Page 60 of Inside the Sun

And that silence is worse than the pain in some ways.

I sink into it. Into the loneliness. Into failure.

Like I’m falling into a black abyss.

Eventually, I start sobbing. Desperate, messy sobs. All the adrenaline and tension flood out of me. I feel myself weakening, my body, my spirit.

I can’t fight it anymore…

And just when I don’t even have the strength to cry—

I hear his voice.

For the first time.

It’s soft. Shaky. Timid. Barely audible. Only an alpha’s ear could catch it. He doesn’t even move his mouth.

"If I help you… he may find something worse to do to you."

His words don’t register at first. I’m dangling there, getting slammed by waves of pain, repeating it over and over in my head:

If I help you…

Does that mean hecanactually help me?

Help me in a way that would make the paingo away?

But if that’s possible, how would he even do it?

I twist my head again and really look at him.

I scan his body, and I’m certain Summer isn’t actually hanging. He looks like he’s literally… floating.

The cuffs are slack. The chain above him isn’t even taut.

"Are you levitating?" I whisper, making sure it’s also barely audible.

And then Summer slowly turns his head. For the first time, we look each other in the eyes.

I blink in disbelief.

Holy shit. His eyes are two different colors: one a light golden, the other silver.

I stare, stunned. I’ve seen heterochromia before, but never with shades like those.

"Your eyes are beautiful," I blurt, without thinking. "They’re… magical. Are you? Are you magical?"

It sounds silly, sure. But the idea doesn’t feel absurd to me. My older brother, Snow, has weird abilities no one can explain.

Because of the admixture of alien blood in our society, magic isn’t off the table in our society; some people end up with… unusual traits. Rare cases.

So, is Summer one of them?

"Please… help me," I whisper, breathlessly. "It hurts so fucking bad. Just for a second, I just want one second where it doesn’t hurt."

And then…

Relief hits me like a wave.

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