J.T. strode out across the bridge and away from the boundaries of the settlement, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his leather jacket and shivering in the chill.\u00a0 The sun was bright, the sky bottomless and blue, the world quiet except for the sound of his boots on the snow.<\/p>\n
This is insane. All of this is insane.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201c\u00c9riu,\u201d he said softly as he reached the plaza beyond the bridge, \u201care you near?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m never far, brother,\u201d <\/i>her whisper-thin voice said.\u00a0 \u201cWhy have you called?\u00a0 You never call out to me.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
He winced, glancing at her with the corner of his eye as her spirit manifested to his left.\u00a0 It was true\u2014in a lot of ways, he tried to avoid her as much as Marin did, though he was more used to her presence, more used to her being near, but they rarely talked.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe I should do it more often,\u201d he muttered.\u00a0 \u201cBut it\u2019s hard for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course it is.\u00a0 It\u2019s not an easy thing for anyone who can bind and heal spirits.\u201d<\/i> One corner of her ghostly mouth quirked toward a smile.\u00a0 \u201cWhat did you need?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cA favor,\u201d he said, his heart starting to beat a little faster.\u00a0 She\u2019s going to say no.\u00a0 She won\u2019t want to abandon her watch over Tala and Neve and Marin.<\/i>\u00a0 \u201cPhelan\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u00a0 The damned fool\u2014but my parents could never seem to talk him out of something foolhardy when I was alive, so I don\u2019t suppose it should actually be that different now that they\u2019ve been reborn.\u201d<\/i>\u00a0 She tilted her head to one side.\u00a0 \u201cWhat favor are you about to ask that pertains to his idiocy?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cI need you to get to him before his enemies do and warn him that they\u2019re coming.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t, I don\u2019t know that we\u2019ll see him alive again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
J.T. strode out across the bridge and away from the boundaries of the settlement, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his leather jacket and shivering in the chill.\u00a0 The sun was bright, the sky bottomless and blue, the … Continue reading