Page 28 of Forging Darkness

“Seriously?” The shaking turns into a moderate tremble.

“Oh, yeah. After he learned to swim in the mortal world, it was at least another year before he’d get in the water in the spirit realm. He was scared since the water sparkled, and he couldn’t see the bottom. Fully convinced there were bloodthirsty mermaids waiting to pull him under and eat him.”

An unwilling laugh bursts from my chest. “What gave him that idea?” It’s quiet for a few seconds too long. “You didn’t?”

“I haven’t always been the perfect older brother. Besides, it’s basically a rule that you need to razz your younger siblings. How was I to know Sterling would believe me?”

There is a familiar pang in my chest. Family. I thought I’d squashed these feelings—longings—years ago, but I guess the wound only scabbed over. I wonder what kind of sister I would have been?

“Of course, when I told Sterling and Greyson that the Fallen could enter their dreams at night and eat their brains, they didn’t sleep for three nights straight, so I should have known the mermaid thing would mess with them. At least Greyson had wised up by then.”

“Geez, Steel. That’s savage . . . and really dark. How did you even come up with that stuff?”

“Neph kids grow up in a dark world.”

“They’re not the only ones.”

For a while there’s only the sound of the water gently lapping. The liquid passing over my limbs starts to soothe me rather than fuel my panic.

“Want to learn to tread water?” Steel’s voice comes from my right, which I expect, but not at head level.

I blink open my eyes. His face isn’t looming over me, because he’s floating on the water’s surface next to me—which means he’s not holding me up anymore. Which means no one is holding me up anymore.

I jack-knife and immediately sink, sucking in a mouthful of chemically saturated water. I pop up sputtering and coughing.

“Whoa.”

Steel snaps to attention and rights me, keeping his hands anchored on my biceps as he leads me to the pool’s edge.

“We’ll have to tackle treading water during the next lesson.”

I nod rather than speak because I’m still clearing my lungs.

Dipping down, he plants his hands on my waist and hoists me into the air, seating me on the ledge. There’s a long moment where we just stare at each other. And it should be awkward, I know it should, but it’s not.

“Time to go back to the real world now, I guess.”

The words were meant to be light-hearted, but they do something to Steel. The contours of his face harden and his mouth levels into a straight line. His eyes go from open and friendly to guarded. He’s shutting himself off from me. Only now that it’s gone do I realize we’d recaptured some of the levity from earlier in the evening.

With a nod, he pulls himself out of the water. Droplets fall on me as he strides away, phasing back into the mortal realm after only a step. I stare at the spot where he disappeared for a few long seconds before closing my eyes and concentrating on phasing. When I blink them open again, the sparkling light from the water has faded and chlorine burns my nostrils.

Steel dries himself with a towel. I pad over and grab a folded towel before sitting on the chair next to him.

As I dry off, I peer at him through my lashes, wondering what caused his mood to flip so suddenly. Whether it’s the trauma of having just confronted one of my worst fears, or the fact that I was roused from a perfectly good night of sleep to do so, I don’t hold my tongue.

“What just happened?”

Steel looks at me out of the corner of his eye, refusing to even turn his head in my direction. I wrap the towel around me, securing it under my armpits, suddenly self-conscious.

“Nothing. It’s like you said. We had our break from reality, and now it’s time to get back to the real world. We’ve got a lot coming up in the next day. I shouldn’t have kept you up.”

He grabs his clothes and starts for the door without waiting to see if I’m following. His hand is on the knob when I call out.

“Wait.”

The muscles in his back tense, and for a moment, I don’t think he’s going to listen, but then they relax, and he turns his head in my direction.

“Yeah?”

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