Page 142 of The Echo of Forever

I ignored the request, though I had no plans to do Quinn how I’d done him. Pulling the gun was a knee-jerk reaction in the first place.

Forever didn’t cry. Not like that.

And as her older brother, how could he not know?

But when I really thought about it, after he agreed to get me this uninterrupted time, I realized just how different he and Forever were from me and my siblings.

We moved past the empty reception desk and took the elevator up to the third floor.

“For the record, nigga,” he said, breaking the silence as we moved past the empty reception desk and took the elevator up to the third floor. “There’s a lot of shit I wouldn’t know. Forever and I were never meant to have a close relationship, and theyraised us that way. Most of my childhood was spent with my grandfather until I hit fourteen and he passed away.”

I hummed, tucking that information for later.

Kai stepped out first, and we walked down a hallway lined with numbered doors that looked more like hotel rooms than patient quarters.

“My sister is different,” he went on, stopping in front of room 307. “She was raised to be a miniature version of Eliel, trained to take more than most. I’m not surprised that somewhere along the way she got hurt.”

Forever had always kept her family at arm’s length, even before we met. The way she talked about her mother always hinted at distrust but respect.

There was love there, whether she wanted it to be or not.

“Got any idea why she was chosen to be his protege and not you?” I asked, lifting an eyebrow.

He chuckled, swiped his entry card, and then answered.

“Because I’m not his son ,and had my father not been killed before I was born, Forever wouldn’t be his daughter.”

I reared back a little, genuinely shocked by the confession.

Kai pushed the door open.

“No, Forever doesn’t know,” he added, waving for me to enter. “Don’t really give a fuck if you tell her, because it ain’t that kind of secret. Anything else you want to know will have to come from our ma. May the odds be in your favor.”

I took that for what it was and stepped through the doorway, not moving until the door shut.

Quinn was sitting up in bed but didn’t look at me, though I knew she’d heard me enter and probably our conversation, too.

“I’ve been expecting you,” she said. “The man who clearly stole my daughter’s heart without my permission.”

She turned, and I saw Forever’s eyes looking back at me, just sadder.

For a moment, I considered turning back. Walking away and letting whatever secrets she carried stay buried. But how could Forever really be free from any of this if she couldn’t remember?

Protecting her had become my life’s mission.

“Let’s talk,” I said, stepping further into the room.

Even if it meant going up against her past without her knowledge.

CHAPTER 35

FOREVER

TWO DAYS LATER

I leanedagainst the wall outside the Trustees’ Chamber, arms crossed, with my foot propped against the wall. They were taking their sweet time to call me in.

This hearing was about to change everything, and I had to use the time wisely or miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime.