Promise of Shadows (14 page)

Nanda sent them to find me, but only once she thought I was the Nyx. Not because of my mom or because she’s my nest mother, but because I might turn out to be important. I knew that already, but now that I take the time to consider it, the reality of her motives kind of bothers me. Who is Nanda to preach about trust and the hidden intentions of others?
“Nice of her to wait so long,” I mutter to myself, but Blue hears me.
“Nanda was going to try and cross over herself, but Tallon refused to take her.”
“Why?”
Blue grins at me. “Because she complains too much. More than you, in fact.”
“Ha.” We’ve made it past the crowd, who thankfully decided not to follow us. I’m not sure how far it is to Nanda’s house, but I can’t wait to get there. All I want to do is spend the rest of my years in hiding. To keep my mind off everyone staring at me I say, “So, you guys decided to take a trip down to hell because your aunt asked you nicely?”
Blue gives me a look. “Nanda’s meaner than she looks. Tallon eventually just told her we’d go so she’d quit harassing us. I went along because even though Tallon’s the dude with the ability to trip the Rift, I’m a dragon.” Blue grins and flexes the arm that isn’t wrapped around my waist. “Never go down to hell without a little firepower.”
“And yet, you ran from the drakan just like everyone else.”
He grins sheepishly.“I agreed to go before I realized that there’s no æther down there. Tallon might be of the dark, but I’m of the bright. No æther, no badassery.”
I nod, but I’m completely unable to speak. Instead I’m thinking of all the things I’ve learned about the people I thought I knew. Tallon had not one, but two brothers. Nanda only cared about rescuing me after she thought I was going to fulfill the Prophecy of the Promise. And Cass only kept me safe in Tartarus because she wanted to see her boyfriend. My stomach does that weird lurching thing again, and I fight back tears.
I stop walking, and Blue stops as well, looking down at me. “Are you okay?” he asks.
I shake my head, because I’m not okay. I’m off-balance and out of control, afraid of all the things I still don’t know and feeling more alone than ever. It isn’t fair.
Blue must sense my sadness, because without a word his arms wrap around me, enveloping me in a guy-scented hug. “It’s not that bad, you know. You have me and Tallon. We’ll help you. You don’t have to do this alone.”
I sniff, because it’s exactly what I was just thinking. I tighten my arms around him and sigh. “Thank you.”
“If the two of you are finished, we should get back to the house.”
Blue and I break apart, and Tallon’s stormy expression causes my face to heat. Blue laughs. “We were on our way back.” Blue looks at me with a sly grin. “Someone was saving the day.”
Tallon rolls his eyes and points to a small red Honda. He seems mad, but it doesn’t make any sense. Blue was just giving me a hug, not making out with me. What’s his problem?
“Let’s go,”Tallon says, still not looking at me. “Nanda wants to move forward, and she wants to talk to you about it first.”
Blue helps me walk toward the car, even though I’m feeling better. I frown. “Move forward, huh?”
Tallon shrugs. “It seems like we aren’t the only ones who thought you were the Nyx, we just got to you first. Now that the other vættir in town know you’re here, they want to talk about the future, and how to fight the Acolytes.”
Blue gives me an apologetic smile.“News travels fast in Ulysses’s Glen.”
It looks like I’m about to get a lot more popular.

convinced that I’m the Nyx, but the more people believe I am the more it seems to be the truth. It’s hard to think so many people could be wrong.

The turmoil I feel makes my stomach hurt and my head pound. I just want to lie down, close my eyes, and pretend the world doesn’t exist.

We get in the car and head back to Nanda’s house. We’re farther away than I thought we would be, which means I was walking longer than I thought. It’s late enough that Nanda is putting lunch on the table when we walk in: fried chicken with greens and mashed potatoes.

She gives me a grin as I enter the kitchen. Her eyes shine with pride, but it doesn’t make me happy. It just makes me feel anxious. “I heard what you did. The whole neighborhood’s talking about it. I figured you’d be hungry.”

I nod, sitting down and digging in. I’m hungrier than I’ve been in a long time. I’m halfway through my first plate of food before I realize that Cass isn’t at the table. “Hey, where’s Cass?”

“She already ate. She said she had something to look into and said she’d talk to you when she gets back.” Nanda gives me a meaningful look, like this is why I shouldn’t trust her. But I don’t know that she’s doing anything wrong. What if she’s just trying to track down what happened to Whisper?

