Broken

Ghosts and gold

The wards hummed louder after the book slammed shut.

Like they were angry.

Tayo was fully awake now. Sitting up, staring at me like I was a stranger.

“What the hell is going on, Ada?”

“Nothing,” I lied. Voice cracked. “Go back to sleep.”

Kade sat up too, slowly. Blood had seeped through the bandage on his temple again.

But his eyes weren’t on me. They were on the book.

Specifically, on his name written in silver.

“Kade Veyren,” Tayo read out loud. “Who’s that?”

Kade didn’t answer. He stood. Wobbled.

“We need to move. The safehouse is compromised now. The book wrote. That’s a signal.”

“To who?” I asked.

“To them.”

He walked to the far wall and pressed his palm to it. Gold light flickered.

A door we couldn’t see before slid open. Behind it: a tunnel.

“We’re not running again,” I said. “Not until you tell me why your name is in that book.”

Kade turned. For the first time since I met him, he looked tired. Not just hurt. Tired.

“Fine. But we walk while I talk. Or we’ll be dead before I’m done.”

#### *THE PAST*

We moved through the tunnel. Damp. Cold. Tayo between us, holding my hand.

The book was in my bag, wrapped in 3 layers of cloth. It was still warm.

“I wasn’t always with you,” Kade started. “I was born in the Halls. That’s where Reapers train.”

“You’re a Reaper?” Tayo whispered.

“Was,” Kade said. “I was a Collector. My job was to find Seers. People who could see death. Like you.”

My stomach dropped.

“And then what? You kill us?”

“No,” he said. “I bring the book to you. The book chooses you. And once it does, you have two choices. Serve the Halls, or die.”

He glanced at me. “Most die. Because they fight it.”

“Why are you helping me then?”

“Because 10 years ago, they brought the book to my little sister.”

He stopped walking.

“She was 9. Her name was Lira. She saw how our parents died. Car crash. She tried to change it. Pulled my dad from the driver’s seat.”

Kade’s voice was flat. “The book gave her the same deal. Choose who dies. She chose herself.”

The tunnel went quiet except for our footsteps.

“They let her,” Kade said. “And then they made me watch. To teach me a lesson. Don’t get attached.”

Tayo squeezed my hand tighter.

Kade kept walking. “So when they sent me for you, I was supposed to deliver the book and leave. But then you jumped in front of a car for your brother.”

He looked at me. “And I remembered what it felt like to have someone choose you.”

Oh.

That was the sweet part. And it hurt.

#### *THE CHASE*

We came out of the tunnel into an abandoned library. Dust everywhere. Moonlight through broken windows.

“Loophole,” I said. “There has to be one. The book runs on rules. Rules can be broken.”

Kade nodded. “The Halls have a Vault. It has every rule the book was written on. If we find it, we can rewrite the penalty.”

“How long do we have?”

I pulled the book out. The silver letters were fading.

*2 DAYS, 14 HOURS* now glowed on the cover.

“We have to go tonight,” Kade said. “Before Vey figures out where we are.”

As if he summoned him—

The windows shattered.

Smoke.

And then them.

Reapers. Five of them. And in front, Vey. Still smiling.

“Well,” Vey said, looking around. “This is cozy. And you brought the Seer. And the traitor. How sweet.”

Kade stepped in front of us. Gold light flared from his hands, stronger now.

“Run, Ada. Take Tayo. Find the Vault.”

“I’m not leaving you,” I said.

“You don’t have a choice,” he said, and shoved me.

“Tayo, go!”

I grabbed Tayo and ran. Behind us, gold and shadow exploded.

Vey’s voice followed us, amused:

“3 days, Seer. Choose wisely. Or I’ll choose for you.”

We burst out the back door into an alley.

Tayo was crying. “He’s gonna die for us, isn’t he?”

“No,” I said. And I meant it.

I pulled the book from my bag. It was hot.

I pressed my hand to the cover.

“Then we don’t play by their rules,” I whispered.

“If it wants me to choose who dies...

I choose to write a new ending.”

The book pulsed.

And for the first time, a blank page turned toward me.

With a pen lying on top of it.

Waiting.

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