"Scarlett, I have important news you will want to see."
I tuck my lip gloss, ID and money clip into my pocket. "Show me."
Evie projects a video of me as Nightfall through my eGlass, filling the space in front of me with my own image slashing an aircraft until it crashes down from the sky. I land beside it as a reporter speaks. "The Nephilim may have returned, but Sir Lux, Knight of the Fourth Order, says there is nothing to fear."
The video switches to an image of Jax in his Teutonic Knight cloak and sword. He stands behind a podium and stares at the camera, his blue eyes penetrating even as one stray lock of dark hair falls into them. "We defeated the Nephilim once, and we shall do so again."
A reporter from the audience shouts at him. "You said you'd eradicated the Nephilim. Yet here they are. How is that possible?"
"No comment," he says.
The crowd becomes one voice of discontent and outrage. Soon another question is shouted from the group. "Why didn't you leave with Nightfall at your execution? Did you know you'd get a reprieve?"
The room falls to silence, waiting for Jax to answer. I wait with them, my breath held. "A Knight does what is right, no matter the cost." He looks directly into the camera, into me. "Nightfall? Are you watching this? If you are, there are things you need to know. If you continue, people will die. You will be responsible. If you wish for peace, stop now. Remember, what happens next is up to you."
The video cuts out, and I stand there, my hands shaking.
"I'm sorry, Scarlett," Evie says into my ear.
"Evie, I'm fine."
"Your heart rate and breathing indicate otherwise."
"Careful, Evie, or I may have to turn down your sympathy setting."
"Please do. It would make dealing with humans so much easier."
I chuckle and reach for my jacket.
"Heart rate stabilizing. Breathing slowing. My work here is done."
I smile. "Thanks, Evie."
"You're welcome, Scarlett."
I throw on my jacket and check my backpack for my black mask and EZ-Dye. If I get caught with these, they can raise questions, but in and of themselves, they aren't particularly incriminating. And I need some way of shifting into Nightfall at a moment's notice. Jax's note still sits on my desk, and I pick it up, studying the shape of the airplane.
Evie's voice jolts me back to attention. "Scarlett?"
"Yes."
"What will you do about Jax? According to my sympathy settings, I'm rather fond of him."
It's always been Jax and me against the world. Now… I look down at the note and then squeeze my hand together, collapsing the airplane into a ball. "I'll do what is right, no matter the cost."
***
Summer hasn't yet given way to Fall, and I enjoy the warmth on my face as we walk through the zoo. I stuff my jacket into my backpack and then lick the chocolate tip of my ice-cream cone before it melts under the hot September sun.
Before coming to the zoo, we finished all of our school supply shopping and had everything delivered back to Castle V via special courier. I didn't even know we could do that, but Corinne seems to know all the ropes.
Now we stand in the middle of Nova Vetus Sanctum, a zoo for animals that are a blend of new genes and old.
We already saw the monkeys with wings, the insect labyrinth that will forever haunt my nightmares, and the zebra chameleons that can change their look based on environment. Genetic modification of animals is only allowed by approval of the Hospitallers and hasn't made its way into mainstream society like Eden Fashionables. After what I've seen today, that's probably a good thing.
We walk into a dark stone building, more like a cave, and the temperature drops. Everything is dark as we make our way to the next exhibit.
Corinne smiles at me and licks strawberry ice cream as a bit of it dribbles down her chin. She wipes it away. "We don't have zoos like this in Sapientia. The one in London tries, but New York really has the best."
"Montana is lacking in exciting zoos as well," I say. "It's pretty much lacking in anything exciting." I'm surprised I can speak of my home without pain infecting my voice.
We sit on a bench in front of a small lake that glows with the fluorescent light of its occupants.
As we watch, a giant fish with glowing multi-colored scales jumps up from the pool and eats one of the glowing bugs that swarm at the surface.
Water splashes onto us, and we both shriek and move back, laughing.
I look down at my ice cream, now dripping with fishiness. "This wasn't exactly the flavor I was going for."
We drop our ice creams in a trash bin and keep walking. Corinne pulls her large dark sunglasses onto her nose as we leave the cave.
"You're from Sapientia?" I ask, going back to what she'd said earlier.
"Yes."
"That explains the accent. That used to be England, right? Until it was divided up into smaller kingdoms."
"Yes."
"I've been trying to read up on world politics before classes start at Castle V. It's a lot. So many new countries in the last twenty years. New rulers who are really old, part of the original Orders. It must have been so strange having to hide their lineage and live in secret, royal but not royal, until they could claim their lands again."
She shrugs. "I guess. Hey, do you want to go see the new exhibit they have here? Giant lizards with traits from dinosaurs. I heard it's amazing."