But what if she isn’t?
a little voice says. A little niggle of doubt begins to creep in. Everyone around me has secrets, and I’m not sure I know all of Cass’s.

Guilt clenches my middle. No. I won’t fall into Nanda’s trap. Cass is my friend. She’s out there trying to find out what happened to Whisper. That’s where I should be. Helping Cass, not stuffing my face.

But I don’t get up, because Nanda’s refilling my plate. So I feed my guilt along with the gnawing, hollow ache in my middle. I’ve eaten two more pieces of chicken and another helping of both greens and mashed potatoes before I finally feel full.

I sit back and sigh. Tallon looks at my empty plate, chicken bones piled high. “The erebos takes a lot out of you. You’re going to have to eat like that every time you use it.”

The knowing tone in his voice irritates me. “What are you, the food police?”
Hurt flashes across his expression, and I immediately regret my sharp words. But before I can say anything, he pushes back from the table and leaves.
Nanda begins cleaning up the kitchen, and I jump to my feet to help her. Blue finishes his food and gives Nanda a peck on the cheek. “I’ll help Zephyr clean up here. You go sit down. You deserve a break.”
Nanda beams at Blue, and her fondness fills the kitchen with the scent of bubble gum. She nods at me. “We’ll talk later,” she says ominously before walking out.
Blue loads the dishwasher while I rinse off the dishes. He seems nervous, and I can smell the burned-popcorn stink of his anxiety. We work in silence until the dishwasher is loaded. Once it’s full, Blue clears his throat and leans back against the dishwasher.
“Can we talk?” he asks, and I nod.
“Sure. What’s up?” I turn off the water and dry my hands on a nearby towel. It’s amazing how nice it is to have something normal to do. I never thought I’d actually enjoy cleaning. It’s funny what a few months in Tartarus can do for your appreciation of mundane things.
Blue runs his hand through his hair and sighs. “What’s going on with you and Tallon?”
“Oh.”I force a laugh, convinced my feelings are all over my face. “Nothing, just old friends. Why?”
“If you’re just friends, why did he sleep in your room last night.”
My face is on fire, and every possible lie dies in my throat. “Uh . . . um . . . how did you know?” I croak.
Blue grins. “Well, I happened to catch someone sneaking out of your room this morning.”
“Nothing happened,” I say. Too quickly perhaps. Blue gives me a slow smile.
“Was that your choice or Tallon’s?”
I sigh and put my hands to my burning cheeks. “What’s this about?”
“Nothing, just brotherly interest.”
“Well, there’s nothing going on, okay?”
Blue’s head tilts as he studies me. “Oh, I’ll be the judge of that. How does Tallon make you feel?”
I start to lie, but something about Blue makes me feel like I can confide in him. “I don’t know. Aggravated, confused, followed by this melty feeling, and then I wonder what it would be like to kiss him.”
Blue smirks. “You do like him.”
I bury my face in my hands. “Promise me you won’t tell him.”
“Nope.”
I drop my hands. “You’re joking.”
Blue puts his hand over his heart. “Of course I am. Watching the two of you dance around each other is going to be too much fun.”
I cross my arms. “Really?”
“Yes.”
I watch his face, sniffing for the lie. He’s telling the truth. “You are evil.”
He laughs. “Yeah, maybe a little.” His expression turns serious. “Just make sure you don’t break his heart.Tallon’s had enough pain in his life. He deserves to be happy for a change.”
I want to ask him what he means, but Tallon walks in and the conversation halts.
Blue tries to look nonchalant. “Hey, Tallon.”
Tallon doesn’t even acknowledge Blue. “If you’re finished, Cass is back. She’s been looking for you.”
“Okay. Thanks.” I can’t even look at Tallon. I wonder how much of our conversation he heard. He seems put out about something. He wouldn’t be all pissy if he knew I liked him, would he?
I think of the boy he used to be. He did once put gum in my hair. So anything is possible.
I walk out into the living room, where Cass is making notes on a piece of paper. She looks up when she sees me. “Wait until you hear what I’ve learned.”
I plop down next to her on the couch, trying to forget the drama I just left behind in the kitchen. Why did Tallon look so mad?
Cass shows me the piece of paper she was scribbling on and begins going on about crossings and Rift cycles and a hundred other things that mean absolutely nothing to me. I’m not really listening to her. Instead I’m trying to imagine what it would be like to kiss Tallon. Would he wrap his arms around my waist, or would he cradle my face in his hands like they do on TV? I wonder if his lips are as soft as they look.
