Page 43 of Echoes of War

I, however, was no fool. I knew what she had stashed underneath that bed. My eyes narrowed as she stepped toward her door, but Moe blocked her path entirely.

“Here, before you go.” Tomoe handed her a piece of tan paper folded in card format. “You might have to wash your face from the tears after but I think you should have this.”

Amaia thanked her, a crease forming on her forehead as she took a quick glance at the contents inside and entered her bedroom. The door clicked softly behind her, and four smug sets of eyes turned toward me.

“So, how was it?” Reina beamed, her brows bouncing up and down suggestively.

Still suspicious of what Amaia was up to, I responded, half-interested in the conversation before me, “It was good.”

“Good? That’s all we get?” Tomoe pushed, reaching for her coat on the couch.

My eyes trailed her, wondering why she was ready to leave when Amaia said she would be right back.

“Yeah, you steal her more than half of the day and you can’t even give us any details,blood—” Sloan cleared her throat. “Alexiares.”

Her correction caught me off guard, my eyes going from Tomoe to scanning over the redhead’s face. She’d been oddly pleasant toward me lately, and I wasn’t sure why. Well, as pleasant as she could get, which wasn’t saying much.

“Let the man havesomeprivacy. Everyone’s entitled to some,” Abel said in my defense, eyeing the cake.

I shrugged them all off. “Thank you, Abel. It was good. We had a great time. There’s nothing elsefor me to say.”

“Yet,” Reina said, tapping me on the chest in a giddy manner, but her eyes were focused on the cake behind me.

“It’s about to get better,” Sloan said, hopping off the counter. “Let’s go to the bonfires tonight.”

“Bonfires?” I asked, not knowing what the hell she was talking about.

Reina, however, needed no further clarification in order to have a good time. “Sounds fun!”

“You don’t even know what it is.” Tomoe voiced exactly what I was thinking. Reina circled back to her, resting her cheek on Moe’s shoulder. The tension released from Moe’s body at the comfort of her sister’s touch.

“They are pretty fun!” Abel vibrated with the same energy as Reina. “Sloan actually started them a few months back, way to raise morale. We have them most nights around the city, but on the weekend, they get rowdy. Some drinking, some dancing, people roast anything they find on a hunt and want to share. It’s a good time.”

The two of them back at The Compound were sure to get on my last fucking nerve in the way only siblings could. Or how I would expect normal siblings to behave. Evander had never been able to interact with me in such a brotherly manner. With these two, it was hard to pretend I wasn’t growing more open to the idea.

“A good time? Here? Seriously?” I retorted, not thinking Sloan was capable of anything fun. Let alone letting her people experience some of it under such trivial conditions.

“Yeah, believe it or not, buddy boy.” Sloan strolled up to me as if reading my thoughts. “We do know how to havesomefun here. It’s not totally depressing.”

I threw a mocking face in her direction followed by an obscene gesture. “I’m sure you know how to havetonsof fun, Sloan. Whatever, I’ll let her know.”

“We’ll meet you there,” Moe said, a knowing glimmer in her eyes, and she ushered people out.

She was up to something; I just couldn’t tell what. The odd urgency in her herding left me confused, but I chalked it up to the awkwardness of us all being in the same room with positive intentions again.

“Center of the city!” Sloan shouted over her shoulder on the way out.

I opened the bedroom door, sniffles funneled out from the bathroom. A crunch of paper sounded from beneath my steps. Crouching down, I lifted up Tomoe’s card halfway tucked under the bed.

It was honestly none of my business, but then again, I had never once minded my business in the past. Why start now?

Happy birthday to the sister I never knew to ask for, but I’m glad the universe decided I needed. You continue to amaze me more than anyone I’ve had the honor of meeting in this lifetime. No matter where this life takes us, I will always love you and I think you need to know that you are capable of loving and being loved. So here’s a small glimpse of your future. It breaks all your rules, but I think we both know I rarely follow them anyway.

Your happiness is possible and not far off. I see many futures and though nothing is definitive. You and Alexiares are a match made in hell, and it should scare the shit out of everyone … except you.

For the times I had with Seth, my future had presented many outcomes. I will never regret knowing his love. I don’t wish you our ending, but I do wish you the happiness and all encasing feeling of being head over heels for someone that will love you unconditionally.

I’ve seen it, embrace it. Cherish it. There’s a future for us all out there,one where we’re all together again, even Seth. It’s possible, we just have to keep faith.

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