“I was just starting to believe that…when Uncle Max showed up. I thought he was there on official business. Because we’d all skipped archery practice the day before.”
“Oh. Shit.”
“Finding out he’d lost his mind only made it worse. It meant any adult could pick up an axe, anytime.” Sebastian went silent, and for the first time I saw how deep his fear ran.
“That’s not true,” I said.
“What if Xavier’s right, and we’re too controlled? Maybe it keeps building up, until we lose it—one way or another. Are you going to report me?”
“No,” I said without thinking.
He looked into my eyes. “I can always tell when people are lying, Jess. Except you.”
The strange thing was, I wasn’t lying. The fact that Sebastian was afraid of our elders—afraid ofus, the Mortons—was unthinkable.
He was not like Peter. He was like me. Neither of us would ever be culled.
“I won’t tell the family anything,” I said. “Do you want me to swear?”
“I’m out of thread. But bloodisthe mother of history.”
Our oldest certainty, said with a grin.
He twirled the needle in the flame once more, and some small remainder of me on its point sizzled. He delicately pricked his finger, and touched its tip to the center of my stitched palm. “I promise: No more lies.”
I made a decision. “Ask me anything.”
“If Grandmother had told you to kill Peter, would you have?”
“Yes,” I said.
Sebastian sighed a little. He’d missed the target though.
“Better me than someone else,” I said. “Peter and I loved each other. What about you?”
“I’d kill him. It’s not like there’s a choice.”
I took a breath, relieved that he understood. I almost told him, but the old rivalry was still there—I knew something that Sebastian didn’t.
“Sometimes my memories of that day are shaky,” he said. “Did you throw the padlocks or did I?”
“It was your idea, but I threw them.”
“And then we ran,” he said.
“Gertie ran ahead to get help. I got Tom and Peter out. You covered our retreat.”
“I stabbed Uncle Max in the legs.”
“That’s why he didn’t catch us.”
Sebastian looked relieved to be saying this out loud. “And then we killed him.”
“No. Arabella killed him with an arrow.”
He shook his head. “She missed his heart. He was still breathing. We went back and kicked and kicked and kicked him.”
“I’d forgotten that.”
