After a thoughtful pause, Ryder continued, I’m still surprised he agreed. It was really strange. I’ve never seen my dad get this emotional. I mean, when Asily...you know, he went into a rage and punished the ones who killed her. Ryder stopped, as though he couldn’t talk about it anymore. He’s always so serious, holding it all in. He can face down a murderer in high court and not show any kind of emotion, but the thought of me completing higher studies elsewhere is troubling him.
You’re going far, Ryder, not just a few hundred miles.
I know. And my grandfather was one of “the lost.” It’s as though our family is being targeted.
He could be right.
I don’t think so. It’s her ghost. Asily’s. It’s like she’s always there, but we can’t talk about her. It’s like we have to pretend she never existed.
She died, Ryder, in this forsaken war. She was his child, your sister.
The spirits know I’m aware.
It was the fault of the Brausa. Brutish animals. Abominations. Scorn creased Nick’s fair features, disdain staining his voice as he said the name. We must remember who is at fault. Always.
There are times I question that. Ryder looked bleak as he stared down at the ground, his youthful face seeming to carry the weight of the world.
Rye—
Ryder ran a hand through his dark hair, seeming to shake off the somber tone of the conversation. He put on a friendly face. So I’ll be joining you on Earth.
It took a moment for Nick to switch gears, but seeing the resolute look on Ryder’s visage, Nick spontaneously gave a mischievous grin. He took on that high-pitched voice again. Please don’t go, Rye. I haven’t shown you my very round breasts yet!
You’re getting it this time. Ryder dumped his towel and the race was on. Nick took off up the slope and grabbed the rope swing.
Just as he jumped on it to swing, it snapped and broke. He went plunging down the hillside, crashing through the brush to smash against a tree. His shout was suddenly cut off, and Ryder, fear pouring over his face, called to his friend in a panicked voice. He rushed to where Nick lay gasping with pain near the water’s edge.
Oh, my God! I exclaimed and ran down the embankment. Ryder looked up as I came crashing through the bushes, and his young green eyes looked confused for a moment, as though he recognized me and was trying to place who I was. I could almost see his memory catching up, and then baby Adonis (Nick) faded away into mist, like a projection that was turned off, which was absolutely the most astounding thing I’d ever seen. One moment he was there, writhing in pain and holding his obviously broken leg, and the next he was gone. How the hell had that happened?
I looked to Ryder, unsure whether to be horrified or confused by the sight, either way hoping to be reassured. But then Ryder transformed before my eyes. If I’d blinked, I would have missed it. One moment he was his teenage self, his face youthful and more slender, and the next, he was the man I’d come to know. He grew tall, over six feet, and broad, with thick, ropey man muscles that ran through his torso and legs. His square jaw filled in, a few lines fanned out from his forest green eyes and across his forehead, and all I could do was stare in awe, until I looked up at his eyes.
They were frighteningly cold. Menacing. If I’d thought he looked untamed before, it was nothing compared to how savagely angry he looked now. Enraged, even. It was a look no one had ever leveled at me before. It was a killing look. Fear engulfed me. I gasped for air like a fish out of water. My heart beat a quick, frantic warning to escape. You have mylunate. His voice rumbled across the space between us, amplifying, enveloping me in its deep vibration until I felt it shake through my bones.