"It's not that I don't want to do everything I can to get the Sanctuary back to normal," Zephyr said suddenly, and I felt like he'd been thinking about this since we left the store.
"I know that," I assured him because I did. There was nothing Zephyr valued more than the Sanctuary and its people, and he would never intentionally let them be harmed.
"I just—it's hard for me to trust someone. And especially Nolan, with our history..." He trailed off, shaking his head. "I know now he didn't do anything wrong, but it's still hard to accept it after how long I spent hating him. I was afraid my magic would refuse to cooperate with his, but it worked fine yesterday. Maybe it won't be as hard to accept his magic to make everything else function properly, but I just..."
"I understand," I murmured as I spotted a small park with a bench he could sit on. I led us there and waved toward thebench. Zephyr sat down, and we were finally at the same level. "You've been doing all of this on your own for so long—of course it's going to be hard to let someone help now. Especially when you have history with them. Can you... can you tell me what happened? Only if you want to."
Zephyr blew out a breath, his gaze falling away. For a moment, he was quiet, and I figured he wasn't ready to talk. But then he reached forward and took my right hand in his, his skin warm against mine.
"I'll tell you, but it's not a pretty story," he said, and I smiled, though I felt no joy.
"It's yours, so I'd like to hear it," I murmured, and Zephyr nodded, then took a deep breath.
"My parents were both sorcerers, but they weren't very strong, not like me. My powers had stunned everyone since I started learning, and they caught a lot of attention, and not always the good kind."
I gripped his hand tighter as I imagined a smaller Zephyr captivating everyone with his magic. The image was sweet, though I could tell whatever happened next would be anything but.
"A sorcerer, a lord named Fredrick, decided to make me his disciple. He convinced my parents to let him take me to his place, to raise me. My parents said yes because they knew they weren't powerful enough to teach me properly, but he was."
"He wasn't a good guy, was he?" I asked as I remembered what Zamir had told me. Zephyr had been trying to escape someone when he asked Nolan for help, and I bet it was this man. "How old were you?"
"Eight, when he took me away. And no, he wasn't. He taught me, sure, but he didn't really let me use my magic outside of my studies. I later realized he was siphoning my magic to use for himself, but that was only after I got my familiar."
"Your familiar?" I asked in surprise. I'd assumed he didn't have a familiar because he'd never mentioned one, but if he'd had them once but didn't now, that meant... oh no.
Zephyr's lips curved in a fond smile, his fingers twitching in my hand. "She was beautiful. She was a rare one, a dog. While cats are often familiars, dogs rarely are, but she was great. She was the one who told me where my magic was going. After that, I started trying to figure out a way to get out. I tried sending her to find my parents, but she couldn't find them anywhere. It turned out Fredrick had long since killed them so I would have nowhere to go back to. He told me that himself when he realized what I was trying to do."
He shook his head, then cleared his throat. "Anyway, that was a few years before I met Nolan. All my attempts to escape had failed until then, but Nolan was so powerful, I thought if anyone could help me, it would be him. But Fredrick figured it out somehow, and he used some spell to keep us from seeing each other. I thought Nolan went back on his promise, while Nolan thought I changed my mind."
"Why didn't you leave when you first met him?" I asked, then realized it myself before he could explain. "Your familiar."
Zephyr nodded. "He knew he could control me with her, so he didn't let me take her on the few instances he let me out. I had to go back for her."
"What—what happened after?" I wasn't sure if I wanted to know, but I could already guess it.
"He punished me," he murmured in a low voice, his grip on my hand tightening almost enough to hurt, "by killing my familiar."
Five
Zephyr
Keoni looked like he'dexpected as much but wished it wasn't true. I felt the same. I missed Rei, missed her happy smiles and the way I never felt lonely when she was with me.
"It's how I lost this," I said, raising my metal forearm before dropping it back in my lap. "I tried to protect her, and he sliced right through it and didn't stop until she was gone."
"God, Zephyr, I'm so sorry," Keoni whispered in a choked voice, and I met his gaze only to find his eyes full of tears.
Shaking my head, I pulled my hand out of his and wiped his tears. "Why are you crying for me? It was a long time ago."
Keoni shook his head as more tears trickled down his cheek, and something warm unfurled in my chest. I wasn't alone now either, was I? I had a family bigger than I could've ever hoped for, and I also had Keoni.
I might not have had Rei anymore, but I had them.
"What happened next?" Keoni asked, and I frowned.
"I can tell you later," I murmured, not wanting him to shed any more tears because of me, but he shook his head.
"Finish it."
