Excerpt from Hawthorne’s Journal – September 2, 4-1893

  God must be fucking with me. I’m falling for a human woman, and there seems to be nothing I can do about it. I spend every waking moment thinking about Dahlia—worrying about her. She even stars in my nightmares—nightmares where she dies at the hands of jealous Mirnen women or grows old or even falls in love and marries another man like that walking shit stain of a human she keeps around. What she sees in that pathetic man is anyone’s guess. Power and money, probably. It’s always about power and money with women like her.

  I shouldn’t care. There is no chance of happiness with Dahlia—for either of us—and yet I fantasize about a future where I step back from my responsibilities for a few years of bliss with her. My father would never understand. No one would understand. Dahlia would be dead in months if anyone discovered how I feel about her and saw how much control she has over me. She doesn’t even know who I am. To her, I’m probably a terrifying monster sent to torment her.

  But the real danger to Dahlia is the other Mirnen. The women will want to kill her out of jealousy. The men will want her simply because I own her. The Council might not approve of her at all, which would undoubtedly result in a painful death. And my father?

  Fuck, one look at her, and he might take her for himself. She wouldn’t even put up a fight. Dahlia, like every woman, would fall for him in a heartbeat. Women love power and money, and my father has both in large quantities.

  And yes. I know I already said that. It was worth repeating.

  I’m not sure what I want to do about her. God connected me to her for a reason, but perhaps that reason was simply to test me—tempt me. But she’s mortal. All I can do to protect her is finish this damned mission and get out of the Red—and then spend the rest of my days trying to forget the beautiful human woman sent by God to fuck with me.

  Dahlia

  Something was off.

  Tucked away safely at home, I should have felt secure—or at least a false sense of security. Tonight was different. In all the nights I’d spent wandering Firen, I had never felt so on edge—not like this.

  I sensed a change in the air as soon as I opened my kitchen window to let in some fresh air tonight—the city was abnormally quiet. Too quiet. I went to the front entryway of my home and looked out the small window, watching for any sign of the danger I sensed. The only people out on this hot, September night ran through the streets—seeking shelter as if they too could sense some unseen danger. The shadows in the small spaces between buildings seemed unwelcoming—as if some monster might jump out from the darkness at any moment.

  The hair on the back of my neck stood on end—perhaps a warning signal from my Imm instincts that urged me to run and hide. I promised to meet Maiza at the Ledge, but if there was danger in Firen tonight, should I run away? Protect myself? Was I simply being irrational? Was my near-constant anxiety getting to me?

  No. Something else was wrong. I was certain of it.

  Giving into my Imm instincts, I readied myself quickly, pulling on the same dark clothes I usually wore when I wanted to remain unseen at night. I even strapped both of my swords to my back and secured a few knives and daggers to my hips.

  If something was coming, I would be ready for the threat.

  Not bothering with the door, I pulled myself out of my kitchen window and heaved myself onto the rooftop by my fingertips. Here, my perspective was better, but still, I leapt to the next rooftop before pulling myself onto the tallest building in my southern Firen neighborhood. where I could see all the way to the furthest southern and eastern reaches of Firen and even up to Calo castle at the top of the hill.

  Before long, I heard the slightest, unfamiliar rustling sound as it travelled into Firen on a breeze. I stilled, listening closely. It took a few moments to identify the sound, but eventually, I was reminded of the sound of bird wings—the massive eagles that sometimes showed themselves in the skies over Firen. The sound of their wings was audible only to the Imms and me, but tonight, as I listened, the sound grew louder as if more and more wings joined the fray.

  Even a human could hear these wings tonight.

  Confused, my eyes shot to the sky, travelling over the darkness until they reached the forest to the east of Firen, and my heart fell—ice filling my veins as sheer terror shot through me. High above, barely visible against the night sky, dozens of Imms flew westward into Firen on golden wings. These were winged Imms, the like of which I had never seen before and only knew about from my father’s stories. And these Imms were prepared for war, with weapons of all shapes and sizes—swords, hammers, axes, and even clubs meant for bashing in skulls.

  They were coming for us.

  And each was wearing the Reaper’s mask as a symbol of their vengeance.

  As shock left me rooted to the spot, I watched as the forest lit up with fire and dozens more wingless Imms emerged from the trees on foot, carrying torches and running into the city at an inhuman pace. Before long, the streets of East Firen came alive with fleeing victims, and I could do nothing but watch in horror as the Imms began to set fire to building after building. Children cried, people screamed, and humans fought hopelessly to defend their families from these demons.

  The Sight was a curse. Tonight, I could see the atrocities happening from afar.

  I’d spent years training to defend myself from the Imms, but nothing could have prepared me for this moment. Carmen had warned me this was coming. Hastings had even warned me. These Imms were here to punish the Reaper, and the people of Firen were going to pay for our inaction.

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  For my inaction.

  Had I understood the gravity of their warning, maybe I would have acted against him. But now, it was too late. I was utterly helpless to save these people from the dozens—no hundreds—of Imms who now wreaked havoc on the city. But I couldn’t just stand here and let guilt eat me alive.

  I needed to move.

  I couldn’t wait for the Calos to appear to defend us. As flying Imms grew nearer to the Predictors in the most inner part of the city, I needed to act as if the Calos would never come. I needed to prepare myself for the possibility that they would wait out the assault in their castle at the top of the hill and let the city burn.

  Because that was entirely possible.

  And the thought enraged me like no other.

  Spurred into action, I leapt from the roof and hit the ground running at a dead sprint. I couldn’t save everyone, but I could get to Carmen before the Imms did—I could get her to safety. For now, I could disregard the destruction behind me, but I couldn’t ignore the threat to her—even if I hardly recognized my once close friend.

  I ran like the wind, passing humans who had come to the streets in search of the source of the sounds of destruction that now loomed over the city.

