Page 114 of Stormbreaker

He laughs and shakes his head. “To the point, I see.”

“Raine would want you to be happy.”

“I think you’re right.” He smiles and nods. “I am dating. Nothing serious yet, but maybe I’ll meet someone soon.”

“I’m glad,” I say. “And if you do meet someone special, don’t stop yourself from feeling it, okay? He wouldn’t want that.”

Henry gives me a scrutinizing look. “When did you grow up, little Poet? Get so wise?”

I bark out a laugh as I stand up and rack some plates on the end of a barbell.

“I assure you I’m nothing but a complete mess who cobbles together an articulate thought on occasion.”

He chuckles at that. “You’ve gotten yourself into some trouble . . .”

“Yeah.” I nod. “Not sure you should even be talking to me.”

He shakes his head. “Storm Guard takes precedence over Society. Out there, we’re all brothers and sisters, no matter where we come from.”

I cock my head and place both hands on my hips. “Is that really true?”

He shrugs. “Sometimes.”

I laugh and then straddle the bench.

“What did your parents say?” he asks.

“Nothing. They aren’t speaking to me at all.”

His expression presses inward. He rubs the back of his neck and blows a breath. “I’m . . . I can’t really say I’m surprised.”

“No, I suppose I can’t, either, but I hoped—”

Henry watches me. “Do they know you’ve joined cadet training? Something tells me they wouldn’t approve?”

I sigh, my shoulders turning down. “You’re right—they don’t approve, but they also won’t acknowledge me.”

I think about my life in a distant future where I might be a mother myself. I don’t think I could ever abandon my own child, no matter the circumstances.

But maybe I’m being naive and don’t really know or understand anything.

Knox might have told my father about the Storm Guard, but he also seemed convinced I’d drop out, so maybe not.

“How is life in Aria treating you so far?” Henry asks, and I raise my hands in a gesture of defeat.

“Oh, they just love having me around.”

He smirks and shakes his head. “Well, if you have trouble with anyone, come to me. I know we haven’t talked much, or at all, and that’s my fault. I was just hurt and—”

“I get it,” I say. “You don’t have to explain yourself.”

“Well, I think of you as a little sister, too.”

“Even though I defected?”

He grins. “Especially then. Raine would have been proud of you,” he says as he sits up.

“You think?” I ask, something lifting in my spirit knowing that.