Page 62 of Breaking Ties

He stroked her hair and rubbed his knuckles on her cheek. “Just like that.”

“Why?”

He understood what she was asking. “Because your mind reaches for your people because you want to laugh easily but are afraid of being watched, being judged. I wish you to free the laughter.”

She swallowed. “Can I change my name?”

“Of course. Whatever you choose for your contract will be your name from that point onward.”

“Oh, so I should really workshop this, then.”

“You agree?”

She looked up at him and smiled. “I do.”

He leaned down and kissed her carefully.

Whisper was trying not to look when Nerigot whispered in her ear, “We were designed for psychological impact. The height, the wings, the symmetrical features—it was all part of the design.”

She yelped and jumped. He caught her before she got more than two feet above the ground. She looked down. “Damn it.”

He laughed. “You are healthy again, and now your power is leaking out. That is what the training is for. So you will stop trying to fly. When you do fly, you will fly with me.”

Whisper looked up at him and slowly relaxed, lowering her feet back to the floor.

Candy asked, “Whisper, what was your name?”

“Isla.”

“May I use it?” Candy looked nervous.

“You can use it. Enjoy it. It was fun when I had it. Short but secure. No weird associations.” She walked over to Candy and hugged her. “Welcome to Aten, Isla.”

Isla beamed. “That feels really right.”

“Good. You can start it with an eye, ee or a why. Either works.”

“I love a name with options.”

“Isla knew what she had to do, and Whisper was the result. Nothing associated but survival.”

“That is an excellent place to start.” Candy hugged her again. “I like starting at survival and working my way up.”

Priya said, “I just wonder why we are all being nudged toward guardians when we weren’t Hmrain-compatible.”

Whisper smiled. “Look at your breastbone.”

The ladies all looked into their shirts. They started muttering about mirrors and what the fuck was that.

“Ra liked to party, and the designers were worried about what kind of folks he was attracting. You were not Hmrain-compatible out of the box, but after you got out of the assessment unit, old DNA woke up. Really old, like you are related to someone who partied in Egypt when the ancient cities were new.”

Elly blinked. “Oh, well, that explains the two percent sub-Saharan Africa.”

Priya smiled. “My family was a little closer, but yeah.”

Alyssa smiled sadly. “You are going to stay here?”

Elly, Priya, and Isla nodded. “We are.”