Charmfall (The Dark Elite 3)

Without saying a word, Daniel sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his head. I was afraid to look at Jason, afraid of what emotion I might see in his face.

“You have a source in the Reapers,” Daniel finally said.

“Yeah.”

“And you talk to him often?”

“I don’t talk to him at all, really. Occasionally, he gives me information.”

“Out of the goodness of his heart?”

“Honestly, I think he thinks he can sway me to his side. Which is ridiculous,” I added. “I know who the good guys and the bad guys are.” Or I mostly did, I silently added. “But I’m not going to ignore him when he’s trying to help me out, whatever his reasoning.”

“Yeah,” Scout said. “Does this really matter? The point is, Lily has a contact in the Reapers and helped us figure out what’s going on. We need to focus on this Fayden Campbell person. We need to track her down and get some eyes on her—some Enclave Two cameras or something.”

Daniel sat forward again, crossing his hands on the table. “I’m going to need to think about this one. A source is nice, but I find it hard to believe he’d be so helpful without some secret motive.”

“That’s all you’re going to say?” All eyes turned to Jason. “Seriously. She’s suddenly friends with a Reaper, and that’s it?”

My stomach dropped. There was no doubting the fury in his gaze. He looked like I’d committed an unforgiveable sin. What if, no matter how good my reason, he couldn’t forgive me?

“Scout’s right,” Daniel said. “Whatever the source, we have to follow the lead. It could send us right to the source of the blackout.”

“There is a way we can track her, maybe,” I said, forcing myself to keep my gaze on Daniel and not think about the fury in Jason’s voice. “We went to Gaslight Goods yesterday. I asked Kite to call us if Sebastian Born came in. When he does, maybe we can follow Sebastian and see what he’s up to. It may not be much of a lead, but it’s better than nothing.”

Daniel thought about it for a second, then nodded. “Agreed. When he calls, go to Gaslight and follow him. See where he goes. Maybe the clue leads nowhere, but it’s worth the trip. And keep us posted.”

Without saying a word, or looking at me, Jason pushed back his chair, grabbed his backpack, and headed for the door.

“Jason, wait!” I pushed back my chair to follow him, but he closed the door in my face. I pulled it open and ran into the tunnel, but he kept going.

“Jason, please stop.”

Nothing.

“Please, can we just talk about this?”

He finally turned around . . . and he looked furious.

“What are you doing?” I asked him.

“What am I doing?” He pressed a hand to his chest. “I am trying to keep all of us safe. And it looks like that’s more than I can say for you. Talking to Sebastian? Helping out Reapers? What is that about? He’s the one who got you into this mess in the first place, and you’re talking to him?”

“That’s not what it’s like. He’s helping us. Ask Scout.”

“He’s helping you? Do you even hear yourself?”

I forced myself to stay calm. “Quit yelling at me and listen to what I’m telling you. Sebastian helped me. When we were in the sanctuary, he helped me use the firespell and get Scout out alive. And he’s helped me since then.”

“If he’s helped you, it’s because he has an ulterior motive—just like Daniel said. He wouldn’t just do it out of the goodness of his heart.”

“Because he’s evil?”

“Because he’s a Reaper, Lily, God. Haven’t you been paying attention for the last few months? Reapers are manipulative. This is how they operate. They take sane people and convince them that everything they know isn’t true.”

“Isn’t that what you and Scout did to me? Convinced me there was more to the world than just what I saw? Convinced me magic existed?”

His eyes flashed. “Sebastian convinced you of that when he hit you with firespell.”

I could see the anger in his eyes, and I knew what he thought. He thought I’d been swayed by a Reaper, convinced by Sebastian’s words. But I was still able to think for myself. I just had a different view of the world—a bigger view of the world—than I’d had before.

“He hit me with firespell accidentally,” I said. “He was aiming for Scout. And I’m not going to apologize for actually thinking about what’s happening here, instead of just accepting what you and Daniel say.”

“Great. Go think for yourself. And when I need someone levelheaded to talk to, someone who isn’t trying to screw up my family life, I guess you aren’t the person I should call. You may not even believe a word I say.”

“You know that’s not true.”

“No, I really don’t. I don’t think you’re the girl I thought you were. I do know I can’t handle this right now.”

He put his backpack back on his shoulder and began walking down the corridor.

“Where are you going?”

“Honestly, Lily, I’m not sure. I’ll let you know when I get there.”

With that, he disappeared into darkness.

I bit my lip to hold back tears. I didn’t want to cry in the tunnels, I didn’t want to cry over a boy, and I didn’t want to feel bad for thinking things through instead of just buying what everybody told me.

Yeah—it was scary to give up your assumptions and actually think, but wasn’t that the entire point of being an Adept?

The door creaked open, and Scout peeked her head out and looked around. “Where’s Jason?”

“He left.”

Frowning, she walked into the tunnel and closed the door behind her. “He left?”

I wiped at the tears on my cheeks. “Yeah. He’s really mad that I talked to Sebastian. He thinks I’m a traitor.”

“Aw, Lils,” she said, and held out her arms for a hug. I walked into them and sobbed my heart empty of tears.

* * *

Scout went back into the Enclave, grabbed my messenger bag, and got us excused so the other Adepts wouldn’t have to see me standing in a damp, nasty tunnel with tear tracks on my face and raccoon eyeliner eyes.

“I am definitely not going to the dance now,” I said, as Scout put an arm around my shoulder and we began walking back toward the school.