Page 136 of The Last Hope

Kinden looks me up and down like he’s slowly discovering more of who I am. Court Icecastle. Not the Etian Valcastle he used to know. “Little brother,” he says. “That was quite the deception. You brought that flask all the way here just to barter it.”

I nod.

He grins. “They didn’t deserve you.”

They.

He’s talking about Saltare-3. Our world. What used to be our home.

His faith in me never waned, and even now he carries a torch, bright and burning, leading the way for me. How lost I’ve been. How much I needed him.He’s here now.

And yet, I am playing the ultimate deception on Kinden. He doesn’t know I’m linked to Mykal and Franny. He has no clue we’re lifebloods.

And this is eating me apart.

I’m just not certain how to begin. Kinden always makes it easy, though. He rocks on the backs of his feet and tilts his head, waiting for me to speak.

It takes a harsh beat. “I’ve been keeping something from you,” I say. “And I can’t any longer.”

He’s here on Saltare-1 for me. To make up for lost time. But how is he supposed to know the real me without knowing this vital piece?

Kinden glances out at the sun that begins to slowly dip below the water’s edge. Colorful oranges and pinks bathe the sky. “I should be offended you’ve been holding back from me,” he says, “but I’m unsurprised. I knew there was something else.” He looks to me again, strength battling his brown eyes. “You know, you carry yourself like you have a thousand secrets.”

I do believe only he’d be able to see that.

“Just one more.”

He smiles and then his lips slowly fall. “Why now?”

Telling Kinden about the link is a risk. It allows one moreperson to know our secret. One more person who could accidentally spill it. So I’ve been waiting to explain everything to him until we’re safe.

But what if that day never comes? Back in the tunnels with Franny, we could have been killed. So easily, our luck could have turned for the worst. It seems more and more likely we won’t make it off Saltare-1. That’s what struck me most of all.

I may die here.

I’ve accepted that today.

What I can’t accept is leaving Kinden without knowing me.All of me.

The boy who spent five years in a cold prison—influenced and taught by a criminal. Who was forged from misery and pain only to be brought back to life by this unseen force.

By Mykal.

By Franny.

My lifebloods.

He has to know before I’m gone.

“I need you to know why I can’t be Etian anymore,” I say. “I need you to know… before I die.”

He nods strongly. “Okay.”

I tell him.

Everything.

From the day that I met Mykal. How we came to fold our arms around each other in the winter wood. To the moment Franny woke up in an alleyway, and I could sense the cold, frozen snow falling on her cheeks. The ice that bit her lips. I could feel her pain like it was my own.