Chapter 24

The passage of countless cycles had done something to Julian that years of mundane life in Aethel never could. He felt a stillness in his core that hadn't been there before—a patience born of seeing every possible way a conversation could fail. He was calmer, more deliberate, and as he sat in the train compartment watching the landscape blur, he found himself looking at his sister with something other than the reflexive annoyance of an older brother. Chloe Hayes sat across from him, her...