  No one paid me any mind as I sped through the city streets at Imm-like speed. Most people either fled the destruction by heading towards Calo Castle at the center of Firen or tried to get a better look at East Firen, where the glow of the fires was now visible above the rooftops.

  When I finally sped towards the gates of Redmond Compound, the guards stood sentinel, their eyes on the terror of the city below. From here, they could see it all, and I could see the flames of the Imm destruction behind me in their eyes.

  Enraged by their inaction, I called out, “They are almost here, idiots! Evacuate!”

  Both Imm guards looked at each other questioningly before turning to me, spears raised. I didn’t blame them for their caution, but it only served to waste time when we needed every second we could get.

  With a groan of frustration, I closed the distance between us and leapt with all my strength—landing on the top of the metal gate behind them with the grace of an Imm before dropping to the ground in the courtyard below.

  “Halt!” one of the guards called after me halfheartedly, clearly surprised by my display of strength.

  I yelled back in fury, “We must evacuate the compound! NOW!”

  They both seemed ready to argue until the sound of screaming in the city below intensified and a nearby building went up in flames. One of the guards—an older man—watched the fire with wide eyes before turning to set his eyes on me with a determined expression on his weathered face. He nodded once in acknowledgment before going into the small shelter meant to keep them dry in the rain. He did not emerge from the shelter, but when I heard a loud bell ring, I recognized it as the alarm meant to wake the students each morning.

  The other guard—encouraged on by his companion’s acceptance—looked over at me and called out, “We will open the back gate and evacuate the living quarters!”

  “I’ll wake the main residence hall—you get the others!” I called out—turning towards the building where I knew I would find Carmen.

  Without waiting for a response, I sprinted the distance to Carmen’s building, throwing the doors open wide as I rushed into the dim hall and called out, “Evacuate to Calo Castle! Up the hill! Evacuate now!”

  As I ran down the first hallway, I pounded on doors, hoping to express my urgency. At the end of the hall, Carmen’s door was firmly closed like all the rest. I pounded on the door and called out, “Carmen! We need to go! Now!”

  I tried the handle—finding the door locked—so I continued to pound my fist on the door until my patience wore out. Doors throughout the hall started to open, and people poured into the hall, but still, Carmen’s door remained firmly shut.

  With a growl of frustration, I stepped back and kicked just above the door handle. With my Imm-enhanced strength, the door easily flew off the hinges—splintering the frame—and landed in the center of the room with a crash!

  Inside, I found Carmen, huddled in her nightclothes in the middle of her bed, eyes distant as she lay victim to the compulsion of a strong prediction—one that left her focused on the visions in her head instead of the reality around her.

  Fucking Predictors.

  With a heavy, exasperated sigh, I pulled off my mask as I crossed the room and took her by the arms, shaking her until her vision cleared and she murmured, “Dahlia! There’s so much fire! Too much fire!”

  “I know!” I dragged her from her bed as I resecured my mask, “We must go now!”

  Sensing my panic, Carmen complied without complaint, stepping into a pair of slippers and letting me pull her into the hall where students in sleepwear—all about Carmen’s age or younger—piled into the hallway. Some walked on bare feet. Others slipped on shoes and robes as if preparing to leave.

  Noticing their confusion, I called out, “Imms are attacking Firen! Run! To Calo Castle!”

  The students reacted with little more than an obedience that left me chilled. They walked, in an organized fashion, to the ends of the hall to exit into the compound. No one panicked. I saw little emotion on their young faces.

  What horrors had they witnessed that left them so unfazed by their impending doom?

  As one man about my age started past me, I took him by the arm and urged, “Wake the second floor—hurry!”

  To my complete lack of surprise, he nodded, though his expression remained distant as he ran to the stairwell. Another student, this one a young girl no older than fifteen with a brightness in her eyes that led me to believe she was a Dreamer and not a Predictor, offered, “And I will wake the third floor.”

  She hurried off after the other man.

  I grasped Carmen’s arm again, this time leading her to the courtyard, trailing behind the other students as they evacuated. As soon as we entered the open space outdoors, I knew we were out of time. At the main gate, two Imms stood with lit torches and watched with glee as a third set fire to the guards’ shelter. Thankfully, those guards were nowhere to be seen. I had to hope they had evacuated the other buildings.

  But that didn’t mean we were out of danger. No. With the Imms here, it was only a matter of time before they turned their attention to the fleeing students.

  “Damn it,” I muttered harshly to myself before taking Carmen by the shoulders and twisting her to face me as I looked into her eyes and urged, “Go. To the castle. I can buy some time for you and the others to get to safety.”

  “What?” Carmen furrowed her eyebrows, “They could hurt you—kill you! Come with me!”

  “No,” I shook my head, “I need you to trust me, Carmen. You need to get to safety, and that means you need more time—time I can give you.”

  Carmen seemed to fight an internal battle, but eventually she bit her lip and nodded once before whispering, “The rest of the Predictors think you’re weak right now—without the others to protect you—but they don’t know you like I do. I do trust you, Dahlia.”

  My thoughts started to drift back to my conversation with Simon about the Crossroads and how there would be others. But right now, I was more focused on the last piece of Carmen’s comment—that she trusted me. I felt a small glow of warmth in my chest at the confirmation that she still had faith in me.

  Just like that, every Saturday spent trying to visit her, every time I risked exposure to sneak into the compound to see her, and every night spent awake, obsessing over the fear of losing her like I’d lost Erich—it was all worth it.

  Without another word, I turned away from my friend, forcing myself to face the Imms that waited at the main gate. I listened as Carmen turned away and ran off. And when I could no longer hear those footfalls, I focused all of my attention on the immortal enemies who had intruded upon the peace of Firen—of my city.

  And I was furious.