Sacer stood frozen, the journal gripping in his hands as if it might slip through his fingers if he let up even the tiniest bit. His eyes flicked across the page, reading, rereading, and reading some more. He was hesitating, like he couldn’t believe what he was reading.

  The room was quiet, the kind of quiet that made you start hearing things- your own breath, the distant flicker of torchlight, the slight scuff of a boot shifting on stone. I was about to speak up, ask the question weighing down on my mind, when Edric broke the silence first.

  “Well,” he said, shifting his weight, “if we’re just gonna stand here in dramatic silence all night, I’d like to sit down first.”

  Sacer ignored him.

  Edric sighed. “Come on, hero. You’re the one who opened the bookcase like some kind of chosen one. Might as well read to the class.”

  Sacer let out a deep breath, slow and measured. Then, finally, he started reading.

  “To my precious boys, Luca and Sacer,

  If you’re reading this, then I have failed. I couldn’t protect myself, and above-all-else, I couldn’t protect your mother. I don’t know how much time has passed, nor do I have any idea if you know about me, the past, or even who you two really are. But, what I need you two to always remember, is this: Even though you don’t know me, I love you. Both of you.”

  My breath caught in my throat and I gripped my fists, my nails digging into my palms. What are the odds of this? What are the odds that this mysterious man who claims to be our birth father would leave something that only Sacer could open in this random city? But also, why do I believe it’s all true?

  “My name is Rayn. I am, well used to be, a knight of the Royal Guard. I am a descendant of Gabriel, a lineage responsible for carrying the weight of his legacy. We were told constantly we were the chosen ones, the shields against the dark. I believed it. I was proud of it.”

  Sacer paused. Barely a second, but I caught it. Then he squared his shoulders and read on.

  “But then I met Lucille. Your mother.

  She wasn’t supposed to be born.”

  Something inside me went still and my eyes flicked over to Damian. His face was calm, eyes staring down at the floor. Did… did our mother go through the same sort of inhumane garbage he did? Are we related to Damian?

  “Lucille was born in, what we called, a Garden. A prison where those cursed with Damon’s blood were forced to live out their days. From the moment she took her first breath, she was condemned. But despite what they all said, she was not a monster. Your mother was kind. She had the most gentle soul in the world. But, she suffered more than I could ever imagine.

  I was young. I should have turned away. I should have done the duty that was left on me by our ancestor. Instead, I listened and I learned. I came to realize that the stories we were told didn't carry the whole truth.

  Damon wasn’t born a monster, and in that same vein, Gabriel wasn’t a picture-perfect Hero.”

  Sacer stopped.

  No one spoke for a couple seconds.

  Edric frowned. “Uh- yeah, no. What does that mean? Keep going.”

  Sacer let out a breath through his nose. Then, without another word, he shut the book. “That’s where it ends.”

  I stared at him. “You’re actually kidding.”

  He shook his head.

  Edric threw up his hands. “Are you serious? That was just about to-”

  “That’s it,” Sacer said, voice flat. “That’s all there is.”

  Liar.

  I knew he was lying. I could see it! The way his shoulders were just a little too stiff, the way his fingers were still gripping the journal as if he wasn’t ready to let go.

  Damian, who had been quiet the whole time, finally spoke. “You’re lying.”

  Sacer’s gaze snapped to him, sharp as a blade, his body tense.

  “Sacer,” I said carefully, “what else did it say?”

  His jaw clenched. “It doesn’t matter.”

  “The hell it doesn’t.” I grabbed onto his wrist, forcing him to meet my eyes.

  He just held my stare for a moment, then yanked his arm away. He turned on his heel and walked out.

  Edric let out an incredulous laugh, rubbing a hand down his face. “Are you kidding me? That’s it? He just leaves.”

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  Edric turned to me. “You know he’s hiding something.”

  “Obviously,” I sighed.

  —

  I found my brother sitting alone on a bench near the edge of the marketplace. His posture was relaxed. One foot planted on the ground, the other pulled up on the bench, an arm draped over his knee. The journal sat beside him.

  For a second, I just stood off to the side and watched him.

  All my life, Sacer was usually the happier of the two of us. But, ever since three months ago in the capital, he’d been different. For obvious reasons, but still, it was hard to see him like this: tense, on edge, carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. He just looked… tired.

  I walked over and sat down next to him, letting the silence fill the void between us.

  Sacer sighed, running a hand through his hair. “You’re not gonna let this go, are you?”

  “You know me better than that, doofus.”

  He let out a small huff of laughter. “Unfortunately.”

  I leaned back, stretching out my legs, my brown boots leaving a trail in the gravel. “So. You gonna tell me what was actually in the journal, or are we gonna have to fight over it?”

