Infinity Reaper by Adam Silvera (best new books to read txt) 📗

Dedication

For those who don’t want to keep fighting. Fight on.

Shout-outs to Becky Albertalli and Elliot Knight,

who were always with me even when they couldn’t be.

The World of Gleamcraft

Gleamcrafters—practitioners with powers. Applicable to both celestials and specters.

Celestials—their true origins unknown, these people carry powers that have a connection to the stars and sky. Some powers are presented at birth, others surface later in life. The range of their abilities is wide. Celestials can be distinguished by the way their eyes glow like different corners of the universe as they use their gleam. Notable group: the Spell Walkers.

Specters—sixty years ago, alchemy was developed as a way to use the blood of creatures to give humans powers. People who receive their powers this way are known as specters, and the range of their abilities is limited to the blood of that creature’s breed. Specters can be distinguished by the way their eyes burn like eclipses as they use their gleam. Notable Group: The Blood Casters.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

SPELL WALKERS AND ALLIES

Emil Rey—a reincarnated specter with phoenix blood who can cast gray and gold fire, self-heal his mortal wounds, sense feelings from other phoenixes, fly, and resurrect. Known as Fire-Wing and Infinity Son.

Brighton Rey—the creator of the online series Celestials of New York. Drank Reaper’s Blood for the powers of a phoenix, hydra, and ghost.

Maribelle Lucero—a celestial who can levitate and glide.

Iris Simone-Chambers—a celestial with powerhouse strength and skin impervious to most gleam attacks. New leader of the Spell Walkers.

Atlas Haas (Deceased)—a celestial who could conjure winds.

Wesley Young—a celestial who runs at swift-speed.

Eva Nafisi—a celestial who can heal others but gets harmed in the process.

Prudencia Mendez—a celestial with the power of telekinesis.

Carolina Rey—Emil and Brighton’s mother. No powers of her own.

Ruth Rodriquez—a celestial who can create clones of herself.

Bautista de León (Deceased)—a reincarnated specter with phoenix blood who could cast gold fire, self-heal his mortal wounds, resurrect, and remember details from his past life. Founder of the Spell Walkers.

Sera Córdova (Deceased)—an alchemist and celestial who had psychic visions. Founding member.

BLOOD CASTERS AND ALLIES

Ness Arroyo—a specter with shifter blood who can change his appearance at will.

Luna Marnette—a supreme alchemist who created the Blood Casters. No powers of her own.

Dione Henri—a specter with hydra blood who can grow extra/regrow missing body parts and

Stanton—a specter with basilisk blood who has serpentine senses and venomous, acidic, petrifying, and paralytic abilities.

June—a specter with ghost blood who can phase through solid objects and possess people.

POLITICIANS

Senator Edward Iron—a presidential candidate who opposes gleamcraft. No powers of his own.

Barrett Bishop—a vice-presidential candidate and chief architect of the Bounds. No powers of his own.

Congresswoman Nicolette Sunstar—a celestial presidential candidate who can create burning hot dazzling lights.

Senator Shine Lu—a celestial vice-presidential candidate who can turn invisible.

HALO KNIGHTS AND PHOENIXES

Tala Castillo—a Halo Knight with no powers of her own.

Wyatt Warwick—a Halo Knight with no powers of his own.

Nox—an obsidian phoenix that excels at tracking.

Roxana—a light howler phoenix with stormlike powers.

OTHER NOTABLE CHARACTERS

Keon Máximo (Deceased)—an alchemist and specter with phoenix blood who could cast gray fire, self-heal his mortal wounds, and resurrect. He developed the alchemy to give normal people powers and became the first specter.

Kirk Bennett—the curator for the phoenix exhibit at the Museum of Natural Creatures.

Dr. Billie Bowes—a celestial who can cast illusions.

The Silver Star Slayer—a conservative YouTuber.

Epigraph

But true rulers are not born. We are made.

