Page 27 of Aryn

I turn to look at him, letting my eyes roam over his warm brown skin and the worry lines already creasing his forehead. Bash is one of the few genuine friends I’ve ever had, and I realize just how much I’m going to miss him. It isn’t a romantic sort of emptiness that hits me—gods know we failed at that the moment we tried it—but the kind that comes from being separated from the little family you have left in this world.

“No,” I answer, forcing my voice to stay light. “We’ve got a schedule to keep, and you don’t need to get dressed on my account.” I glare at Xeni’s bare legs as I say it.

“Be careful?” Sakane says, smoothing his hair back so the flyaways lay flat. His bun has come loose from sleep, and he tightens it, fidgeting with a rare seriousness about him.

“Hey now, none of that,” I say, gentler than I mean to. Rough edges and sharp wit have always been my defining traits, and even among my friends, I have a hard time letting the softer bits show. “You just have to promise not to get into trouble while I’m gone. I won’t be here to rescue you.”

A reluctant grin twitches on his lips. “Please. It’s literally always me having to bail your ass out of every mess you find yourself in.”

“Is that how you remember it? What about that time you got caught stealing a birthday cake for Ego even after we gave you money for it?”

“I was going to use the money for a gift,” he argues. “And besides, I specifically heard them say they were going to toss it if it didn’t sell that day. I was doing them a favor by reducing their waste.”

“So noble. Remind me… who helped you get away when they called the guards?”

He glares, arms folding across his chest. “I got away on my own. Even broke through the zip-ties without your help.”

“Hmm,” I hum. “Is that how you remember it? Because I distinctly recall you shrieking my name while you ran.”

“We don’t mention that part, you ass,” he hisses, then rushes forward and wraps his arms around my waist. “Don’t make me have to come pull you out of some other dimension, Cato.”

The touch surprises me at first. Physical affection is something I rarely experience unless it leads to sex. Soft words and goodbye hugs disappeared when I was barely thirteen. After that, my life became picking locks, stealing food, and learning how to survive on my own. It’s one of those side effects of losing your family that no one talks about—you stop trusting anyone to stick around, and you definitely don’t let yourself get attached.

People don’t stay, because I don’t let them.

Simple as that.

Except, it isn’t always so black and white. These three have weaseled their way past my defenses, despite my kicking and screaming at the beginning. None of us fit anywhere on our own, but somehow, all our rough edges aligned from the beginning.

They’re my people, even if I refuse to be a fucking sap about it.

I hug Sakane, cupping the back of his head and squeezing his much thinner body against mine. “I’ll be careful, Sakane. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

Another set of arms wraps around us as Ego joins the hug, then Bash finishes our family huddle as he rests his head on my shoulder and throws his arms around us as well. Xeni meets my eyes just beyond him, somber in a way he rarely lets the world see.

“You can’t break his heart by dying,” he says with a bravado I see straight through. “As terrifying as it is, the end of the world is in your giant hands, gingersnap. Don’t fuck this up.”

I roll my eyes as the hug breaks apart. “Such a poetic send-off.”

Xeni shrugs, lips twitching. “Felt appropriate.”

We say a few more lingering goodbyes before I step out into the dreary morning. The sun has barely risen, and the trees are that richer shade of green that happens when the leaves twist and reach for the rain. A deep breath of ozone and damp earth fills my lungs as I take one last glance behind me and toss up a wave. The door closes, determination settles in place, and I head toward the waiting van.

Aryn

The whir of the wheels against battered blacktop is the only noise in the van. Sovran drives with Ronan in the passenger seat. Cameron, Lillith, and Taryn fill the second row, which leaves Cato and me in the back. He’s pushed as far away from me on the bench as possible, head leaning against the window as he stares at the world rushing past outside.

Sunlight fights through the clouds and catches in his copper hair, where the wild strands have been pushed back out of his eyes. It’s thick on top, but the sides have been trimmed since I saw him yesterday. His beard is groomed too—recently shaped and smoothed into place. The rest of him always carries a sense of chaos, but not his facial hair. It defies the rest of his energy.

When I'm unable to stand the silence any longer, I glance at Sovran in the rearview mirror. “Are the days aligned with this world and Elyra?” He meets my eyes in question, so I clarify. “The days here are twenty-four hours, and night is a little less than half of that. We didn’t measure our days in the same manner, though night was longer on our side.”

Sovran tilts his head back and forth. “In Elyra, the span of a day stretches longer, but you are correct. The night is prevalent.”

Ronan turns, his profile showing the nostalgic curve of his smile. “I’d forgotten that. The three phases of the night.”

“That passed with the phases of the moons,” I agree. “How old were you when you left our world?”

His eyes land on mine. “Twenty-one.”