Page 17 of Exordium

“It really is. Unfortunately, I never got to know them. They both died toward the end of the war. My mom didn’t know she was pregnant with me until a few weeks later. My pop told me that he thought I saved my mom’s life and helped the family heal. Even though I know they never recovered completely, my parents always ensured there was plenty of love in our house.” I smiled softly knowing how lucky I am. “What was your childhood like?”

“We grew up close to Cleveland, Ohio, in a small Aurathion settlement. My parents were a big part of the community. My dad, Mark, is Nexus. He runs a mechanic shop with my poppa, Michael. Meredith, my mom, teaches kindergarten at our small school. We call them the triple M’s.” Zeke laughed. I was glad they had a nice childhood. I hated to ruin the moment, but I had to know.

“I feel a little awkward asking you this, but Chloe told me about Kristine. Are y’all still involved with her? No pressure. I just don’t want to start the Academy and immediately make an enemy.”

Zeke winced, “No, not romantically, but we still hang out now and then. We’ve known her family since we were kids.” He stopped walking and turned to grab both of my hands. “We should never have attempted the ritual with her. Our parents and Chloe warned us against it, but we didn’t listen. Now, after meeting you, I know how ridiculous it was. She sometimes grabslunch with us on campus, but we won’t do that anymore if it makes you uncomfortable.”

I hated how timid he sounded. I knew he and his brother had been looking for a Faction for a long time. Now that it was a possibility, he didn’t want to do anything to upset or offend me.

“I would never ask you to give up a friend. I’m just a little leery because Chloe doesn’t seem to like her at all. I don’t want to worry about drama while trying to prepare for whatever Emberhold throws at me for initiation.” I smiled softly, hoping I wasn’t coming off as an asshole.

“I get that. Chloe and Kristine had a falling out. We asked Chloe about it, but she wouldn’t tell us what happened. Kristine just said she was being ridiculous. Zane and I decided to stay out of it. I’m not going to lie to you, we hooked up occasionally but, when the ritual didn’t work we decided to just be friends.” Zeke squeezed my hands again. I could tell he was nervous. “I don’t think Kristine was entirely on board with that. But we were still looking for a Faction and didn’t want to muddy the waters. I’m so glad the looking is behind us now.”

He leaned down like he was going to kiss me. Just then, we heard someone running up behind us. When we turned, we saw Zane coming up the sidewalk.

“Hey, Reverie, why are you out with the uglier version of me?” Zane joked, pulling me in for a hug. Zeke frowned at Zane for the interruption.

“You wish. Everyone knows that you’re just a shittier version of the original.”

“Eleven minutes, asswipe, just eleven stinking minutes!” Zane stuck his tongue out at Zeke.

“You two remind me of my fathers. Always arguing over who’s the better-looking twin.” I laughed at them both.

Zane waggled his eyebrows at me, “You can call me Daddy.”

Oh lord! These two were going to fit right in. Grumpy and Pop were going to love dealing with three guys. I smirked imagining the smack talk.

We walked into Java and Jam, and I went to the counter to order mine and Chloe’s breakfast. A good-looking guy came up to take my order. He had short brown hair, green eyes, and a nice smile. His eyes zeroed in on my breasts and slowly rose to my face. That would have been a loss of points if I had been the least bit interested. Which I wasn’t.

“Hey, sexy Snow White, what can I get you to eat?” he winked at me.

“That’s a new one.” I hoped if I ignored his flirting he would get the hint. “I’ll take two chocolate donuts and two with jelly.” When I turned to ask Zeke and Zane if they wanted anything, they were both glaring at the counter guy with deadly intent. Granted, Zeke and Nathan had not hit it off immediately, but Zeke had been the first to try to resolve their issue. The menacing way they were looking at the counter guy gave me chills; there was a lot more than met the eye with these two.

“Do you see us standing here? Did you just call her sexy while we are standing right fucking here?” Zane growled menacingly.

“I think he did,” Zeke narrowed his eyes.

“Do you want me to pluck out your eyes and feed them to you?” Zane asked with an insane smile on his face.

The Joker didn’t have shit on him. What the actual hell was going on right now? They went from zero to sixty in point two seconds. The poor counter guy looked like he was going to shit himself. Did I get triple Nathans?!

“Guys, please stop. I’m sure he was just being nice.” I smiled reassuringly at the counter guy. “I’m so sorry, can I just get my donuts so we can leave?” I continued smiling but checked nervously over my shoulder, making sure the twins weren’t going to attack. He quickly packed my donuts, and we turned toleave. Right before the guys walked out the door, he decided to sack up and shouted,

“You should keep them on a leash.” I cringed, this idiot deserved whatever he got for being this stupid.

Zeke turned around and walked back, grabbed his shirt, pulling him partially over the counter. He leaned right in his face and then barked in a low, threatening way several times. The counter guy pissed himself, then Zeke slowly lowered him to his feet. Turning to me, he gently reached down and grabbed my hand. Zane opened the door for us, smiling sweetly.

“Let’s go, honeybuns; assembly is starting soon.”

I walked out the door with a stunned look on my face. I didn’t know what to think of the twins Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personalities. It seemed that my Faction may have been the teeniest bit insane.

I entered my dorm and saw Chloe making two to-go cups of coffee in the kitchen. “I knew I loved you.” I smiled in appreciation, “Let me grab a shower and we can walk to the assembly together.”

“No worries. We still have about thirty minutes to spare. Where are my brothers? I thought I heard them outside the door.” Chloe added three spoons of sugar to one of the coffees.

“They were, but they had to return to their dorm and get dressed for class. Did you know they were both crazy?” I asked tongue in cheek.

Chloe looked at me, puzzled, while adding three more spoonsful to the same cup. I laughed,

---