Fin’s smile widened, his eyes sparkling. “…an…angry…ballet…” he repeated with a chuckle.
“…on ice,” Hailey said defensively, “except there’s more fighting…”
“And more testosterone,” Fin pointed out.
“Less estrogen, for sure.”
“No estrogen,” he corrected.
“Fewer teeth,” Hailey chimed.
“No tights…” said Fin.
“…that you know of…”
“Sharper footwear,” Fin offered.
“Duller wits,” Hailey countered.
“More wood,” they both said in unison, and Hailey’s eyes went wide. She meant hockey sticks but was pretty sure he meant something else.
“Alexei made some pretty spectacular saves,” said Hailey, eager to change the subject.
“He’s not bad.”
She nodded, staring out the window into the darkness for several seconds before turning to him again.
“Did you really pull us out of the fire?”
“Mmmm… Yep,” he said coolly, and then he drummed his hands on the seat in front of them.
“Why…” Hailey shook her head. “…you never mentioned…” her mind raced wildly before she finally took hold of a thought. “What happened that night?”
“Well,” he sang, his eyes going far-off for a bit, “Cobon and Adalwolf were going to open the Aether. Cobon had your parents killed and sent Adalwolf to take care of you two. When I got to your room, he had you by the throat…”
Here Fin hesitated, seeming to choose his words.
“…and then he exploded.” He shrugged. “The house was on fire; I grabbed you and Holly and dragged you outside.”
Hailey shook her head. “Why were you there?”
“A lot of folks were there,” he said, “including your buddy Asher—just watching the murders, like it was a TV show…waiting to see what would happen,” he said bleakly. “When the other Envoys heard Adalwolf bought it, they hightailed it out of there. I stayed until the fire trucks showed up.”
“All this time I thought it was Asher.” Hailey dropped her brow.
“Asher can be very manipulative,” he said darkly, and Hailey bit her lip.
Asher had never actually said that he’d rescued her from the fire—she just assumed he did. And it had bolstered her trust in him. He'd only said he was there.Watching…standing by while Adalwolf—
She shuddered and pushed the unthinkable out of her mind.
“Why did your parents say you were a lad?”
“I was. I was nine years old,” he told her. “Well—I was four hundred and thirty-something, living as a nine-year old,” he said leaning into her.
Hailey frowned, unable to recall all the details from that night and unable to fathom his curse. She stared out the window for a long while before she suddenly remembered...
“Hey, what does your tattoo say?” She’d meant to ask him in the locker room.
