I blew out a breath to calm my nerves. “All right, I’m going over there.”
“I’ll stay right here. Out of Reaper range.”
“Thoughtful of you,” I said, and then my feet were moving and I was walking toward him. It took only a second before he looked up and met my gaze.
The deep, dark blue of his eyes was almost shocking. They offered up a punch, and I felt it in my gut as sure as any fist. But I made myself keep walking, and stopped when I reached the girl.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey.” I stuffed my hands into my pockets, suddenly self-conscious. It wasn’t exactly normal practice for Adepts and Reapers to meet in the middle of downtown Chicago on purpose and aboveground.
“Oh, uh, this is my cousin, Fayden. Fayden, Lily Parker.”
Fayden glanced over at me and smiled a little before turning her gaze back to the river. “Hiya,” she said.
“The bridge is pretty cool, huh?” he asked.
I glanced back just as a man and woman in bright orange kayaks and puffy coats paddled by. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool.”
“Fayden’s new to town,” Sebastian. “She’s a two-L at Northwestern. Law school,” he added, at my confused expression. “That means she’s in her second year. She transferred from California.”
“That’s a big change,” I said.
Fayden smiled. “Seventy degrees and sunny skies made me too perky. I figured a few winters in Chicago would help balance me out.”
“It’s Lily’s first winter, too, actually,” Sebastian said.
“Oh?” Fayden asked. “Where are you from?”
“New York state.”
“Huh,” she said. “Cool.”
Sebastian gestured toward a group of trees and a bench a few feet away from the river’s edge. I guessed that was where he wanted to talk.
“We’ll be right back, Fayden,” he said.
She nodded just a little.
“So you’re sightseeing?” I asked as we walked to the trees.
“Yeah, helping her get acquainted.”
The small talk done, I cut to the chase. “So what’s up?” I asked.
He looked super uncomfortable. “What do you know about magical power loss?”
My heart began beating wildly. Was he asking because he knew about us . . . or because Reapers were having problems, too? I decided to play dumb. “What do you mean?”
“Spells not working, powers gone.”
How to lie without lying? Avoid answering the question. “Why do you ask?”
Sebastian looked back at me for what felt like a long time. Maybe he was deciding how honest he could be, wondering if he could trust me. “Because our magic is gone.”
I was almost too stunned to speak. It wasn’t just Adepts? It was Reapers, too? “Our?”
“Reapers. Every Reaper in Chicago.”
“Since when?”
“Since this morning.”
We’d lost our magic last night. They lost their magic this morning, after we’d lost ours. That didn’t sound like a natural phenomenon. It sounded like someone had flipped a magical switch. But was that even possible? Who could flip a switch and turn off the magic of all Adepts and Reapers in Chicago? Who else was left?
“Jeremiah thinks Adepts did it,” Sebastian added. “Canceled out our power somehow.”
“We didn’t,” I assured him. “I’m not even sure we could.”
“I’m not sure he’ll buy that.”
So many questions raced in my head. What if he was telling the truth and Reapers didn’t have powers? He was taking a risk, so didn’t I owe him the truth, as well? But what if he was lying? What if Reapers were the reason we didn’t have power, and he wanted to confirm the trick had worked? What if he was trying to ferret out our weaknesses so Reapers could attack?
And, more important: Why was he helping me? Why was he giving me information that helped Adepts, when he didn’t even believe Adepts were on the right side of things? Was he trying to lure me in? Win me over?
But I held them in. I also held in the truth. I didn’t tell him we didn’t have powers, either. Maybe he knew; maybe he didn’t. But if he proved trustworthy, I promised myself I’d repay the favor later.
“Convince him,” I said. “I promise you we didn’t take your magic.”
“He wants proof. He wants Scout’s Grimoire. He thinks she did it.”
That wasn’t even negotiable. “He’s not going to get it. Not that it would help him anyway. And if he tries it, we’ll throw everything we have back at you.”
It was just that “everything” we had wasn’t much right now, at least not magically.
Fayden called his name, pointing at something on the river. I glanced back at her. “Is she one of you?”
His eyes darkened dangerously. “She is not,” he said. “And I’d appreciate it if you’d keep her out of it. There’s no need for the rest of the Dark Elite to know she’s even here.”
I guess he didn’t trust his fellow Reapers any more than we did. But that begged a question—if I’d said I had relatives visiting, would he do me the same favor? Would he keep my family out of it?
But I wasn’t a Reaper, and I wasn’t looking for a way to hurt Sebastian or his cousin, so I nodded. “No problem.”
He looked relieved.
“Well, I need to get back to school,” I said. “Thanks for the update.”
“You, too.”
He walked back to Fayden and I walked back to Scout like nothing at all had happened. Like we hadn’t just discussed gigantic magical developments. She started grilling me immediately.
“What did he do? What did he say? Who’s the girl?”
“His cousin. The good news is, Reapers have lost their power, too.”
Her eyes got really wide. “He told you that?”
“He did.”
“Do you think he was bluffing?”
“The only reason to bluff would be to find out if we have magic, too. And I’m not about to give that away. At least, not now. Not until we’re sure whose side he’s on.”
“So Reapers don’t have magic, huh?” She turned around and propped her elbows behind her on the railing. “So what does that mean? Who’s behind it?”
“I have no clue. Unfortunately, I do also have bad news.”
“You made out with him?”