  He shot me a glare. “You’d try.”

  “I’d win.”

  Sacer shook his head, but his lips gave a little twitch as if he wanted to smile. Instead, he picked up the journal, running his fingers across the embossed emblem on the front. “It’s Gabriel.”

  I frowned. “Go on.”

  “He’s the reason Damon’s descendants are treated the way they are.”

  I blinked. Of all the things Sacer could have said, that wasn’t one I expected.

  Sacer bit into his lip, staring down at the journal like it might catch fire. “Gabriel made the decision. He was the one who said they should be locked away, forgotten to time.” His voice was tight, like the words were painful to say. “He did this.”

  I genuinely didn’t know what to say to that.

  Sacer had been trying to live up to his role as Gabriel. Had been trying to be the hero the world deserved. But now, he was sitting here, his world falling in on itself.

  It must have felt like the ground was caving underneath him.

  But, he wasn’t done.

  “Damon retaliated for this. He cursed them both.”

  I turned to him. “What?”

  “The moment their bloodlines mixed, their souls would be reborn into this world as twins.”

  I went still, my blood ran cold.

  “That’s why we were born, Luca. Not fate. Not some grand plan. A stupid curse.”

  Huh. A curse.

  I should have laughed it off. Called it ridiculous. Told him that was the dumbest thing he’d ever said.

  But… I couldn’t.

  Because it made way too much sense.

  “So what,” I muttered, “we were doomed from the start?”

  Sacer hesitated. “I don’t know.”

  That one statement scared me more than anything.

  Sacer. My smart, ever-intelligent, brother Sacer was just as lost as I was.

  I let out a breath and leaned back against the bench, staring up at the clouds. “...Huh.”

  Sacer turned his head toward me. “That’s all you’ve got to say?”

  “What do you want me to say? We just found a letter from our birth dad, of all people. You just told me we were literally cursed before we were even born. You think I have some kind of wise, world-changing response to that?”

  He scoffed. “You always have something to say.”

  “Yeah, well, this one got me.”

  For a while, we just sat there. The noise of the market filling the space between us. It was nice, in a weird way. Just sitting next to my twin, letting the weight of everything we just learned settle in without forcing a solution. But, there wasn’t a solution. Just… truth.

  Then, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Edric.

  I nudged Sacer. “Look at this idiot.”

  Sacer followed my gaze, and sure enough, Edric was standing near a merchant stall, all charm and easy confidence, talking up a pair of women who were clearly entertained by whatever ridiculous story he was spinning.

  The past part though? Damian was next to him, looking like he wanted to die.

  We watched as Edric slung an over over Damian’s shoulder, flashing the women a grin. “Oh yeah- and this guy? This is my little brother Damian. See the hood? Real mysterious type. But I promise, he’s got a heart of gold.”

  Damian immediately shoved Edric’s arm off with a huff. “I will kill you.”

  The women giggled.

  Edric just laughed, completely unfazed. “Oh you kidder, you.”

  Damian glared. I think Edric completely forgot about what happened the day before. But, he couldn’t be that stupid.

  Could he?

  Edric sighed dramatically. “Hopeless.”

  I shook my head, exhaling sharply through my nose. “He’s an idiot.”

  “Yeah,” Sacer sighed, a smirk tugging at his lips. “But he’s my idiot.”

  I watched as Edric kept trying to get any kind of reaction out of Damian. Nudging him, tossing a few winks at the women, clearly having the time of his life. Damian, on the other hand, was probably plotting his second murder of the week.

  Sacer’s shoulders had loosened just a little, the weight on his face easing.

  I shot him a glance. “You good?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “Just… Rayn and Lucille, huh?”

  I nodded, looking back up at the sky. “We’re definitely gonna blow Dad’s mind when we see him again,”

  “Wherever he is,” Sacer added.

  “So, do you think our good looks come from Mom or Dad?” I asked curiously.

  Sacer pondered the question for a moment. “You definitely look like a girl with that ponytail.”

  “That- okay, one: we have the same face, idiot. Two: does that mean if I cut the ponytail off I look more masculine?”

  Sacer snickered, a genuine smile on his lips. “If you’re not careful and keep growing it out, Edric might hit on you.”

  I groaned dramatically, running a hand through my hair. “Great. Just what I need- Edric looking at me like I’m one of his flings.”

  Sacer smirked. “He does have a thing for long-haired beauties.”

  I shot him a glare. “I hate you,”

  He just laughed.

  Neither of us needed to say it, but we both knew this wouldn’t be the end of uncovered secrets. Not by a long shot. But, for now, it was enough to just sit here and joke about horrible hairstyles and Edric’s flirting.