This was going to haunt me for the rest of my life. Even if I never saw him again after this, I was never going to forget. I blinked right back at him, my soul shriveling up by the millisecond.
I’d given The Primordial a peace sign.
Some people could pull them off, and I wasn’t one of them, and we all knew it.
My voice was the size of a Smurf. “She’s like a god, okay?”
This motherfucker was still blinking at me. His voice sounded funny as he said, “We’re basically the same.”
“Not really.”
Another blink. “Yes, really.”
I closed one eye. “No, I don’t think so.”
That finally got me the stink eye.
“She’s Earth’s Champion,” I kept going.
Those purple eyes settled on me, glowing faintly. “And I’m… what?”
“You’re cool too, but everyone feels like they know her. She’s the face of the Trinity. You’re the one who, well, no one even really knows what your face looks like because it’s never been captured that well. Twenty percent more of the population started recycling and reusing after that speech she gave about climate change. I compost because of her.” Iusedto compost because of her. Oh, that made my heart hurt. I held my breath so I wouldn’t make a peep at the reminder of what had happened. I couldn’t change anything about it. I couldn’t magically get my things back.
But I was alive.
And I still wanted to cry. And knowing and accepting both was fine.
He crossed his arms over his impressive chest. “I like the anonymity.”
Oh. “But how do you do that? I mean, do that thing so nothing can get a shot of your face?”
He made a smug expression I didn’t like. Someone was back to his secrets, I guess.
But while we were on the topic of things he might not want to talk about…. “Is The Centurion your brother?” I blurted out.
“Yes.”
I almost fainted again.
What did his parents look like? Genetics were pretty amazing, and it did make sense. This was a State secret. More than that.
A thought came to me out of nowhere.
It made my throat start hurting even more as I flipped the thought one way and then another, looking at it at every angle.
And it only made it worse.
If I’d thought my voice had been small before, it was Hobbit-sized as I said, “Are you telling me this because you’re planning on killing me before I tell anyone?”
No.No.He wouldn’t have kept me alive this long just to kill me.
Would he?
His mouth opened just a little bit.
Then he blinked. I blinked. And his voice was totally flat as he asked, “What is wrong with you?”
Did he have to sound so serious?
