Infinity Reaper by Adam Silvera

Author:Adam Silvera [Silvera, Adam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781471187834
Google: PZ_cDwAAQBAJ
Amazon: 0062882317
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2021-03-04T00:00:00+00:00

Thirty-One

Paper Bird

MARIBELLE

This may be a paradise for some, but watching Tala scrub Roxana’s belly with a sponge makes me miss a city of people trying to kill me.

“So Wyatt seems to have gotten on your nerves,” I say.

“He’s very irritating.”

“You two seem like tolerant exes.”

“We’ve never dated because I’m not his reflection.” Tala throws the sponge back into a bucket and sits next to me on the bench. “Also because I’m a lesbian. Wyatt is an exceptional Halo Knight who will do great things, I’ve thought this since meeting him two years ago. But sometimes it’s hard being around him. It’s as if . . . it’s as if he’s walking sunshine in a colorless world. I know that death is part of the cycle, but my loss is still fresh and I can’t imagine a future where I’m giving out fun Sanctuary tours or flirting with someone upon meeting them.”

I relate to so much of what she’s saying. I’m further along on this journey of grieving parents, but I still have great distances to travel too.

“Atlas is the reason I wasn’t angry all the time.”

“No one would’ve described me as quick to anger before my parents died.”

“It’s like you’ve lost yourself.”

“All the good parts of my soul,” Tala says as she pulls out a piece of paper from her pocket and begins folding. “In some ways, the old Tala has burned out and I’m still getting used to the new Tala who has been reborn in her place.” She focuses on what appears to be origami. I can make out the wings right before she presents it. “Paper bird.”

“Is origami your thing?”

I didn’t expect that from someone who engineers weapons.

“We weren’t wealthy, so my parents always encouraged crafts to build something great out of something ordinary. My mother taught me how to make the paper birds for my tenth birthday. We used them as party favors and decorations. . . .” Tala’s eyes search the sky as if she’s waiting for her reincarnated parents to fly toward her, carrying her old soul.

The English accent breaks the silence. “There you are. Tala, we must discuss something that is absolutely skybreaking.”

Tala composes herself. I see so much of myself in her with how quickly she can return to the world when her mind is elsewhere.

“What is it?” she asks.

“It’s unofficial-but-potentially-official Halo Knight business.”

“I’m even less interested in your secrets than I was your tour,” I say.

“Then you won’t mind that I snag this one for a moment,” Wyatt says with a beaming smile, as if he won a match I wasn’t fighting.

“Sunshine,” Tala mutters as she walks after him.

She turns, throwing her paper bird, and it glides perfectly through the air and lands in my palm.

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