Alex hands Gem to Snow and I watch the whole thing with curiosity. What a change in Snow. He used to keep to himself so much, but he really seems to have found himself in the role of a father. Snow lifts Gem up a little, pretending he’s flying or like he’s about to toss him up for fun, and he smiles at him.
"Hey, nephew, nice to know I’m not the only Nolan with that eye color…"
Then his gaze drifts to me. He opens his mouth to say something, but before he gets the chance, I blurt out,
"Can I talk to you for a few, Snowball?"
Snow takes it calmly. He stands, hands Gem back to Alex, and together we walk away from the tables and head toward the lake.
It’s relatively quiet there, the music and the sounds from the tables, where the River kids are running around, aren’t loud enough to interrupt a conversation.
For a long moment we just look at the surface of the water, and then I say,
"You know, Snow… I never understood why you couldn’t see my future even though you could see everyone else’s. And I guess I was a little angry about it, because when I was a kid I thought you were doing it on purpose, that you weren’t telling me because you just didn’t want to help me, because you didn’t care what happened to me… And then I believed you truly couldn’t see it, but that didn’t change the fact that I was still angry, because if you had seen it, a lot of terrible things might not have happened in my life…"
Snow slowly turns toward me, his expression filled with this strange kind of sadness.
"If I had been able to see your future, Bay, my power could have affected you, and so could Summer’s. Then you wouldn’t have been able to stop the catastrophe. So in a twisted way, everything lined up perfectly. It was meant to be. But… I am truly sorry I couldn’t help you, and that you felt let down."
A heavy sigh escapes me.
"Sometimes I think that the war between us never needed to happen, we could have just been… brothers, and supported each other. And there were days when I really needed that support."
Snow looks at me seriously.
"We can still be brothers, Bay." He says it and then lifts his hand slowly, placing it on my shoulder, and it feels strange, alien almost. "That’s the best part. We can still be brothers and from now on, from today, we can make different choices. A fresh start."
He tilts his head almost teasingly.
"And besides, we have more in common than any of our other brothers. After all, you and I are both devas."
I laugh quietly. "That term always amused me, even if there’s a grain of truth in it. It sounds like something from mythology."
"And what’s funny, now our situations are even more similar," Snow adds. "Summer and I used to be Twin Souls but… we fused our souls and then separated them again. Summer wanted that. That’s why we’re also True Mates now."
I heard about this from my dad, so I know what he means, what Snow and Summer went through.
"Sometimes I wonder how something like that is even possible. Fusing and splitting souls is incredible, and I guess it seems instinctive. We both did it."
Snow shakes his head firmly.
"Nothing like that. Neither you nor I could split our souls. That’s not part of our talents."
I raise my brows a little.
"I don’t get what you mean. We clearly did it."
"Nope. Dad did it."
"Excuse me?"
Snow bares his teeth in a small grin. "Think about it. Every time that miracle happened, Dad was there. He has a powerful energy matrix that’s basically the essence of creation. Dad helped me fuse my soul with Summer’s, and that’s why we survived that catastrophe. As Twin Souls, we couldn’t have done it on our own. And in your case, Dad helped split your soul so he could create a True Mate for you in Alex, back when your original Twin Soul left his body when Alex died in that accident."
I stare at him and Snow hesitates. "That was the only vision I ever had of you, Bay. When I was a kid, I dreamed it and tried to draw it for Dad, but of course no one believed me. I dreamed that Fate sent his angel, his messenger, to earth… you. Even witha torn soul, you still fulfilled your mission. You helped us, you stopped the catastrophe, you saved all of us. Thank you for that. I will always be in your debt."
Wow, that sounded intense and even gave me a little shiver, almost as if Fate himself had blown a breath of wind across my neck.
"No problem," I mutter, looking to the side, trying to downplay it, feeling a bit overwhelmed. "Although I’m not sure how much of a special ‘messenger’ I am and how much I was just the right person at the right time. Probably a coincidence," I add with a crooked smile, because the idea of being some sort of angel sent by Fate just doesn’t fit in my head. It sounds too weird. Then I continue, almost lightly, "So you’re saying that without Dad, I wouldn’t have my True Mate at all…"
