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“Levi,” I whisper. When he doesn’t stir, I try again, but throw a rolled-up sock at his head. “Levi.”
He turns and sits up when he sees I’m awake.
“How did I get here?” I know the answer, but I need to fill the silence. Talking with my friends always got me through tough times, like when my dad left. The dream still echoes in my soul, filling me with an odd combination of longing and dread.
He lifts his chest and raises his shoulders to give himself the appearance of a large man. He curls his arms and puffs his cheeks, making me laugh.
“And where is he?” I trace a pattern in the quilt, knowing his presence and not Bastian’s, in the other bed is intentional.
He points at the ceiling. “Sleeping.”
Is Susan with him?
He drops to his knees on the floor beside my mattress to touch my bandages. Concern creases his forehead.
“I’m ok,” I say, laying a hand over his. Scarring mars his skin, something rarely seen in Avren. “I need to take my training seriously, or this might turn into an everyday occurrence.”
He provides a weak smile as he drops his hand and holds onto mine.
“Why are you so good to me?” I grieve my friends in Avren, so he is a comfort to cling to in this strange world. “I’m a Citizen. You’re supposed to hate me like the rest of them.”
He sets his lips in a pout and shakes his head, holding his palm over his heart. First, he points to me, then forms two fists, holding them above his chest and pulling them apart as if he is a prisoner breaking free from his chains. “You are Redeemed.”
“I hardly think any of your housemates would call me that.” In my eyes, the word is a badge of courage to them—one that is earned after hundreds of fights and thousands of bruises. “My life was much different from yours. I don’t belong here like you do.”
He furrows his brows and takes my hands in his, pulling me to my feet. Pain screams at me from my head and lower back. I bite my lip to keep from revealing it. He tugs me across the room, opens the door, and leads me to the kitchen.
When he lifts his foot to the first stair, I pull him back with my hand. “What are you doing?”
He frantically spells something with his free hand, his tugging insistent. I stare into the darkened stairwell, drawing in a breath. No one wants to be disturbed up there.
Not willing to stop, he continues to pull me, one reluctant step at a time, to the top of the stairs. Three closed doors branch off from the landing. He reaches for a handle, and the door opens with a loud creak.
Something rips him from my hand. A large arm wraps around his neck, connected to Grayson.
“What the hell?” Grayson drops his arm and signs to Levi, speaking out loud so I can hear him. “You know better than to sneak up on us at night. I thought you were a Supe. I could have ripped your head off.”
Levi signs to Grayson.
Grayson turns to me, his eyes still heavy with sleep despite the scare. “He wants me to interpret for you. He doesn’t think he can communicate it the right way. Says it’s important and can’t wait.”
Levi conveys his message to his older friend. The two exchange looks I don’t understand, like the ones I used with my closest friends in Avren.
“He wants you to know you’re kin. You’ve lost your mother and father, so we’re your family now.” Grayson glances at the other two doors in the hallway. “You know Evie and Bastian don’t want to hear you talking that way.” He holds his hand out to me. “She’s only been here a little over a day.”
I watch Levi sign something else to Grayson, who nods along with their conversation.
“Yes, I feel the same commitment to the orphans of Avren.” Grayson gives me a sideways glance. “And yes, I feel the connection too.”
What connection is he talking about? I hate only hearing one side of the conversation. “Can you translate what he’s saying so I don’t feel like you’re talking behind my back?”
“He’s talking right in front of you. It’s not his fault you don’t sign.” Grayson pinches the bridge of his nose and closes his eyes. “This is a conversation for another time, not in the middle of the night when I need my beauty sleep.” He turns and walks to his bed.
Levi laces his fingers in mine and pulls me out of the room, closing the door. “I’m sorry. There’s so much I want to tell you.”
My heart warms looking at him, feeling his fingers in mine.
We are kin.
