wear official Halo Knight armor. I still have my power-proof vest, but Emil, Brighton, and Prudencia put on gray ones. Wyatt is nervous when Tala fills a bag with gem-grenades because bringing weapons into a prison with powerful criminals is a bad idea, but so is breaking into one. Emil and Brighton take a few moments with Carolina, promising they’ll look after each other.

Everyone sees us off, which is an infuriating gesture from those with powers refusing to help. Roxana carries me and Tala over the mountains as Wyatt and Emil are close behind on Nox. Prudencia and Brighton tail us with the car.

I feel powerful under these stars, but they won’t give me strength where we’re going. The underground cells in the Bounds will weaken me, but I only need to be strong enough to throw fire-arrows into Luna—one for every person she took from me.

Sixty-ThreeCell

NESS

I’m blindfolded as guards carry me through the island and into the Bounds. I only hear the screech of the cerulean phoenix that circles the towers, the harsh winds, and Bishop instructing the guards to process Luna for solitary confinement and me for a cell with minimal supervision. Between this and the fact that they haven’t cuffed me in any neutralizing gauntlets, I guess I’m not the threat they’ve made me out to be.

I’ll die here knowing the truth—and knowing that they know it too.

I can tell we’re inside when the winds stop, replaced by the sound of gates clanging. Throughout the halls it smells like sweat, burnt flesh, and rank vomit.

I stop keeping track of where we’re going after the third flight of stairs. Doing so only tricks me into thinking there’s a chance for escape. If I couldn’t break free from my childhood home, I have no chance inside this labyrinth. There’s power in resigning to your fate.

Inmates are cheering and roaring as I’m pushed through the halls. They see someone young, but they have no idea what power I have. I could probably use that to my advantage for a day or two.

A cell door is opened, and I’m unstrapped from the stretcher. By the time I remove my blindfold, the door is locked. I groan as I sit up. There’s a bed, a toilet, and a bloody handprint on the wall. I have a dozen neighbors down this hall and Bishop is watching me from outside the bars like I’m some caged animal.

“Did you ever think you’d be back here under these conditions?” Bishop asks.

“I don’t need small talk. This is punishment enough.”

“You’re on my turf, Eduardo, and I’m doing you a courtesy so you’re not surprised when your door suddenly opens within the next hour.” The stupidest thought that Bishop might try to help me passes through my mind. “These cells sometimes get overcrowded, and when that happens my guards unlock cells for survival of the fittest. I unfortunately can’t be on the premises when this happens, but I’m looking forward to hearing about the results of a new game to make it extra exciting—Hunt the Shifter.”

This is why I was blindfolded.

This is why my power wasn’t neutralized.

This is why they’re not bothering to put me in a custom cell.

I’m about to be in for the final fight of my life.

Sixty-FourRebel

EMIL

I’m standing on the dock, staring at the Bounds across the river.

Between breaking into Iron’s home and getting ready to storm into a prison, I feel like Bautista’s rebel spirit too. I can’t only look at the good though; I got to wonder if I’m growing corrupt like Keon too. I have no idea what pushed Keon to create specters beyond the usual theories of him wanting power, but maybe his heart was steering him toward unlawful acts too.

Brighton and Prudencia finally arrived minutes ago, and they’re currently deciding which is the best rental boat to “borrow” to get them across and back as if we’re going for some new record on most crimes in a single night. If only Brighton could fly and Prudencia could trust her power to carry herself across the river. Meanwhile, Maribelle and Tala are strategizing on how to defeat the sky swimmer that’s known to guard the prison. Nox and Roxana are standing in the river, bobbing for fish.

Then there’s Wyatt, who comes up beside me. “This evening has become a touch too exciting, hasn’t it?”

“I’m sorry. I bet you’re wishing you didn’t stop Tala from having us all blown up.”

“You’re foolish to think I regret meeting you, love. If I may be so direct—”

“You always are.”

“—I’m hoping our time getting to know each other isn’t at an end. I understand things are a tad complicated and I’ll give you the space you need. But I really love when you hold me as we fly through the skies and when I get to hold you back at night. I’d hate to lose that so soon.”

It’s