Page 152 of Storm and Sea

“What are you doing here?” Leo asked, exhaling. “Shouldn’t you be up there enjoying the party like all the other people our age?”

“First of all, I’m not your age, and I don’t care for crowds,” Nephi replied honestly.

“How old are you?”

Nephi drew his eyebrows together. Telling Leo his years wouldn’t come back to bite him. Right? What did telling him hurt? Still, as Nephi opened his mouth to give a piece of himself to this human, his words were laced with caution.

“I’ve seen twenty-six springs.”

“Who the hell says it like that? Just say you’re twenty-six years old.”

“I do.”

“Well, it’s weird, and you’re older than I expected. I’m twenty.” He sighed. It was the kind of sigh that was more than tired. It was the first trace of defeat. Of giving up. “I feel a lot older, though.”

“You have a lot on your plate.”

“And how would you know that?”

“I have my sources,” Nephi replied shortly.

Sure, Nyel had disclosed a few things about Leo, but most of Nephi’s information came from his own eyes. It was the only information he trusted anyway.

He’d been watching this town long enough to understand its very essence. The way it breathed and moved. And thus, the way its people breathed and moved. Leo was a supporter of a large family. The weight of which was slowly killing him. The only missing piece in the puzzle was where Leo went on his secret rendezvous into the valley. The perimeter of the estate was heavily guarded, and Nephi couldn’t glimpse more than the front door. Given the estate’s wealth, it likely belonged to the benefactor of Leo’s new boat.

Leo scoffed. “Good to know my friends are spewing my shit all over the island,” he snapped, then pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes. “But it’s not like everyone doesn’t already talk shit anyway.”

“Nyel and Atreus have better things to do than to gossip. I watch. I listen.”

“So you’re ugly and a creep. Not a lot going for you, stranger.”

“Nephi.”

“What?”

Nephi took in a gulp of air, suddenly feeling hot. Exposed. He shrugged off his jacket, letting the night’s chill ease his skin. “That’s my name.”

“I—” Leo fell silent, and Nephi shifted uncomfortably in the sand.

“What?” he snapped, narrowing his eyes. His damaged eye was virtually useless in the dark.

“It’s… you’ve never sat on my right.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

Leo pointed to his face. “I’ve only seen the other side. And you always keep your damn hood up. I didn’t realize the other side wasn’t…”

“Burned? Fucked to hell? Well, sorry to disappoint. I’m not completely fucked up. The blast missed the other side. Next time, I’ll do a spin and make sure it gets all of me.”

Nephi’s heart tripped against his ribs as the vulnerable words fell out. Something about Leo made him lower his walls without even noticing. He was cautious for one minute and the next, opening himself in a way that would only lead to pain. Nephi clenched his jaw, hating how out of control he was.

It’s not him. He’s not my Ludo.

“I’m not disappointed,” Leo said in a whisper.

He’d moved closer. Close enough for Nephi to see the dark circles under Leo’s eyes. The dullness of his golden hair. Close enough to smell the citrus scent on Leo’s skin. But his expression…Nephi couldn’t make out.

“You were in a blast?” Leo asked in a whisper, and it tickled Nephi’s skin.