—MARIE LU,

THE ROSE SOCIETY

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Dedication

The World of Gleamcraft

Epigraph

One: Bright Night

Two: Prisoner

Three: Death’s Hold

Four: Nightmare

Five: Iron Manor

Six: Like Father, Like Son

Seven: The Journal

Eight: High and Mighty

Nine: Oblivion’s Edge

Ten: Poison

Eleven: Reunion

Twelve: The Luminary Union

Thirteen: The Heroic Crime

Fourteen: The Odds

Fifteen: Fire and Flight

Sixteen: Resetting

Seventeen: Propaganda

Eighteen: The Unchosen One

Nineteen: The Cloaked Phantom

Twenty: Dark Hearts

Twenty-One: Ultimately

Twenty-Two: Halo Knight

Twenty-Three: Silver and Sapphire

Twenty-Four: Infinity Savior

Twenty-Five: Training: Brighton Edition

Twenty-Six: Brighton of New York

Twenty-Seven: Bright Star

Twenty-Eight: Another Knight

Twenty-Nine: Impersonate

Thirty: The New Ember Sanctuary

Thirty-One: Paper Bird

Thirty-Two: Track

Thirty-Three: Reversing the Cycle

Thirty-Four: Pawn to Queen

Thirty-Five: Morning Nox

Thirty-Six: Infinity Senses

Thirty-Seven: The Scent of Blue

Thirty-Eight: The Sound of Skin

Thirty-Nine: The Weight of Nothing

Forty: Power Couple

Forty-One: Dayrose

Forty-Two: Predecessor

Forty-Three: Mother

Forty-Four: History

Forty-Five: Sera Córdova

Forty-Six: Bautista De León

Forty-Seven: Honor

Forty-Eight: Oblivion Night

Forty-Nine: Forevermore

Fifty: The Silver Star Slayer

Fifty-One: Sunrise

Fifty-Two: Eclipsing

Fifty-Three: The Debate

Fifty-Four: Breaking

Fifty-Five: The Void

Fifty-Six: Changing the Narrative

Fifty-Seven: Ghostly

Fifty-Eight: The Speech

Fifty-Nine: Fury

Sixty: Unmasked

Sixty-One: Villainized

Sixty-Two: Strategy

Sixty-Three: Cell

Sixty-Four: Rebel

Sixty-Five: Strike

Sixty-Six: The Bounds

Sixty-Seven: Manhunt

Sixty-Eight: Firefly’s Flames

Sixty-Nine: Solitary Confinement

Seventy: Hunt the Shifter

Seventy-One: Winner

Seventy-Two: Infinity Reaper

Seventy-Three: The Smile

Seventy-Four: Marnettes and Córdovas

Seventy-Five: Skybreaker and Shape-Shifter

Seventy-Six: Family

Seventy-Seven: Traitor

Seventy-Eight: Overpower

Seventy-Nine: Shining Brighter

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Books by Adam Silvera

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Copyright

About the Publisher

OneBright Night

BRIGHTON

I drink every last drop of Reaper’s Blood while looking up at the Crowned Dreamer.

The elixir smells like burning bodies and tastes like iron and charcoal. The blood from the century phoenix, the golden-strand hydra, and the dead ghosts is heavy on my tongue like mud. My throat is burning and I’m this close to spitting out the rest, but I force myself to swallow it all because this Reaper’s Blood is game changing. I wasn’t lucky enough to be born with powers—to be born a celestial. But now that I’ve absorbed these creatures’ abilities, the world will get to welcome me as their new champion—a one-of-a-kind, unkillable specter.

I drop the empty bottle and it rolls toward my brother, who has been stabbed. Emil is eyeing me like a stranger as I lick my lips clean and dry them with the back of my hand. I’m about to help him up when I stumble, falling onto my knees. My vision becomes fuzzy. It’s as if everyone in the church’s garden is spinning slowly, then faster, faster, faster. My entire body feels like countless fingertips are grazing my skin. I suck in the sharpest breath of my life, like someone has been strangling me and finally lets go, and before I can full-on panic about whatever is happening, light surrounds me.

I’m glowing. I’m nowhere near as bright as the Crowned Dreamer above me, but I still feel like my own constellation—the Bright Brighton, the Bright King, whatever you want to call it. I have no idea if all specters experience this warm white glow when getting their powers.