Page 54 of The Sirin Sisterhood (The Sons of Echidna #2)

Lai

The twins sat silently in the dark room, the night hiding their faces, giving them both a little privacy to process their emotions.

Lai didn’t need to see Freya’s face to know what she was thinking. He got up and lit the small kerosene lantern on her desk.

“So...”He mumbled, glancing at her.

“To the grave ,” she answered, mortified.

He laughed, and she joined him. The whole situation was so ridiculous.

What else could they do or say now? I’m sorry?

Somehow, that was worse than not being sorry.

Should they pretend like nothing had happened?

All he could do was laugh. Lai wasn’t about to let shame sour the discovery anyway.

He’d dreamed about having a twin his entire life.

Someone who understood him on a level that no one else possibly could.

Someone like him, in a family where no one could really relate to him.

Of course, Freya wasn’t his carbon copy; no twin was truly identical to their sibling, but she was stubborn and curious, laid back and carefree, clever and reckless, and cut from the exact same cloth as Lai.

“I suppose we should tell Klein. He’s your brother too, same mother and father.”

“Oh.”Freya looked a little uneasy. Lai smiled to her, teasing affectionately.

“Just dawned on you that you’re gonna have a really expensive Christmas?”He asked, trying to goad a chuckle from her. She smiled back, nodding as she walked over to the windows, fixing her hair as she watched Lai in the reflection.

“What if he rejects me?”

“Rejects you?”Lai asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You know what I mean. What if he is unhappy when he finds out the truth?”

“Oh, he will be. He will be unhappy. He will be sad. He will be furious. None of it will be directed at you.”Lai promised her. “You’ll see. Come on.”

He offered his hand, and Freya accepted it.

◆◆◆

“I beg your pardon?”Klein looked like he’d had all the wind knocked out of him, barely holding onto his composure. Lucy didn’t bother hiding her shock, outrage and delight fighting over her face as she bounced giddily around the room.

“No way! How did you end up here? Does Aris know? Wait, of course he does! That’s why he didn’t want us to come here! Hang on, though. If Aris gave her up because she’s a girl, why did he keep Ryan? Is that offensive to ask?”

“L...whatever your name is.”Lai groaned. “Just shush for a second. F... oh, this is getting annoying. Look, she’s overwhelmed. Let’s save the questions for later, okay?”

It wasn’t like Aris had a say in keeping Ryan, anyway. Once Eleanore had gotten knocked up, she’d taken to the skies. No one knew Ryan even existed before he was already three years old.

Lucy went quiet for about four seconds before pushing Lai aside to resume the interrogation. “What do you transform into?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Our girls can’t transform.”

“What are you talking about?”Freya huffed at him. Lai sighed, not in the mood to explain the family dynamics.

“I don’t…they just don’t. That’s why we have the pit,”he shrugged as Freya’s frown deepened.

“I can transform.”

Lai shot a quick look with Klein, who gave a tiny shake of his head.

Satisfied, Lai offered his sister a condescending smile. “No. Not like us.”

Her fists clenched. “I’m a dragon.”

“No. I’m a dragon. You are a girl.”

“You are about to lose your manhood,”she snarled, grabbing a fistful of the front of his pants, her furious face inches away from his.

“If I am mortally injured, I become a dragon. Big. Black. With wings. It hurts like hell, and it’s gory and gruesome, but I transform.

I see the world through the eyes of a beast.”

Her grip loosened as she pushed him away, and Lai stepped back. He looked at Klein again, his brother’s face showing the same confusion he felt.

Could it possibly be true? Why would his family discard half of its stock for generations if it was?

It didn’t make sense. Was Freya an anomaly?

Maybe. Was she lying? Lai glanced up at her face.

No. She wasn’t. And that feeling she’d mentioned, The feeling of looking through a dragon’s eyes–Lai knew what she meant.

The vision change that let them see a whole world of new colors, the sharpened hearing, the intensity of the smells. There really was nothing like it.

Then why would his family get rid of the girls? Unless they were...

“Wait. How big? How big are you as a dragon?”He asked, suddenly connecting the dots. Why else would men do anything like that? They were threatened.

“Big.”Freya shrugged. “How big are you?”

“Big,”Lai answered, giving Lucy and Klein a helpless look. They both laughed despite his silent pleading.

That delighted Freya, her grin widening.

“Bigger than the hydra?”She savored each word, clearly knowing the answer but torturing him anyway, revenge for his condescension. Lai had to suffer it with his head held high.

It was Lucy’s turn to rescue him. She inserted herself between the siblings and mercifully changed the subject. “Well, now you have to help us,”she giggled, scooping Freya into a rough hug, giving Lai a chance to escape and preserve what pride he had left.

“I guess I do. It’s my home, too, even if I was given away.”Her voice cracked, but she forced a smile.

“The only one who knows why that happened is Aris.”Lucy sighed. “I don’t know if there’s a good reason. I hope there is, but I’m worried. He tried to tell me he was a monster, and I didn’t believe him.”