I didn’t think I was capable of losing anything else. But Aleksei knows better. He’s always known better. He understands that the human capacity for loss is bottomless. There’s always one more thing that can be stripped away, one more wound that can be inflicted. And Sage, broken, furious, silent Sage, is the last tether keeping me from floating off into the void entirely. If Aleksei disappears my brother into some concrete bunker on the West Side where I can't even confirm he's still breathing, he’ll control the final link between me and this world like a leash in his hands with the other end around my throat.
He sees all of this playing out across my face. His smile widens just slightly.
And all I can do is nod.
“Good. That’s settled, then. Also, I meant to ask you: What ever happened
