Page 21 of Inside the Sun

Then, Hunter approaches.

Our eyes meet.

"My condolences, Lieutenant Nolan," I say formally.

Outside the service, we’re friends. But here, we’re brothers in arms, and he’s still my superior officer.

Hunter gives a small, almost mechanical nod. His face is a mask. A death mask. Something in him died with Olaf.

"I’m flying out tomorrow," he says, his voice flat and hollow. "Just wanted to say goodbye. And thank you for your service."

My brows lift slightly. He’s leaving too? It’s not common for officers to rotate out this quickly, but I don’t press.

"I’m departing too, heading home. A tragedy happened in my family, one of my brothers is missing, and the other’s been kidnapped. I have to go after them."

A flicker crosses his otherwise unreadable face. Barely noticeable, but it’s there.

"I’m sorry," he says. Then pauses, like he needs a second to find the right words. "Fate wasn’t kind to either of us."

The weight in his voice carries everything that can’t truly be put into words, the full scale of what we’ve both been hit with.

I stand and extend my hand, but instead of shaking it, he pulls me into a firm, quick hug.

"If you ever need backup, call me," he says, his voice quiet but serious. "I can put you in touch with one of my cousins, Veyron. He used to work for a private investigator, helping out with the technical stuff. He might have some good contacts."

"Thank you, I really appreciate that."

But one look at his face tells me it wouldn’t be very subtle to push for those contacts right now, so I add, just to close the conversation, "I know you’ve got your own grief to carry. You’ll need time to deal with it."

He nods slowly.

We hold each other’s gaze.

"Hard days ahead," I say. "But sooner or later… thesunrises."

His face doesn’t move. "Sometimes the sky stays black."

I exhale.

"Even in a black sky, astarcan still shine."

Feeling a strange shiver down my spine, as if these words have some great power, I offer a small, sad smile.

"Let’s hope that’s a sign of things to come," he says. Then he turns and walks away.

And I’m alone again. The truth is, I've always been alone because of my inner beast. Now more than ever. My twin is missing. My little brother’s been taken. I went overseas to fight a war to make the world safer, but in the end, it isn't even safe at home.

The clouds around my life are thick, and despite what I said to Hunter, I’m not sure the sun’s ever rising for me.

These are just the kinds of lies we tell ourselves so we can sleep at night, but deep down inside, we know the truth always wins. And slowly kills us anyway.

Because life, goddamn it, hurts by default.

SUN

I’m not sure how I managed to talk Martin into coming to this charity event.

Probably because I didn’t tell him Anzo Ferro would be here.

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