Cass stops and glares at me. “Are you listening?”
I startle. “What? Yes, what’s going on?”
“I just told you. Jeanine told me that the crossings have gotten fewer and farther in between. She thinks someone’s taking shades. So maybe the something that happened to your sister’s shade is happening to everyone’s. Not just hers.”
“I thought the Hecate you were supposed to see was named Kyra.” I hate the suspicion that creeps into my voice. Somehow I need to find a way to get over my doubts before she notices. It’s stupid and not fair to her, and even though Cass can’t really feel anything, I still don’t want her to know that I’m having trouble trusting her.
Cass turns her flat green gaze on me. “She wasn’t there. Jeanine told me she fled, along with a bunch of other vættir. Things are happening, Zephyr. Big things.”
That gets my attention. “Okay, so what’s happening? And what does this have to do with Whisper?”
“Her shade isn’t the only one that’s disappeared, and traffic on the Paths to the Underworld has been drifting off. Plus, a bunch of vættir have fled Ulysses’s Glen. There’s definitely something going on that we’re not seeing.”
I nod, my brain trying to internalize everything. “I knew about the vættir fleeing. They’re running from the Acolytes. So, the shades of vættir are also disappearing on a large scale. What does Jeanine think is happening to them? Does she have any ideas?”
Cass shakes her head. “No. But she agreed it would be a good idea to attempt a scrying as soon as possible. I talked to Jeanine about it, and she showed me her calendar. The full moon is ten days from now, and I think that would be the day to try it. The erebos will be weaker than usual, and we won’t have to worry about it blocking our ability to speak with the dead.”
I shake my head. “What are you talking about? I thought erebos was tied to death.”
“It is, but it’s also what keeps the dead from communicating with the living until they cross over. The living belong to the bright, the dead to the dark.” Cass gives me a look that makes blood rush to my face. “What are they teaching the vættir in the schools these days?”
She sounds so much like Whisper that my heart aches for a moment. I shrug, and Nanda walks into the living room just in time to hear the end of our conversation. “Zephyr, didn’t you go to an Aerie school?” I nod, and Nanda turns to Cass. “Don’t blame the poor girl. The Aerie schools only teach the basics. They spend more time focused on killing and battle tactics than on the finer differences between æther and erebos.” It’s clear that Nanda’s defense of me is tied more to her dislike of Cass than anything else, but I still don’t say anything. I should let go of my doubts about Cass and stand up to Nanda. I should be a better friend. I should be braver. But I’m not.
Even though I really want to be.
Cass either doesn’t pick up on Nanda’s tone or she just ignores it. Instead she nods and gives me a look. “Well then, maybe it’s time you learn more than the basics.”
Nanda turns to me. “We still need to talk. I’ve been getting nonstop calls from the leaders within the vættir community. The Aeries’ Council of Matriarchs, the Fae’s Queen’s Council, even the King of the Cyclopes had his assistant call me. They all want to meet you and to find a way to move forward against the Acolytes. Especially after this morning.”
“Wow, word really does travel fast.” I fight back a sigh. I should’ve known there would be some sort of fallout from my little hero stunt earlier today. But I can’t see a way around this. “So, road trip?”
Nanda shakes her head. “I don’t think meeting with everyone is really such a great idea right now. We’re going to have to figure out what to do with you. Otherwise I’m going to have every Acolyte on the East Coast pounding on my door. I’m going to call Alora. This is her vision I’ve been chasing. It’s about time she provided some input into how we handle things. For now, get comfortable.”
Tallon walks into the living room, and I give him a sidelong glance before I collapse back onto the couch. At least now I know why he’s in such a snit. It looks like he was right after all. Saving the little girl and her mother, and using erebos, is going to bring the Acolytes to Nanda’s front porch.
I don’t know what I hate more, the fact that he was right or that I’d do just about anything to chase away his frown.
I am so messed up.

magic. For the next three days she spends every waking hour teaching me the difference between erebos and æther. “Small magics should be easy to control,” she says. Cass is right. Small amounts of magic should be easy to control.

