The emotions that slammed into me then came on fast and hard.
I’ve been on my own for a decade.Those words ripped my heart right open, and suddenly I was mourning for his loss as if it were my own.
“I’m sorry. How old were you when…?” Last question, please answer.
I could feel him shutting down, turning away from me, and increasing his walking speed.
“Eleven.”
Eleven! He lost his entire family when he was eleven? That made him twenty-one.
“So you’re not like five hundred years old?”
He stopped walking, peered at me with wonder, and then burst out laughing.
I joined him, and suddenly we were standing in the middle of the Dregs laughing until tears streamed down our faces.
“You thought I was that old this entire time?” He couldn’t stop smiling, and Creator help me, it did things to my insides.
I shrugged. “Wolfkin are immortal or something, right?”
He chuckled, shaking his head. “We age normally until about forty. Then it slows and we naturally die about age two hundred—unless killed earlier, of course.”
I frowned. “But you said something about your dad having wielded Valkaryn.” I placed a hand on her hilt, and she vibrated. “Yet I’m told she hasn’t been wielded in a thousand years.”
His face fell at my mention of his father.
“That’s not what I said.” His words were clipped. “Let’s get back and check on your mother.”
He walked quickly then, too quickly for me to keep up.
This conversation was clearly over.
Chapter Sixteen
“Well, I'd better head to the factory for the night shift,” Elia told the children. She’d barely just returned from my mother’s day shift, made dinner, and was off again. She truly was a blessing.
They chorused their displeasure, clearly liking having her around.
“No, I’ll go if you keep an eye on Brynn,” Kaelric said, standing up.
Elia raised an eyebrow. “You’re going to work all night at the sewing factory? You?”
She gave him a knowing grin as if it were an inside joke. He reached out and flicked her ear, causing her to recoil and laugh.
“Yes, I will,” he told her. “I can figure out some stupidmachine.”
“He saidstupid!” Sable announced to the whole room.
I grinned when Kaelric winced.
I looked down at my mother, who was already back asleep on the couch, and stood. She’d had a nice dinner and seemed better. “I’ll go. I know how to do that job. I’ve filled in for my mother many times.”
Kaelric shook his head. “We start training for the next trial bright and early. You need rest and time with your family.” He looked at his cousin. “Protect her.”
She nodded once, and I rolled my eyes.
I could protect myself. Or at least Valkaryn could. I wanted to argue, but he was already out the door.
