Infinity Reaper (Infinity Cycle #2) - Adam Silvera Page 0,53

poisoned arm is wrapped up again in the cocoon cast. “Specters like you.” I think he’ll die before he understands how lucky he is that he’s not a specter. “I wouldn’t have gone for the Reaper’s Blood if that gleam gene had just been activated in me. I don’t know why Abuelita’s psychic powers weren’t passed down through Ma, but I would’ve made good use of them.”

This imagined world does have its possibilities.

“You could’ve been some detective who gets visions about crimes and stops them from coming true,” I say.

“Sounds more like a TV show,” Brighton says. “You would probably be the hero who complains about being the hero for the entire series. But then at the end you’re grateful for the fight because it changed your life for the better. You win the war and you get the guy.”

I’m drawn to the Cloaked Phantom again as the gentle waves creep up on the sand. The splashing would usually soothe me, but it’s not cutting it for me tonight.

“Except I can’t get the guy when he’s dead,” I say. It’s clear I’m no longer talking about this TV show Brighton is dreaming up. Our lives aren’t someone’s entertainment, or aren’t supposed to be, at least.

“It’s not like you loved him,” Brighton says.

I’m shivering from the cold. “I don’t have to love him to grieve him. Ness was important to me and we trusted each other. When we were under attack at Nova I was running around trying to find you because we had no idea you’d run off with Maribelle already. Ness risked his life posing as me to buy me more time. That’s when he got captured and . . .”

I stop because I don’t know what went down next. I don’t know much about what even came before, like his relationship with his mother before she was killed or his father before he became so consumed with power that he used Ness to spread hate. I wonder if he’s ever been involved with anyone romantically before or always single like me. I even want to know more about his transformation into a specter.

“There’s so much I’m never going to know about Ness,” I say. His story is going to remain some big mystery to me. And I’ll always wonder about what would’ve happened between us if we got away together.

“I feel the same way about Prudencia,” Brighton says.

“We’ve known her for four years,” I say.

“But not really. If she hid being a celestial, what else don’t we know about her? There’s got to be more to the story. What really happened that led to her parents being killed by enforcers? Her life at home with Maia. And did she date what’s-his-face, Dominic, because he was also a celestial? Did he know about her?”

The day Prudencia revealed her powers, she told me how her father was the only celestial between her parents, but I don’t have the answers to any of Brighton’s other questions. “Just ask her,” I say.

“What’s the point?” Brighton asks. “I’m dying and it’s not like I’m going to come back.”

“Maybe it’s not about you. Prudencia might open up to you if you’re doing it for yourself, not Celestials of New York.”

“Did she say that?”

I shake my head. I never press Prudencia about her feelings for Brighton. She kept to herself while she was dating Dominic too, and I always swore that was because she didn’t want to mess with Brighton’s head, but after everything this past month I guess she’s more private than we realized. “Bright, talk to her. Unlike Ness, Prudencia is alive. If you only have a few months left to live, do you really want to spend that time not being honest?”

“You’re right,” Brighton says. I don’t hear those words from him that often. He looks up at the sky, taking in the stars. “If this constellation is supposed to represent change, then I should consider making some.”

He holds out his left fist, and at first I think he wants me to help him up, but I realize he’s waiting for a fist bump. It’s been a minute since we’ve done one. I guess having a real conversation that doesn’t end with him yelling at me warrants one. Our knuckles meet and we whistle.

“What are you doing?” I ask as he gets up.

“I’m going to make sure I don’t die with any regrets,” Brighton says and he walks back to the cottage.

Brighton leaves me alone with the Cloaked Phantom, and I stay