Your mother?
Probably. I wonder where she is.
He frowns, but doesn’t write anything. I wonder if he's thinking the same thing I am–what I have been since the moment I saw Silvia. My mother is probably dead. Which I suppose isn’t any different from what I believed my entire life up until three weeks ago, but still. It’s strange to contemplate, especially after seeing Silvia.
She looks exactly like me.
Fox shakes his head aggressively, mouthing: “No.”
I roll my eyes.
She does!
He snatches the quill back from me.
She doesn’t. Your expressions are different
Again I roll my eyes.
If you saw us both together wearing the same thing I doubt you’d know which was which
He gives me a stony stare.
I’d. know.
Whatever. So what do I do now?
???
I throw my hands up, gesturing at nothing in particular, as if to say“Everything.”
Fox cocks his head, thinking.
We could always leave
Be serious
I am. You wanted to see if your family was here. They are. If you don’t want to learn any more about your sister we can leave. You have family back in Vernallis.
My chest swells a little as I read that last line. He’s right, even if Silvia and I had never met, I’m not alone. I have family. There are those I chose, like Beatrix and Alix and the rest of our friends, and there’s Daemon, who is related to me by blood through my father.
And, of course, I have Fox—or at least, sometimes it seems like I do. Maybe he doesn’t want to be bonded–or can’t–but I don’t think he’d abandon me.
That thought reminds me of the other reason we’re here, and I bite my lip.
What about the wolves?
What about them?
I look at him sideways and he stares back, giving nothing away.
Kai wants you to kill her
I told you, I don’t think I could even if I wanted to
I bite my lip harder, tasting copper on my tongue. As twisted as it is, part of me is glad he doesn’t believe he can kill Silvia. Not that I want him to be bound to her—that thought makes me ill—but because this would be so much worse if Fox and I had to debate the merits of leaving my sister alive.
She seems excited to meet me. I was surprised, but I think I might feel better after a nap andsome dinner. Perhaps we will be friends and I can just ask her to free the wolves. Maybe she doesn’t even realize what’s happening. Maybe this is something that can be fixed without killing anyone
