Twice Born

Chapter 13

I wait until the noise dies down before I say, “I know why I came to the shelter. I wanted to see you—to see how you’re doing.”

“Why?”

He asks this so plainly, without a hint of anger in his voice. His quiet only multiplies my anxiety. And all of a sudden, I’m scared that he knows. That he knows what really happened to him last night. Who hurt him.

No. Don’t be silly, Bree. Of course he doesn’t. He won’t be sitting here so calmly if he does. “Because I care about you,” I say.

“You could have fooled me yesterday, with the way you ran out of the house like the devil was chasing after you.” He picks up a leaf between us and inspects it, turning it over and over in his hands. “I’ve been thinking really hard about your reaction when you saw the tattoo. You weren’t just angry or worried, Bree. You were truly scared.”

“I—I told you, I saw the tattoo on the wrist of that man—”

“Don’t take me for a fool.” His hard gaze robs me of my breath. “You knew about the Sunblade. And whatever it was had you so frightened you couldn’t even bear to be near me. You owe it to me to tell me why.”

I remember Royce’s advice. About sharing my burdens with Daniel. It was hard to do so then, when I didn’t know Daniel was a Tracker. Now? It’s impossible. It would be catastrophic. A year ago, I passed through a little town called Agal Daine and stopped at a town square to watch a play. It was a comedy, but I heard one line that rang so true it stayed with me since then.

A man will do anything for a full belly, but he’ll do more for a cause he believes in, even suffer hunger.

As long as Daniel has full conviction in the Sunblade Trackers, I can’t relax my guard completely. Even if I can’t bring myself to stay away from him.

“I’ve heard stories about Trackers,” I say. “About how they kill people or take them away in the middle of the night. And I think they might’ve taken Henry, too.”

His eyes widen in surprise. I’m relieved he’s not reacting with suspicion. I can tell him half of my story without incriminating myself.

“Why would they take your brother?” he asks.

I place my feet on the step below mine and wrap my arms around my legs, hunching forward. “They found out he was a Twice Born.”

“And what happened to him?”

This next part is all true, and repeating it hurts deep inside. “Four men on horses came to our house. My mother was working on her garden. Henry and I were with her. They attacked her first. One of them stabbed her while another grabbed Henry. I was closest to our house, so I ran inside, with my mother’s screams ringing in my ears.”

I swallow the ache in my throat. “She kept saying, ‘Don’t hurt my little boy.’” This is the strongest recollection I have of the sound of her voice. “I ran straight into my father’s study and into his arms. He took me through the back door and hid me in the stables, in a small room behind a secret hatch door. Shortly before he died.”

I stop, confused. Something isn’t right. My father was with me in the stables that day. And he was in his study before then. The Trackers didn’t get to him, like they did my mother. So how could he have bled to death in the stables?

I nearly jump when a warm hand clasps my shoulder. Daniel’s expression has gentled, but I’m too disoriented by my jumbled thoughts to feel relief. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. I really am, Bree. It explains so much about you. To witness your parents’ brutal end, all because your brother was a Twice Born.”