“That’s your name.” Silas looked confused. “Isn’t it?”
“No.” I shook my head, flipping my sketchbook closed and setting it back onto the workbench. “My name is Seraph.”
“Maryanne changed her name,” the stranger said. He sounded amused. “Did she think that would be enough to hide Lela from the Klovoda?”
I switched my attention to the speaker, confused because he had cited my dead mother’s name, but I had no idea what the hell the Klovoda was. He had mismatched eyes, like me—and the sight of them unfurled a heavy emotion from my gut, spreading it out until it wedged in my throat and stole my words. He was like me. I didn’t know how I knew. But I did. He was like me, like Silas.
He arched a brow at me, and I realised that I had been standing there with my mouth hanging open, staring at him. I quickly categorised the rest of his appearance: brown hair, dusted with darker strands; tall, but thin; an easy smile.
“Who are you?” I blurted.
“Jayden Crassus.” His smile stretched, lighting something playful in his eyes. “Nice to see you again, Wonderkid.”
“Again? Wonderkid?”
He ignored me, turning to Silas. “We need to do this now, before Weston figures out that I helped you sneak out. It’ll all be for nothing if he sends someone after you and discovers who she is.”
“Fine.” Silas was still watching me. “Just give us a minute.”
Jayden looked from him to me, and then chuckled. “Don’t do anything stupid now.”
Silas rolled his eyes and waited for Jayden to exit the garage and walk back out to the front of the house before he moved to stand in front of me.
“You look different to how I imagined,” he said.
I glanced down at myself, at the floppy sneakers and the paint-splattered clothes. My hair was tumbling out of its bun, and I could feel something sticky coating the side of my face. He touched a finger to my temple and pulled it away. It was green. I quickly rubbed at the paint with the back of my hand. He laughed. I stared at him, momentarily bewitched. Did all boys look so beautiful when they laughed?
“You made it worse,” he said, pulling the arm of his sweatshirt over his hand and using it to clean off my face.
“How did you expect me to look?” I asked, trying to distract myself from how suddenly close he was.
“I don’t know,” he admitted, taking a step back. “Tougher. Older. More experienced. You really don’t have any idea what you’ve done, do you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You aren’t supposed to have a pair… but somehow, your power sought me out. You latched onto me and tore my Atmá away.” He paused, rubbing a hand over his chest, and then a laugh bubbled forth. “Hell, it should have killed me. Should have killed her. And my brother. Instead, you took her place. It’s unbelievable… but I felt everything.”
I staggered a step back, feeling one of my easels dig into my spine.
He was insane.
“I don’t know how it will affect me.” Silas continued watching me, his face etched in stone. I could see the emotions trying to break out: fear, amusement, confusion, pain; but they never made it. They collided with his impassive features and slinked back into the recesses of his mind. “But I can protect you, at least. Just like I protected her all these years. Nobody found out about her—not even Miro. And now I just need to make sure nobody finds out about you.”
“You’re crazy,” I muttered, feeling around on the bench behind me for a weapon.
Had I created a Frankenstein’s monster? Was I hallucinating? Why wasn’t he making any sense?
“Yeah,” he agreed, as Jayden returned to the garage. “And I’m pretty sure I’m only going to get crazier.”
“You done?” Jayden asked, walking straight past Silas and coming towards me.
I grabbed at the first thing that my fingers touched, and held it out threateningly.
“What are you going to do with that?” Jayden asked, knocking the paintbrush to the side. “Stop moving.”
I froze, the breath knocked out of me with the force of my shock. I couldn’t move my body even if I wanted to. I couldn’t even blink. My eyes began to water, and he fit a hand to the side of my face. Behind him, Silas made an angry sound—it vibrated in the back of his throat, and I was sure that I would have flinched if I had been able.
“Easy,” Jayden muttered. “You know I have to touch her to do this. I’m still getting the hang of it.”
Silas started pacing, his eyes fixed to the hand on my face as Jayden closed his eyes, pinching his eyebrows together in furrowed concentration.
“I need you to forget everything,” he whispered.
Jayden pulled away from me, looking exhausted. He slumped forward, notching his elbows against the counter between us to support his weight. His head hung low, causing his hair to flop forward and brush the counter.