But I can’t summon the erebos because it would call the Acolytes.
And I couldn’t summon æther if my life depended on it.
The only time we don’t spend drilling in magic and æther theory are the couple of hours a day that Cass lets me watch my soap operas with Blue. Whisper and I had a TV in our house in the Aerie. It wasn’t anything special, but I loved it because it was a window to the outside world, a world that I’m still not allowed to be a part of. Soap operas were my favorite, probably because they reminded me of the old stories, where heroes fell in love and villains were punished. It’s surprising that after a year I’m still pretty caught up on the storyline. I went to the Underworld and came back, and nothing in the soap opera world has changed.
To be honest, nothing in my life has changed. I’m still training for a role I’m not sure I want.
We’ve been at Nanda’s house for a week when Cass disappears for a whole day. I have no idea where she went, and Nanda wastes no time drilling me on her whereabouts. “Where’s the Pellacis? Shouldn’t she be teaching you magical theory?”
I shrug. “She said I could take today off to rest. Don’t worry, she’ll be back.” I’m only half paying attention to her. I’m mostly watching the couple on-screen argue.
“They’re totally going to end up doing it,” Blue says next to me, shaking his head. “This has been going on ever since she came out of her coma.”
I blink, confused. “But what about Caitlin? I thought Allie was staying away from Grayson because it would dishonor her memory.”
“Caitlin’s not dead anymore. They found out she’s being held in a secret government facility. So all bets are off.”
Nanda sighs. “You need to keep an eye on her, Zephyr. It’s just a matter of time before she betrays you.”
I nod as Nanda stalks off, but the truth is I’m listening more than I want to. Even though Cass has spent the past few days helping me understand my powers, there’s still a tiny tendril of distrust in the back of my mind. It’s like a splinter under my skin. Every time I think I’ve forgotten about it, something nudges against it and I remember all over again.
I like to think that if Cass were hiding anything, I would’ve known about it by now. Besides, why would she work so hard to get me to control my abilities if she was a traitor? It just doesn’t make sense.
The next day Cass is back to hounding me about learning every small detail about my powers. We sit at the kitchen table where she quizzes me on the things that we’ve learned over the past few days. “What are the principles of erebos?”
“Darkness, rage, and . . . um . . . death.” She gives me a look and I shrug. “Dying?”
“Destruction. Death is destruction of the form. Erebos thrives on destroying. Remember that.”
“Why? Why do I need to know any of this, Cass?”
She stares at me until I squirm. Cass is really good at this teacher thing.“You know all of the weird norm trivia, but you don’t know the basic tenets of magic.” I’d tried teaching Cass about all the different shows on TV.That was a disaster. She couldn’t tell the difference between eighties sitcoms and reality TV.
“TV and movies are fun, Cass. This is boring.”
“Maybe. But knowledge is power, Zeph. Remember that.”
I do feel smarter about magic after working with Cass. I still can’t summon the æther at all, and that seems to worry her as much as anything does. Every single time I call the power it’s like trying to hold on to a fish with my bare hands. And that’s when it comes at all. Most of the time it’s nonexistent.
As much as I see Cass and Nanda and Blue, I rarely see Tallon. He makes a brief appearance at mealtimes, but that’s it. He arrives after we’ve all sat down and then eats his food leaning against the counter, quietly and quickly. He doesn’t even look at the rest of us. And before anyone can even ask him what he’s been up to, he’s gone. I don’t think he even tastes the delicious meals that Nanda makes for us.
And I feel like his behavior is all my fault.
I hate to admit it, but his constant absence just makes me think about him even more. I replay the moment when I woke to find him in my bed, only in my daydreams I kiss him instead of freaking out. My overactive imagination creates battle plans, until I know that if I get the chance to kiss him again, I won’t waste it.
After a week and a half of safety and security in Nanda’s kitchen I almost forget what it’s like to be afraid. It’s amazing how quickly I’ve forgotten the fear and uncertainty of Tartarus.
The day of the full moon arrives almost without notice. Cass and I sit at the kitchen table. She’s trying to show me how to summon the mortal elements of fire, air, water, and wind. As usual, I suck.
Cass watches me try to call fire for a moment before she shakes her head. “Summoning is easy. You need to use æther to call the element into being, and then use it to fuel the element. For example, fire.” Flames appear on Cass’s hands. “If you look closely you can see the æther under the flames. That’s what’s fueling the fire. Æther isn’t just a magical element. It can also work as a power source. The same is true for the erebos.”
