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Connor appeared exactly as he had the day Ithan had last seen him, cheering in the stands at his sunball game … except for the bluish light around his body. The mark of a ghost.
Ithan had found out the hard way what that meant—he’d tried to hug his brother, but his arms went right through him.
Seven minutes. Less than that now.
“There’s so much I wanted to say to you,” Ithan began.
Connor opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
Ithan blinked. “You can’t … you can’t talk?”
Connor shook his head.
“Ever? Or just—now?”
Connor mouthed ever.
“But Danika talked to Bryce—”
Connor tapped his chest. As if to say, In here.
Ithan rubbed at his face. “The Under-King fucking knew you couldn’t talk, and—”
Blue glowed in his vision as Connor laid a hand on his shoulder. It didn’t have any weight. But the look his brother gave him, pitying and worried—
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” Ithan said, voice breaking.
Connor slowly shook his head.
“I should have been there.”
Connor laid a finger on his lips. Don’t say another word.
Ithan swallowed down the tightness in his throat. “I miss you every single day. I wish you were with me. I … Fuck, I’m knee-deep in shit, and I could really use my brother right now.”
Connor angled his head. Tell me.
Ithan did. As succinctly as he could, aware of each second counting down. About Sigrid and Sabine and the Prime. About what he was now. About the parasite and its antidote.
Ithan glanced at his phone when he finished. Only two minutes left. Connor was smiling faintly.
“What?” Ithan said.
His brother laid a hand on his heart and bowed his head, a mark of respect to the Prime.
Ithan glowered. “It’s not funny.”
Connor lifted his head, shaking it. There was nothing but pride in his eyes.
Ithan’s throat closed up. “I don’t know what to do now. How to be Prime. How to fix this shit with Sigrid—if it can even be fixed. We’re all out of Athalar’s lightning now, anyway. Maybe I’m an asshole for not making Sigrid a priority. But I need to help Bryce and the others first. I’m so fucking far out of my league. And … there’s more I can’t tell you. I wish I could, but—”
Connor glanced behind them, to the temple and the Under-King inside it.
When he was assured that they were truly alone, he extended a hand toward Ithan. A sparkling seed of light filled it. Connor lifted it to his mouth and mimicked eating it.
“You know?” Ithan whispered. “About the secondlight?”
Connor nodded once.
