Page 2

Finn

I jerked upright as I came awake, then hissed as my head slammed into something hard.

Rubbing my head, I blinked a few times, then sighed when I realized where I was. Not again .

Shaking off the stiffness in my limbs, I climbed out of my closet and shut the door behind me. Stretching my arms above my head and wincing at the ache, I glanced over at the clock. My nightmare had been kind enough to wake me up just in time for breakfast.

Grabbing my glasses from the nightstand, I slipped them on, then tried to get my hair into some semblance of order before giving up. The reddish-brown strands stood straight up, and for once, I was glad my sister was off to college so she couldn't tease me about it.

Heading out of my bedroom, I pushed the nightmare to the back of my mind with all the other nightmares and memories I preferred not to think about. I could hear my dads talking in the kitchen, and I found them plating up fluffy pancakes.

I pushed my glasses up when they started sliding down my nose, and wondered if it was time to get a new pair.

I'd been using this one for quite a while, and though it still worked just fine at protecting people from my magic, the frame had turned quite loose.

Considering how adamant everyone was that I didn't need them anymore, I was worried Raiden—the dragon who watched over this town, and who'd made my current glasses—might not make me a new pair, which was why I hadn't asked.

"Good morning, kiddo! Grab a plate," Dad said, and I grabbed a plate from the cabinet. Papa slid two pancakes onto my plate, and I wished them both a good morning before settling on a stool across the counter from them.

"Do you have any plans today?" Papa asked, and I shook my head.

Papa and Dad—Jai and Raphael Presley to everyone else—had adopted me and my siblings when I was thirteen, and it was the best thing that had ever happened to me.

I'd never thought I'd get to have a normal, loving family, but here I was.

"Not really. Did you need something?"

"Yeah. We're running low on a few things. Would you mind doing a grocery run?"

"Not at all."

Not many parents were willing to let their adult son live with them, but my dads had never even suggested I move out. I guessed part of it was that they both came from cultures where that was the norm, but I knew it was mostly because they truly didn't care.

I didn't think I was ready to live on my own, and I was glad they hadn't asked me to.

After I'd finished my breakfast, I freshened up and got dressed. Papa had a list waiting for me, and I grabbed the car keys before heading for the door.

"Finn!"

I turned with the door halfway open, and Dad gave me a sheepish grin, his blond hair falling into his face. "Take your time, okay?"

Take your time was his code for 'Your Papa and I need some alone-time.'

"Will do." Giving him a mock salute, I closed the door, then got into the car and started driving toward The One-Stop Shops, or TOSS as the locals called it. It was a shopping center that housed everything from an arcade to a grocery store.

Mistvale was as alive as ever, and while the sky was clear, it could change at the drop of a hat. That was what happened when the weather in your town depended on the emotions of the storm dragon who watched over it.

Raiden was pretty mild-mannered most of the time, but with his son off on a belated honeymoon, and his eggs only three months away from hatching—dragon eggs hatched after eighteen whole months—I imagined he wasn't at his best, which meant untimely rain and unpredictable storms .

The drive to TOSS was pretty straightforward, and I fell into the familiar routine of finding a parking space, then finding a cart and filling it with items.

Focusing on a task always made my mind go blissfully quiet.

While most days, my past was nothing but a distant memory, and I enjoyed every moment of my present, sometimes something random would send me hurtling back, and suddenly, the nightmares and the memories would be back.

Being away from my siblings and unable to make sure they were safe didn't help either.

When my dads had first adopted me and my siblings, we'd all gone to therapy.

Back then, I hadn't really trusted anyone, and I hadn't been able to relax enough to actually share my problems with Dr. Griffin, the therapist I'd seen.

I'd been worried my new parents would decide I was too much trouble and try to separate us, even though Dr. Griffin had assured me whatever I said would stay between us.

I'd gone to Dr. Griffin again when I turned eighteen and my magic revealed itself. That time had been a little better, and while I'd learned some coping methods and tricks to remind myself my past was just that, I still struggled sometimes.

I blinked as I realized I'd been standing in the middle of the aisle and staring at the list for a few minutes now.

Actually scanning the list revealed I had everything I needed.

I made my way to the checkout counter, cheering mentally when I found one open.

Mistvale was a small town, so the counters were usually open—unless you really needed them, of course .

The cashier, a cheerful person named Juan, started scanning my purchases as they small-talked, and I tried my best to stay in the present and engage. Sometimes, I was terrible at talking to people I didn't know well.

Someone stepped in behind me as I handed Juan my card, and I turned to the stranger, giving him a smile.

The man was shorter than me, maybe 5 ' 10 ", and stocky, with messy black hair and ocean-blue eyes.

Something about him looked familiar, but I couldn't quite place it.

I could sense he was a mage, an earth mage.

Had I seen him around town before? I had a feeling I'd have noticed him if I had.

He tilted his head, and I realized he was watching me just as closely as I'd been examining him. The curiosity in his eyes probably mirrored mine. Just who was he?