I try to summon æther and flames. If Cass’s hands look like torches, mine look like a match. I can only summon enough energy to make a single flame dance on my fingertip. And that feels like trying to push a car by myself.
Cass releases her magic. “Maybe you should try it with the erebos.”
“I can’t, remember? Acolytes.”
Cass’s golden brows knit together. “Okay. Maybe you could try it with the æther one more time.”
“It’s going to have to wait,” Nanda says, walking into the kitchen with a girl who looks like she just stepped off the cover of a magazine. Her long dark hair hangs down her back in carefully crafted waves, and her violet eyes don’t have the shine of Æthereal blood, but they’re strange nonetheless. She wears a dress that hugs her curves and makes me feel incredibly dumpy in the hand-medown jeans and T-shirt I wear. I’m lucky that Nanda keeps a stash of clothing on hand for the refugees that she takes in, but I still feel like a charity case next to Miss September. She’s polished and sophisticated in a high-priced hooker kind of way.
Gods, I hate her just as much now as I did when we were younger.
I have a memory, a crystal clear shining moment that became the defining point for my and Alora’s relationship. We were outside, Whisper off studying for some test or another, so that it was just me, Alora, and Tallon. We were playing some pretend game where Tallon was an evil wizard and she and I were princesses. Only once Tallon was out of earshot, she turned to me and said, “You can’t be a princess; you’re going to have to be a servant. Princesses can’t have Harpy hair. They have to have pretty hair.” I’d wanted to hit her, but like always I just nodded and went along with what I was told.
“Zephyr, you remember Alora, right?” Nanda’s face shines with her love for Alora. Tallon and Blue may be Nanda’s nephews, but Alora is her one and only child. Jealousy curls through my middle. I wish my mother had looked at me the way Nanda gazes at Alora.
Cass and I stand as Nanda continues talking. “Alora was sent down by the Oracle to meet with you.” Nanda’s excitement floods the kitchen with scents of waffles and maple syrup. I sniff again. No, not excitement. Anticipation. Nanda expects something good to come out of this meeting.
Maybe she’s forgotten the time Alora took a pair of scissors and tried to clip my wings because she needed feathers for a picture she was making. Because I haven’t.
Alora smiles at me, and for a moment I think maybe she’s changed. It has been a while since I saw her. She has to be nineteen now, just a year or so younger than Tallon. I smell nothing from her, which I take to mean she’s trained herself to lock down her emotions. “Zephyr! It’s been too long,” she says. She holds her arms open for a hug, and without thinking I do the same.
But as soon as she touches me, I can tell that something’s wrong. I hiss and shove her away. A bit of darkness wisps off my fingers and snaps at her as I step back, the way a mother would slap a child’s hand to keep her away from a hot stove. Alora hugs her hand to her chest with wide eyes, and I smell the citrusy tang of her fear.
“Don’t ever do that again,” I say. I don’t even know what it is she did. I just know I didn’t like it.
“I’m sorry. It’s just habit. . . .” She trails off and stares at Cass for a long moment before she clears her throat and smoothes her hands down her sides. “I apologize. I shouldn’t have snooped.” She inclines her head in a sign of respect, and Cass comes from around the table to stand by my side. Alora is very careful not to look at Cass. I wonder why she’s suddenly acting so cagey. Did Nanda already give her the rundown?
“What was that?” I can’t forget the sensation, like someone sifting through my most intimate thoughts and fears with grimy hands. I feel dirty. I already didn’t like Alora. This isn’t helping.
Alora doesn’t answer, and she looks uncomfortable for the first time that I can remember. Even as a kid she was confident and self-assured. Now she looks like she wants to ask for a do-over.
Next to her, Nanda’s smile is starting to look brittle. Did she forget how Alora and I didn’t get along? Did she think that would change just because a few years have gone by? Knowing Nanda, she’s wondering what food she can make to save the situation. I bet she’s rearranging the lunch menu as we speak.
Alora looks at me, still ignoring Cass. There’s a flash of irritation in her eyes before she regains control of her emotions. “I’m a Fate. We work with the Oracles to help navigate the Paths and guide events. It’s only natural that we would examine the Strands of Time and how they relate to the people around us.” And there it is, the same haughty tone I remember from so long ago.
