“Matt, wait.”
“Not waiting. Walk faster, Marin.”
My brother walked with his head down, hands shoved deep into his pockets. He was headed straight for the bridge and I had to jog a few steps until I caught up. He didn’t look at me as I fell in with him, his expression grim and tight and his eyes hard.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, all but breathless. The cold was almost enough to steal the air right out of my lungs. “Matt, talk to me.”
“Not until we’re out of earshot of damn well everyone,” he said, barely looking at me. “The last thing I need is everyone thinking I’ve jumped off the deep end with the rest of you.”
I glared at him. “Cut the act. You believe us.”
“Of course I do,” he said in a bare whisper. “You’re my sister. I love you. I wanted to doubt it for a long time but I know that I can’t. I know I can’t deny what the lot of you can do, I know that I believe you. That doesn’t mean I want to believe that I’ve got some kind of crazy destiny or past or whatever.” He blew out a breath. “At least, I don’t want to admit it.”
“Matt,” I whispered. He reached out and squeezed my arm, sighing.
“I think I know where the missing pieces are,” he said, his voice a little stronger now that we were crossing the bridge, out of earshot from any of our friends. “I have some ideas.”
“How–” I stopped, staring at him. “You don’t have to tell me how you know if you don’t want to.”
The bare ghost of a smile touched his lips. “I dream about being the Ridden Druid, sis. I loved being your brother then–I loved my sister. I love my sister.”
He hugged me fiercely then and I hugged him back, not knowing what to say.
How do you respond to that?