"Those eyes..." he mumbled, and for a moment, my heart stopped as I wondered if I'd lost control of my powers, if he'd seen a flash of my basilisk.

But then, he said, "Gin?" and all of a sudden, I remembered exactly who he was.

There was only one person who'd ever called me Gin (short for Ginger, because of my reddish hair, such an original nickname) and he was supposed to be dead .

Levi

Finn. He was really here. He was alive .

"Levi?" His voice came out a little choked, and I wondered if he'd thought I was dead too.

"It's me," I confirmed, and his eyes widened behind his glasses. I wondered what that was about? Supe eyesight didn't exactly weaken, but it'd been years since I last saw him. Had those monsters harmed him further after I'd escaped?

"Holy shit," he mumbled, his eyes roaming all over me, a furrow between his brows. I had no idea what was going through his head, but mine was filled with excitement. I'd thought I would never see him again. I'd spent years feeling guilty I hadn't found him and the others in time. The others…

"Penny and Dean?"

Finn's face softened, and he dipped his head in a shallow nod. "They're okay."

"Here you go. Thank you for shopping!" the cashier—Juan, pronouns they/them, according to their name tag—said as they handed back Finn's credit card.

Finn glanced back at me, and a dozen expressions seemed to flash across his face one after the other before he looked away. He exhaled loudly enough for me to hear, then shook his head.

"I have to go," Finn said as he grabbed the grocery bags and started making his way to the exit. Wait, what?

"Gin! Wait up!"

Instead of waiting, Finn picked up pace and disappeared through the exit, leaving me standing there with a cart full of groceries and a mind full of confusion.

What had just happened? I'd thought we were catching up.

Was Finn not as surprised to see me as I was him?

Or was I just a reminder of an awful time in his past ?

Moving to Mistvale had been an impulsive decision after I'd heard about the supe-friendly town from another supe at a club. I'd just quit my job, and I'd been looking for a fresh start. Mistvale had sounded like as good a place as any.

Now I couldn't help wondering if I was meant to be here. What were the chances I'd stumble into the man I'd spent years missing in my first week of living here?

The last time I'd seen Finn, we'd both been kids, though he was three years younger than me.

Thirteen and far too small for his age, yet desperately protective of his little sister and brother.

He was the strongest person I'd ever known, and I wished I could've taken him with me when I ran, but he never would've left his siblings behind, and I couldn't have ensured their safety if they'd come with us.

Not that staying at the mercy of a bunch of terrible people who were regularly draining our blood was any safer.

I'd always planned to come back and rescue them and the others once I was stronger, once I'd healed enough to have access to my magic again, but when I returned, the place had been abandoned, and there was no sign of where they could've gone or if they'd even survived.

Finn was on my mind as Juan finished scanning my purchases, and I drove home with a million questions jumping around my head. I needed to find Finn again, to have a proper conversation. I had to figure out why he'd taken off the way he had. Had I said something wrong, done something wrong ?

When I walked into the house, Greta was already waiting for me just inside, her dark eyes full of judgement at having been abandoned for hours.

Greta eyed me for a long moment, then climbed up my leg before wrapping herself around my neck like a furry little scarf.

"Guess who I met today?" I asked her as I carried the groceries into the kitchen. I loved my new place. It was bigger than my old one, but cost about the same. Small towns were great like that.

"It was Finn. Remember him? I've told you about him before, haven't I?" She made a grumbling sound I took to mean agreement, and I told her all about our encounter as I put the groceries away, as if she could somehow puzzle out Finn's strange behavior when I couldn't.

Meeting again after all these years had to mean something, right?

Despite him being three years younger than me, Finn and I had been good friends before I made my escape.

I'd thought about him and his siblings, Amelia, and the twins, on and off for the past fourteen years.

I'd imagined what Finn would look like as an adult.

I'd worried if he'd even made it into adulthood.

But now here we were, in the same town through sheer coincidence. Maybe we could be friends again, if I could just find him and talk to him again. I'd enjoy having him in my life. He'd made a great friend back then, and I imagined that hadn't changed, even if much about him had .

I'd never thought I'd one day think of the scrappy young kid I'd once known as hot, but damn.

Finn was all long limbs and slim physique, still as thin as ever but without the boniness that came from being malnourished and underfed.

He was lean now, and taller than me! I hadn't expected that.

I'd always imagined him smaller, but his height suited him.

Heading into the living room, I settled on the couch as Greta climbed from my neck to my lap. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I wished I had Finn's number so I could text him. Now that I'd seen him, he was all I could think about.

In a town this small, I was sure we'd stumble into each other sooner or later, but patience wasn't a virtue of mine. I didn't want to wait around for the universe to cross our paths. I wanted to track him down right now.

Fuck it.

"Hey, Greta. Will you help me?"

Greta peered up at me with her dark, beady eyes, and I smiled. Going into great detail, I described what Finn looked like. "Can you find him? I know he lives somewhere in town, but I don't know where."

She peered at me for a long moment, then nodded. Smiling, I opened the back door, and she raced out, disappearing through the foliage. I was confident she would find him, and once she did, I'd make Finn talk to me.