He loosened his grip and pulled back to look at Marlow, and she answered his questioning look with a nod to the back of the pub.
August lay curled up on his side on the cushioned bay window bench, his eyes closed. He looked exhausted and hollowed out.
“Hasn’t said a word since he brought you back.”
Felix’s gaze snapped to Marlow. “Brought me back?”
Her smile was weary and didn’t reach her eyes. She touched her thumb lightly to his temple. “You were dead, Felix.”
The weight of the words almost knocked him backward.
Dead.
Two gunshots.
His fingers sought the place she’d touched. Nothing. No mark, no pain.
How was that possible?
He looked back at August, and even through the horror of it all, he felt a smile touch his lips.
How many secrets do you have?
The brush of something against his arm startled August awake, and he lashed out thoughtlessly, grabbing the hand and flaring his magic. It was so natural now. So easy.
“It’s me.” The sound of Felix’s voice brought him back from the edge. He looked up and found those blue eyes, and everything in him uncoiled.
He was alright. Still breathing. Still the same Felix. But the gold flakes in his eyes were gone.
“Scoot,” Felix said.
He sat up, moving to make room, and Felix perched beside him.
August closed his eyes, sinking into the familiar feel of Felix’s magic, the hum of the air.
It felt different.
He needed time to recover, August reminded himself.
Through the cracked windows, warm golden light spilled across the floor. How long had he been sleeping?
The others sat huddled in their booth, leaning into one another, like a family.
A heavy weight pressed on August’s chest. His mother had his memories erased. She’d been lying to him for years.
He wished he could go back to not knowing. Wished he could lock the terrible memories back behind the walls.
He dug his fingers into his temples, as if he could claw the images out.
Gentle hands wrapped around his, loosening his grip, and his head throbbed where his nails had bitten into his skin.
Felix turned August’s hand over to examine the damage. The Hollow Dark had healed the wound, but the finger was gone.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “For all of it.”
August wrinkled his nose as he studied Felix. “I think I brought back the wrong person.”
The corner of Felix’s mouth lifted, but his eyes stayed on August’s hand, his finger tracing lightly across his palm.
