We set a swift pace down the street after the orange compact. It disappears around a bend, but I can feel the magical trail unspooling behind it. I’ll be able to follow the car anywhere in the city.
Asher glances around us. “There’s a bus coming that’s heading the same way. You want to ride as long as he’s driving west?”
I perk up. “Perfect.” That’ll help us stay close.
The public bus rumbles to a stop just as we reach the stop, and we hop on invisibly behind the other passengers. I feel a twinge of guilt that we’re dodging the fare, but at least we’re not taking up any seats.
Asher stands close to the pole we’re both holding on to, staying out of the way. As I trace my thread of ephemera in my mind, confirming we’re still moving in the same direction as Jovak’s car, he clears his throat. “So… I guess you’re probably also hoping I can fill you in on Cole.”
My gaze jerks to him. “What?”
He offers another smile, but this one doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “He went out to see you yesterday and came back in a terrible mood. Obviously something didn’t go well. I can’t blame you if you’d rather feel things out through me than try to talk to him directly. He hasn’t exactly made this situation easy for you.”
I open my mouth and close it again before I can come up with an answer. “That’s not why I wanted to bring you along. Not at all. When I feel like talking to Cole about his issues, I’ll take it up with him. It’s not your job to smooth things over.”
“Oh.” Asher lets out a rough chuckle, and I remember the comments the other him made now and then—about the teachers and other students comparing him to his brother, seeming frustrated that he wasn’t rising to the same level of skill.
This version of him has lived in Cole’s shadow for three years longer.
A twinge of sympathy tugs at my heart. “I did have a bit of an ulterior motive. We haven’t had much of a chance to talk since I got here. I’d like to know more aboutyou.”
Asher somehow manages to look both pleased and awkward in a way I can’t help finding adorable. “How much I’m like the Asher you knew before, you mean?”
I shrug. “And how you’re different. I already know you’re the same when it comes to the things that matter the most.” His kindness and compassion. His devotion to his family and to protecting everyone who needs it. “The rest is just details. And I’m interested either way.”
Asher ducks his head. “There isn’t a whole lot to tell. I do my best at school, I train, I hang out with a couple of old friends from Beacon now and then. I listen to Cole hassle me.” The corner of his mouth quirks up with the last sentence.
“He’s still pretty strict even now that you’re twenty, huh?”
“I mean, obviously I don’t go along with everything he says. I wouldn’t be preparing for the job I am if I thought he was right about everything.”
He pauses and sucks in a sharp breath. “I think he’s eased off in certain ways as I’ve gotten older but also gotten more worried about where I’ll end up when I graduate, so it ends up balancing out to about the same intensity.”
“I was always impressed that you managed to follow your own path even with him breathing down your neck.” I give him a nudge. “I gleaned that you’re also still looking out for all the strays in the neighborhood.”
Asher’s laugh at my reference to our tense Divination face-off is lighter. “Mostly just the one dog right now, but there has been a long line. The first thing I’m going to do when I can afford a place of my own is actually take a few in.”
The sentiment wraps around me like a hug. “Naturally.”
His expression turns more intent. “I’ve actually been wondering if the void patrols could incorporate regular animals into their work more… I know they haven’t had success at teaching police dogs to sense void creatures, but I’ve seen some signs that the ones living on the streets who’ve encountered them naturally might have developed some sort of awareness… We could take dogs that are already familiar with them and train them for the other behaviors we’d want. They wouldn’t be able to take down any creatures except the smallest, but they could distract to help the hunters get a good strike.”
My original Asher never mentioned that idea—either he was keeping it to himself or it would only have occurred to him later. Or it’s inspired by some experience only this Asher had. But it still sounds so much like him that an ache like homesickness spreads through my chest.
“I could definitely see that,” I say. “You’ll have to bring it up after you enlist. You should be in a position to take on at least a little authority, coming from Luminary.”
“And with my brother’s reputation,” Asher says dryly, and then hesitates. He catches my gaze again, his own pensive. “Would you beokaywith me still enlisting? I mean, I don’t know how everything’s going to work over the next year before graduation—we have a lot to figure out about our union… I don’t even know what my glim is going to be. Neither do you, do you?”
My smile turns apologetic. “No.”
By the time I was conscious enough to realize our match had sparked, Asher was already dead. If his glim showed itself before mine destroyed him, I didn’t see it.
Which means I’m not attempting to activate it without every possible precaution in place. Cole and I will agree on that much.
I go back to his first question. “I can’t say I wouldn’t be worried about you going out to literally fight voids. And hopefully you could get stationed here in the city, or somewhere we all wouldn’t mind moving to, so we wouldn’t have to be apart for very long. But—matches should support each other’s dreams, not get in their way.”
An emotion I can’t recognize flits through Asher’s expression.
His voice comes out soft. “Yeah, I can agree with that.” He studies me for a few moments longer. “What’s your dream, Elodie—after we’re sure you’re safe, and you can make plans without worrying?”
