We’ll see.
“This place stinks.” Preacher swipes at his snout. “I can’t wait to be home in my own bed again.”
Home. What is that? I’ve moved around so much. The sea felt like home for a time. I can tell you one thing, I won’t be settling in the Sixth.
Rural countryside melts into suburbia. Uprooted sidewalks zigzag down graffiti-infested streets. Trash cans overflow. A woman in some sort of Onesie getup smokes on her porch while her baby’s cries carry through the window.
“Now that’s just sad.” Josh finds his place beside me. What a change. From avoidance to pestering. Now I’m the one who wants to be left alone. Does he notice how the Void wears on me?
I snort. “As if you care.”
“I do care. I care enough to say she ought to shut up her kid so others can have some peace and quiet.”
Wow. “Well, that settles that question.” I look down at my boots. My clothes are starting to carry a stench. I need a shave, a shower, and probably a follow-up shower just to be on the safe side.
“What question?”
Cue the smirk. “Oh, nothing. Just that Shadowalkers aren’t human.”
From the corner of my eye I catch his arm tense, his hand fist in his pants pocket. “Go ahead and try to punch me,” I say. “See what happens.”
He stops. Turns. “Maybe I will.”
I face him. Finally.
The others cease their trek. Dahlia speaks up, the mother hen always cluck, cluck, clucking. “Now—cough—boys . . .”
“Back off, Regina. This is not your concern.” Josh slides one foot forward.
I match his action. “Indeed it is.”
“Oh yes,” Kyaphus whispers. “This is what I’ve been waiting for.”
Suppressing my inner villain is the least of my worries. David needs to hurry up and get his behind back here. Him I can at least stand. Maybe the only way to put Josh in his place is to put him in his place. “Tell me, Shadowalker. Does it kill you how connected I am to her? That I’m the one who stepped in and took the blow of Crowe’s sword?”
The veins in his forehead have joined the party. His pupils seem to antidilate.
“When Em saved me from the Void injection,” I go on, “our soul connection was made complete.”
“Finish him. Do it. You have it in you.” The jeers sounding from Kyaphus grow louder and louder.
“We believed that kiss linked the three of us. From you to her and her to me and back again. Because you kissed her as a baby? Right?”
“Rhyen, maybe this isn’t the best—”
“Shut up, Saul!” Josh says. “I want to hear whatever pathetic thing he has to say. Then there will be no questioning why I broke him.”
Preacher rolls his eyes, tosses his hands up, then retreats to a bench on the curb five feet away. “If the Commander were here, he’d have none of this.” He grunts.
The man may be correct. But Makai isn’t here, is he?
“We created a triangle, all connected by the Verity, the mirrormark, the kisses.” My throat burns, the walls stinging. Reminds me of the poisonous coral from the Fourth, only my insides possess the poison. “We wondered if your Ever blood somehow saved me as it had saved her.”
“It did.” He grinds out the words. His fingers curl and flex. Neither of us carry weapons. It’s his strength against mine.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” I say. “The truth is, love is powerful. And the choice to love despite pain or darkness or sorrow even more so. Love kept me alive, gave me strength to overcome the Void. And yet, I’m connected to you as well. We shared the same womb, split the responsibility of the Verity. It is our connection, Brother, that connected you to her.” There it is. The hit that will hurt him most. “I am the one who gave her the mark. Not you.”
“Revenge. Isn’t it sweet? You’ve held your tongue, but now. This? Doesn’t it feel amazing?”
No. I feel sick. This was not the way to tell him. Makai and Elizabeth would be ashamed.
Love. Heartbreak. Revenge. The ultimate combination for once upon a time.
“You’re a liar and a traitor.” Josh grabs a fistful of my shirt. “I can’t see her mirrormark, idiot. You don’t need more proof than that to know what she and I share is special. Something you can never duplicate, no matter how often you lock lips.”
Valid point, though I’d never tell him and boost his alter ego. I clear my throat. “Are you certain the creation of her mirrormark is why you can’t see it?” My birth mother’s Mirror Theory comes to mind.
“When bestowed by the Verity’s vessel, a Kiss of Infinity imposes an unusual outcome upon the subject’s soul . . .”
“A Kiss of Infinity given by the Verity’s vessel creates a mirrormark, yes?”
Josh steps back. I’ve caught his attention. Good.
“Since we shared the Verity, it’s safe to argue either one of us could’ve made her a Mirror.”
He nods, though he’s far from happy about it.
“Here’s a new theory for you. Listen in.” I lick my lips and swallow. “Perhaps the reason you can’t see her mark is not because you gave it, but because you didn’t.”
“Reality check, moron.” Oh, so Wren’s decided to defend him? This ought to be entertaining. “We all can see her mark, and none of us kissed her, thank Havens. Get your facts right. David’s the only one who can’t see it.” She stares into the distance as she speaks, her tone flatter than I’ve ever heard.
“Are you sure about that, honey?”
Dahlia? Does she have some wisdom to impart?
Song glares at the Ever. No respect, I tell you.
“You callin’ me a liar, Miss Wren?”
“Maybe I am.”
Our matron does something I’ve never seen her do. She removes her apron, balls it up, and tosses it to the wayside. Then she stomps over to Wren and gets in her face.
Whoa. If any of us guys did that, it’d be borderline harassment. But an older woman getting too close? Song can’t say anything. Not a word. Not when she’s been inviting a reprimand her entire existence.
“I’ll let you in on a li’l secret. Are ya ready?” Grabbing her ear, Dahlia yanks Song down to her level. “I can’t see the mirrormark either, no more than I or King Aidan could see Queen Ember’s. Never have, never will. It’s not in our blood.”
Wait, what? Oh man, this is some solid stuff. I fold my arms. The fight between my brother and me has subsided, our attention pulled elsewhere.
“Evers live outside of time.” Releasing Wren, Dahlia wipes her hands on her skirt, then reattaches her apron. She makes eye contact with each of us. Me, Wren, Josh. “Why are you three so darn shocked? I thought this was common knowledge. Saul?” Her eyebrows arch, eyes bulging in Preacher’s direction. “A little help here?”
He lifts his hands in mock innocence. “Leave me out of this. This is the first I’ve heard of it.”
“Bah.” Another wipe of her hands. “If we Evers would stop worryin’ about people usin’ us, maybe we’d be more understood. I thought everyone knew we lived outside time.” She spins her finger in the air. “Someone once told me time is a loop. A circle. Well, it’s that way with Evers, ya see. Our beginning is our end and our end is our beginning.”