Christian rose from his chair. “I’ll be more than happy to go down and see if that shitebag who works there is the one responsible.”
“Field trip,” Shepherd said, standing up. “Let’s head out.”
Wyatt smiled across the table at me and reached for the casserole spoon. “Welcome to Keystone. Just another day in the life.”
Chapter 31
It was almost sundown, and billowy clouds had overtaken the skies. Christian and Shepherd were still gone, and after playing a few games of pool with Wyatt, I went to my room and read through Penny’s diary again. When I finished, I tucked it in my desk drawer and took a walk to stretch my legs.
I found a nice private nook on the third floor—an alcove with an oversized window. There weren’t any chairs, but I didn’t need one since the window was pushed away from the wall, creating a stone archway and window seat. I sat down, window to my right, and watched the light dimming.
Niko appeared, his fingertips running along the wall. “You’re hiding.”
“It’s only hiding if someone’s looking.”
His silky hair fell handsomely past his shoulders, almost vanishing against his long-sleeved black shirt. After he took a seat across from me, he bent his knees until he was sitting like me, the tips of our toes touching.
“I smell snow,” he said, drawing in a deep breath.
“It’s just cloudy.” I glanced outside and noticed a few flakes falling.
“Gem will be pleased when it comes early this year.”
“Are you mad at her?”
He frowned, his thick brows smothering his pale eyes. “Why would you ask me that?”
“I don’t know. You’ve been avoiding her all day. And you were a little snippy in the medical room.”
His gaze fixed on me, but he didn’t look me in the eye. “Gem could do little to provoke me.”
I grimaced. “Maybe I should tell you about the shirt in your wardrobe.”
He reclined his head against the wall. A smile touched his lips, and he folded his arms. “I’m aware of her pranks. I have an order for everything, and when it first appeared in my wardrobe, it smelled of her perfume. It wasn’t Gem’s week to do laundry either. I cut the corner of the inside tag to know which one it was, and the first time I wore it, everyone’s color rippled with humor.”
“There are two. Want to know what color they are?”
He chuckled. “It hardly matters to a blind man.”
“But it’s silly. People are laughing at you.”
Niko looked up. His eyes were so pale they resembled shards of ice. “Don’t dwell on things that don’t matter. I enjoy the way her color changes when I put it on. It makes her happy. Something tells me that Gem deserves to laugh more than the rest of us. I sense she didn’t have enough of that in her childhood, which is unfortunate among Breed.”
“So you know she was a Relic?”
“Yes, that much is apparent by her innate knowledge of language. But Gem is guarded when it comes to her past. I do not wish to discuss things that make people’s energy go dark, which is why I came to speak to you.”
“About what?”
“Your light has been dark all day. It grows dimmer each time I see you pass in the hall. What’s troubling you?”
I turned my gaze out the window, feeling the cool draft against the side of my face. “I can’t stop thinking about Penny and Lachlan.”
“The victim?”
“Yes. She left a diary and wrote about her life. She fell in love with a man who changed her.”
“Ah. You mean he was the Creator who gave her immortality.”
