Later, I caught Arlo alone in the library. He was flipping through his notes, but his eyes weren’t on the pages. He kept rubbing his wrist, the silver mark pulsing faintly.
“You need to stop scratching.” I said gently, sitting beside him.
“I can’t.” He admitted. “It itches… burns… it feels alive.”
I reached for his hand. “It is alive. But it’s tied to us now. We’re stronger than whatever’s inside you.”
He shook his head. “I hope you’re right. I can feel it watching, even when I close my eyes.”
I put my arm around him. “Then we’ll make sure it doesn’t watch for long. We’ll control it, together.”
He leaned against me for a moment, and I realized how small and vulnerable he looked. He wasn’t used to being protected, and now he had three of us around him. Three energies linked in a bond
