Page 134 of Legacy of Chaos

They spent a few more minutes talking to his parents, and then, finally, he was left alone in the living room with Cyan.

Taking his hand, she faced him. “How are you feeling?”

He reached up and scratched his neck. “Light.”

“Light?”

“Yeah. Like there’s nothing weighing me down.” He paused, trying to pinpoint what, exactly, was different. When it came to him, he sucked in a surprised breath. “My mind,” he whispered. “It’s quiet.”

“What do you mean, it’s quiet? Like, it’s not running at a million calculations per second anymore?”

He shook his head. “No, it still is, but it doesn’t feel frantic. It’s like how I felt before Chaos died.” He scratched his neck again. Felt like something was crawling across his personal symbol.

“Oh, my gods.” Cyan grabbed his hand and pulled it away from his throat. “Holy shit. Your symbol.” She tugged him toward the mirror on the far wall. “Look.”

Tilting his head, he checked out the lame square he’d gotten after his transition.

Except…

It had changed.

Cyan threw a screen up into the air from her wrist comms. A symbol hung there, a knotted square nearly identical to the one he now sported on his neck.

“It’s called a Mpatapo,” she said, reading from a text box beneath the glyph. “A symbol of peace after conflict.”

Astonishment left his voice shaky as he read the rest of the description. “It also represents reconciliation and forgiveness.”

He turned back to the mirror, marveling at the fluid lines. As a general rule, he didn’t do well with change. He’d gotten used to his stupid square, telling himself it meant stability, even though it wasn’t really true.

But now, he understood.

The square had merely been a frame. It had been empty becausehehad been empty. It hadn’t been complete, becausehehadn’t been complete.

He glanced out at his family in the backyard and then looked at Cyan, his heart filling with warmth. No, he was definitely no longer empty.

Chapter 34

Standing in the middle of Stryke’s cabin’s living room, Cyan wrapped her arm around Stryke as his parents and brothers filed out the doorway onto his deck.

“I think that went well,” she said once the door had closed. “Except for Blade.”

He watched as they entered the Harrowgate and disappeared behind its shimmery doorway. “Actually, Blade handled it better than I thought he would. He only insulted me a couple of times.”

“I was talking about him leaving.”

Stryke nodded. “I think hearing that you’re carrying Chaos’s soul inside you overwhelmed him.”

It had overwhelmed everyone. Tears everywhere. Happy tears, certainly, but man, a whole lot of emotion had spilled at the breakfast table.

He turned into her. “I don’t know how long it’ll take to mend fences with Blade, or if it’s even possible. I just hope my relationship with him doesn’t affect yours.”

“I rarely see him at DART anyway. He works in a different department, and he’s always out in the field.”

“What if you didn’t work at DART?”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Do you know something I don’t?”

“No, and this would totally be up to you, but I’m going to need someone to head the magical science division on the Moon project. I want the best, and the best is you.”

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