Page 26 of The Sirin Sisterhood (The Sons of Echidna #2)

Lai

“So how come you get to keep your tattoos and brand when you shift but not the scars from when your father slit your throat?”Lucy asked, way too close in Lai’s personal space now that the hugging was done. “And how come the cut didn’t heal? Is it because it isn’t what killed you?”

Lai sighed. There wasn’t a single, simple answer, though Lucy was surprisingly close.

“Honestly? No idea. Ryan thinks it’s like a ‘magical memory’kind ofthing; if the wound is lethal and has no chance to heal, it vanishes with the transformation.

But if it’s something that was part of you for a while, you get to keep it.

I once got my arm torn clean off in a fight, but because my head followed right after, I shifted.

When I turned back, all of my parts had regrown.

It hadn’t been long enough for my curse to register the missing arm, so. ..”

Lai paused to bask in Lucy’s horrified expression as she imagined the gory scene.

“Is that why Aris has so many scars, and you don’t? You just…”She made a sweeping motion over her throat, surprising Lai again with her insight.

“He once killed himself after popping a massive zit,”Klein laughed.

“It was going to leave a crater of a scar.”Lai shrugged, unbothered by the mockery. “If you weren’t such a coward, you would still have both eyes.”

“If I wasn’t a coward, you’d be dead.”Klein crossed his arms with a scowl.

Fair point.

Lai mimicked his brother, leaning against the seat and ignoring Lucy’s curious looks.

He was exhausted, the heavy tiredness that a full night’s rest wouldn’t fix.

It was the kind of soul-wearing exhaustion that could only be cured by a long holiday on a sandy beach somewhere in the tropics.

Lai drifted off as he imagined a cold drink in his hand and a tanned man by his feet.

When he woke up, the plane had begun its descent. Lai sleepily glanced over to Lucy to see if she needed comfort. He already knew Klein was fine.

Klein was looking out of the window, concern obvious on his tired features.

“What is it?”Lai ignored his stiffness as he got up from his seat, peering from the window next to his brother.

He suddenly understood the anxiety, his heart skipping a beat.

The plane was rapidly losing altitude, landing gears extended with nothing but endless miles of ocean beneath them.

Lai didn’t mind planes, but he detested ships, and the aircraft was seconds away from becoming a submarine.

Lai didn’t have time to cry out a warning, grabbing onto the seat and bracing for impact. He flinched, then blinked as the tires met smooth tarmac, and the great blue void gave birth to an enormous military base from thin air.

Grace laughed from behind him. “Neat trick, huh?”She winked. “Love watching new blood shit their pants. This base is the only one of its kind, a prototype. Farrowatcher tech at its finest.”

“That’s pretty cool,”Lai offered slowly, his eyes focused on the unmarked gray buildings zipping past them as the plane slowed to a stop. No flags, no logo, not even numbers on hangars. Lai doubted there was a single government that was aware of its presence in the Pacific Ocean.

“What’s wrong?”Lucy asked, hanging back with Lai as the crew began to unload.

“They aren’t expecting us to come back,”Lai answered coldly. Klein glanced at him, his expression showing the same concern.

“Why would you even say that? I trust Xim. She just wants to keep us safe.”

“Lucy, this is Gaia.”

Lai looked around the base, dread sinking into his skin. It was an early version, not as sophisticated as theirs, more like camouflage than an extra-dimensional pocket, but it was definitely Gaia.

“So what?”Lucy raised an eyebrow, unconcerned. “Gaia had the Farrowatcher logo on her arm; it makes sense for them to have this. If anything, it’s your family’s possession of it that’s weird.”

“Really? That’s the weird part?”

“Lai? Don’t forget, I’m in charge. Xim would never do anything to hurt me, and I won’t allow anyone to doubt her.”

Lai pressed his lips together, waiting for Lucy to calm down from her outburst. She did it without words, a blush coloring her face.

“You done power-tripping?”Lai asked, regretting tightening his mouth, tasting fresh blood.

“I’m sorry. Just trust me, okay? I’ve trusted you before, and I’m asking you to do the same now.”

In a little bit of a sulk, Lai followed the other two towards the open hangar in the distance. He couldn’t bring up a single joke to lighten the mood. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was unsettled by this place, by the faceless soldiers around them, and by…

He looked down at his hand, the knuckles swelling up, reacting to magic with a familiar itch.

Where from, though? There was nothing he could see that could trigger it; Pandora’s jar was still wrapped in his jacket, and it was so weak that the leather had been as effective as radiation shielding.

Lai raised his arm, holding it up towards the structures in the distance, using it like a compass to figure out where the magic was coming from.

His palm began to blister when he pointed to one of the huge buildings more than a hundred yards away.

Impossible. What were they keeping in there that was powerful enough to reach so far?

“Lai?”

Klein stopped, noticing his brother falling behind. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing.”Lai forced a smile, hiding his hand inside the pant pocket. He doubted Klein believed him, but he didn’t question it.

“Let’s keep moving,” the older man decided. “This place is making me tense.”

“I’m glad I’m not the only one. Feels like my every scale is out of place.”

Klein bumped his shoulder against Lai’s, an unfamiliar little gesture of comfort.

“I’ll look after you.”

“Walk fast, ladies!”Grace called back to them. “We aren’t camping here. Wheels up in five!”