Page 164 of Vengeance of the Gods

It was just Vega and Bridger, her head leaning against his arm as they sat on a bench, staring at what was left of Bridger’s best friend and brother.

Bridger took a deep breath and stood, disconnecting himself from Vega. She didn’t follow, but he could feel her eyes on him as he approached the pyre. He sank to his knees, not caring what soot or ash he got on himself.

He closed his eyes, imagining Meyer beside him. “I promise to make her pay for what she did.” Bridger sat there until the sun sank below the mountains and the sky shone bright with the most beautiful sunset.

Orange and red illuminated the city, taking the day his best friend died with it. He stayed quiet until the sky had gone dark. “Goodbye, brother.”

Bridger pushed himself off the ground, trudging back to Vega on legs that felt too weak to carry him much longer.

She stood when he towered over her on the bench. “Let’s get you home.”

Home.

Home was wherever Vega was.

Bridger didn’t have anything left inside today, so all he did was nod his head.

Halo whisked them away, and they landed outside Bridger’s bedroom in Vincere.

Wasting no time, Bridger opened the door. He didn’t care he was covered in blood, ash, soot… none of it. He collapsed on his bed without undressing or taking his boots off.

Through the crack in the open door, Vega gave Halo a tight hug, brushing the bright blond hair from his eyes. “Get some sleep. You did well today.”

Before Bridger was drawn into the depths of sleep, he heard the shuddering sob of a boy who wanted nothing more than to belong. “I should have been there. I could have saved him.”

Bridger free-fell into sleep before he could tell Halo it wasn’t his fault… It was mine.

When he slept this time, it wasn’t dreamless. At least these dreams weren’t meant for torture like the others—it was a montage of Bridger and Meyer.

“Ow, ow, ow!” Meyer cried, holding his limp arm against his chest.

Bridger tried to inspect the break, but Meyer wouldn’t let him too close. “I told you it wasn’t worth it. She didn’t even look at you.”

Summer Laudo was the prettiest girl in Oro, with her long black hair and charcoal eyes. She was visiting her cousins in Fortis during a break from school. Meyer crushed on her all summer, and instead of going over to talk to her like a normal thirteen-year-old boy would, he decided to try to do a backflip off the tallest tree in the city park.

He overrotated and landed on his face, his arm getting caught up in the wreckage. It hung at an unusual angle.

When Bridger visited him in the Atrox med-ward later, Summer sat in a chair beside his bed.

Meyer winked at him when Summer wasn't looking.

Bridger chuckled and let his best friend pretend to still be in pain for the sake of a pretty girl’s attention.

They were thirteen and fourteen and had just started to realize girls were pretty.

But then they were fourteen and fifteen… and Meyer was no longer in the med-ward bed. He was in the middle of a ring, facing off the biggest dude of his year.

Bridger was already ahead of everyone in his class for the year and spent most of his time training at the army’s facilities—he was determined to be the youngest person to complete level ten training… and he was so close he could taste it.

Today he got the night off while his father had meetings outside of Fortis. A night off to mingle with kids his own age, and of course it had to be at an unsanctioned fight ring.

If their parents found out…

The crowd gasped at Meyer taking a knee to the chin. Bridger gripped his fists at his sides. “Watch his left foot!” he called to his best friend. He led whatever he was about to do with his left foot, giving a piece of intel to his opponent if they knew where to watch.

Meyer grew up sparring with Bridger, learning everything he could from the future commander of Tolevarre, but he still lacked some of the obvious skills it took to be on Bridger’s level.

If anyone believed Meyer could take this big, burly Fortis-born down, it was Bridger.