“You tried to see my future?” I say, a little in disbelief. Part of me wants to hit her for prying, but the other part of me wants to know what she saw.
Behind me, Cass snorts. “They’re busybodies,” she mutters. “They try to piece together the information they steal from people to form predictions.”
“We do not make predictions, we see the possibilities. There’s a difference,” Alora snaps, still not making eye contact with Cass. It’s almost distracting how carefully she’s avoiding her gaze. Is she afraid of Cass? I kind of like the idea that someone can intimidate Alora.
“I know what they do,” I murmur back to Cass, crossing my arms. Like many vættir, I don’t really like seers. I like to think that maybe some things aren’t destined. My mother hated them. Although she was never rude to Alora, she always looked at her the way someone would a strange dog, like she was just waiting for her to crap on the rug.
It always seemed odd to me that Alora wasn’t a Harpy, since usually the line breeds true. But the one time I asked about it, Mom had shaken her head. “Some lines are stronger than ours. It’s a disgrace, really, that Nanda would’ve bred with someone who couldn’t give her a strong daughter. But that’s where love will get you.” She’d seemed more sad than angry when she told me that, and it was such an odd response that I dropped the matter entirely.
We had a few Fates and our own Oracle back at the Aerie. Most of the larger Aeries did. The Fates would predict which jobs would end up most profitable and help the Matriarch negotiate terms. Since Harpies are basically hired killers, they like to know where the chips will fall before they sign on to a cause. There’s no harm in fighting for a lost cause, just as long as you get out before too many of your people get killed.
I take a deep breath and try to put on my best manners. “Look, what do you want? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m trying to figure out how to fulfill some Promise here.”
Alora sighs. “That’s why I’m here, Peep. I’m going to guide you to the Oracle. She’ll help you understand what your next steps should be.”
I blink. “Oh? And what if I decide I don’t want to go see this Oracle?”
Tallon walks into the kitchen, halting a few feet inside the door. My eyes flicker over to him, and Alora turns around to see who I’m looking at. I give Cass a sideways glance. If Alora was so able to predict the future, shouldn’t she have known it was Tallon without looking?
Before I can make a snarky comment about her lack of future-seeing skills, Alora lets out an earsplitting scream and launches herself into Tallon’s arms. He catches her with a grin, and my talons actually slide out of their nail beds. I want to claw Alora’s eyes out.
It’s just like old times. The biggest obstacle between me and Tallon when we were kids was Alora. While playing pretend, she always had to make Tallon her pet dragon, or her prince, or something that would pit him against me. From the way he glares at me over her shoulder, some things never change.
I shake my head and take a deep breath. My talons slide back under my fingernails. I’m being silly. Alora isn’t out to get me. I may not like her, but her Oracle is going to be my best bet for figuring out how to get this prophecy thing over with and getting on with my life. Because that’s what I need to do, just save the world and get on with my life.
The thought of me saving anything is so funny that I laugh at myself.
Cass lays a hand on my arm and gives me a questioning look. “Are you okay?” she asks, and I nod. I don’t bother looking at her. Instead I’m watching Alora and Tallon talk like old friends. He’s even smiling. Why can’t I make him smile?
Ugh. Why do I care?
I feel reckless and out of control and maybe more than a little crazy. I’m half-tempted to insert myself between the two of them, although it would probably just earn me a glare from Tallon. We haven’t spoken in more than a week. I want to know what I did to piss him off. It had to be something.
Why won’t he just talk to me?
And why is he smiling so much at Alora? She doesn’t deserve his smiles.
Nanda moves over to talk to Alora and Tallon. While they’re occupied, Cass pulls me toward the back door. Once we’re outside, she sighs. “Emotions are a difficult thing. Especially where love is involved.”
I blink.“What? What are you talking about? I don’t love Tallon. I barely know him.”
“Uh-huh. I may no longer have my own feelings, but I know a smitten Harpy when I see one.” Cass puts her hand on my shoulder. “Sometimes the suddenness of our feelings can make them seem even more wrong.”
“It doesn’t matter, Cass. I’m wasting my time mooning over him. Did you see him? He was actually laughing and joking with her. All he does when he sees me is scowl like he’s afraid I’m going to steal the good silver.” I cross my arms, because it pisses me off. Why can’t he be like that with me? Why does he always have to be all frowny faced? I know Alora’s his cousin, but it doesn’t make it any less annoying.