Page 146 of Hidden Echoes

Zane looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I have. Maybe Ialways have.

But I know what I’mseeing.

“This is my brother,” I say.

Zane curses. Loudly. And then pulls out his phone to call Kyle.

Kyle arrives faster than expected, but he’snot alone.

Abigail is with him, her presence a soothing balm against the sharpness of the moment. She greets Zane warmly, calling him “brother” like it’s the most natural thing in the world. I watch them with quiet interest, cataloging their dynamic. Zane stiffens slightly when she hugs him, but there’s no real resistance.

He missed her. Even if he won’tadmit it.

“Well,” Kyle finally says, eyeing the unconscious figure on the couch. “I assume you didn’t call me here for a friendly visit.”

Mischief sparks inside me, and I offer him my sweetest smile. “It is a friendly visit, cranky brother.”

Kyle glares. Zane sighs. Abigail laughs softly.

“Zane wants you guys to meet my brother.”

I wasn’t sure about involving Zane’s brother in this. He kept saying it was Evermore's business, that crossing them would only bring trouble, and that he didn’t want to get mixed up with the club. His reasoning made sense in its own way, but something about it left me uneasy.

I’d spent so long convincing myself that revenge was the answer. They’d hurt my brother—they had killed him, in my mind. That was the story I had lived with, the fire that drove me to make them pay. But when my brother appeared out of nowhere, alive, standing right in front of me, everything I thought I knew collapsed.

The truth hit me like a tidal wave—they hadn’t killed him. He wasn’t some tragic victim of their cruelty. No, he was one of them.

An Evermore, part of their family.

The very thing I’d spent all this time wanting to tear down. He’d chosen them. He’d been a part of their world, living the life I had hated, the life I had sworn revenge on.

And that... changed everything.

Abigail’s eyes widen, flickering between me and Seth. “Brother?”

“Seth’s sister was presumed dead in a fire,” Kyle mutters, skepticism woven into every word.

I tilt my head. “I must be fireproof then, because I’m very much alive.” I place a hand over my heart and sigh dramatically. “Thanks for asking, by the way.”

Kyle snorts, but the suspicion in his eyes remains. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

I shrug. “Lots of things don’tmake sense. Like why you always wear that same black jacket. Is it your favorite? Do you not have more clothes?”

Abigail giggles. Kyle’s scowl deepens.

“Mia, you are adorable,” she says, and I beam at her. She turns to Seth, something fond in her expression. “He was just like you when he was younger.”

“Like me?” I repeat, intrigued.

“Innocent.”

I blink. Then burst into laughter. “Oh, that’s funny.”

Innocent and One is not something that fits in the same sentence.

“The girl literally tried to stab you last time she saw you,” Kyle interjects, deadpan.

Abigail waves him off. “I didn’t take it personally.”

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