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~~~~~ (*****^-^*****) ~~~~~
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We finished off the gingerbread soldiers quick enough, too quickly for me, ad met up as the Fairy Council finished the witches.
"Are you okay?"
"Are you okay?"
Conner and I asked each other at the same time. He blushed as I laughed.
"But..." he said. "Seriously, are you alright? Did you get hurt?" He still was blushing as he said the words.
"I'm fine," I said, not laughing anymore. He sounded genuinely concerned and caring, it threw me off.
"Whew," Conner said and sat down to watch the fight. I sat down next to him. As we watched the Fairy Council fit the witches, I wished I could help, but I knew it was best for us to stay where we were.
"I wish my sister could control this, this," Conner said, grasping for words. "This curse."
I just sat there. I didn't know what I could do to help him. Give him a hug? That probably would result in more blushing. But before I could fail at saying the right thing, he continued speaking.
"She's always been stronger when it came to things like this," he said.
"Has there ever been a 'something like this'?" I asked patiently, knowing the answer.
"Yes- well, no," Conner answered. "I just thought she could handle something like this. Especially this."
"I understand...," I said. No, I didn't. I didn't even know what it was like to have a nice sibling. Not even that.
"I'm sorry," Conner said, his head in his hands. "I should never have dragged you into this when we were 13."
"Actually, I was the one to insist on coming along, so if we're going to blame someone, it's me."
"I guess that's true," Conner said, and I could see a smile blooming on his cute face. I mean, face. Just face.
"I was the one to barge into the men's restroom and listen in on your conversation with Mother Goose. I was the one to help us sneak out of the airport. I was the one to navigate when we rode our bikes from Munich. I was the one to help search in the vault. I was the one to help get to Alex."
"Are you just naming all your accomplishments during that trip?" Conner asked, his face fully visible now, beaming.
"Maybe," I said slowly and he nudged my shoulder. I laughed and nudged him back. He laughed, a sweet sound that fit his cute personality and stopped.
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~~~~~ (*****^-^*****) ~~~~~
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Rook had died. The boy from the secret path had died. He had taken the bullet for Alex and saved her life, taking his instead. It was a heart-wrenching scene. Movie worthy. Definitely.
Unfortunately, this made Alex spiral into a crazy person. She had clapped her hands above her, and a spiral the color of the light Milky Way appeared, sucking her and the lion statues into it and taking them across New York City. Another unfortunate thing was that with most of the witches defeated, there was no one to control Alex. She was a free spirit of destruction loose in NYC.
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~~~~~ (*****^-^*****) ~~~~~
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THANKS FOR READING!!!
BYE BOOK-HUGGERS!!!
TLOSGEEK2-OUT!!!