Kalen was walking out of the inn, in desperate need for fresh air when a dark figure in the distance caught his attention. The figure grew smaller and smaller until it disappeared from sight. His eyebrows furrowed, but he’d pushed the feeling that the figure was something important aside.

Mallory was heading toward the inn, a single flower in her hand. She was playing with it absentmindedly and Kalen was struck by how beautiful she looked in the moment.

“Are you okay?” she asked when she crossed the distance between them.

“Yeah, perfect,” he said, his voice slightly dream-like.

Mallory gave him a strange look before they started walking back to the inn. “I’m sorry about the other day… I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did and I realize I may have come across as quite a bitch.”

Kalen placed a hand on her shoulder and she smiled. “I understand. We both had a lot going on that day.”

“So your friend, Casian, he’s…”

“A jerk?” Kalen provided.

“I was going to say interesting, but jerk works too.” They both laughed as Kalen opened the inn door and gestured for Mallory to go inside.

“He and I were never really friends. I mean we knew each other and it was sad when he died, but we didn’t have any kind of personal relationship,” Kalen said sadly. He remembered how crushed Andreas had been after Casian’s death, a painful memory for himself as he consoled someone he considered a friend – most of the time, who didn’t want to be comforted.

“How come you seem so familiar with him then?” Mallory asked after waving to her aunt and taking a seat on one of the lounge chairs.

Kalen joined her on the opposite chair and leaned back, making himself comfortable. He realized then just how little he had told her about himself. “Well, he was the best friend of the person who is probably closest to a brother I will ever have.”

Mallory cocked her head to the side and Kalen continued without further prompt. “His name is Andreas, you might have heard us talking about him the other day. As you know, my parents were killed when I was born and I lived with my uncle since then until I turned eleven.”

“What happened?”

Kalen shifted his weight, not quite sure how to go about talking about his past. The reason he had entered Lana’s dreams the first time they had met was exactly for that reason, so he could show her before she could judge him. But Mallory was different. He couldn’t explain it, but there was something oddly comforting about her presence. And perhaps if he shared his sob story, she’d finally reveal hers as well.

“When I was eleven, a group of dark sorcerers invaded the village my uncle and I were living in. We had been living there for several years, and my uncle got too comfortable. He hadn’t expected them. They killed almost everyone in town, my uncle included. He had tried to stop them, but he wasn’t strong enough. After that, I was able to discover the full extent of my own powers and I leveled the entire village.

“Emilia Grigoli, Andreas’ mother, found me. I don’t know how or why, and she took me in until my aunt could be reached. It took my aunt a year to receive the message and send someone for me. In that year, Andreas and I were able to grow close and even become friends.” Kalen paused.

“You guys became that close in just one year?” Mallory inquired.

“No, it took a little longer than that. Something happened while I was living with my aunt that caused me to kill her bastard of a husband and she kicked me out. Emilia heard of this and offered me permanent residence with the Grigoli family. I was thirteen at the time and I lived with them since.

“Andreas is someone that is difficult to understand…. I’m sure you’ve heard of all the terrible things he has done, but I don’t believe he is a bad guy. An angry one, sure, but beneath it all are good intentions. I saw first-hand all the shitty things he had to go through, so I think I understand him better than anyone else, and while our relationship might be rocky and we hate to admit we are friends, I consider him a brother of sorts. When push comes to shove, I know we’ll have each other’s backs.”

Mallory smiled. “I wish I had a friend like that.”

“Uh, careful what you wish for. He can be a huge pain in the ass… all the time.”

“That I will agree with,” Casian said as he entered the room. Mallory took in a deep breath. “Kalen, Mallory.”

“Casian,” they echoed.

“Talking about my good friend Andreas, I see? Without inviting me? I have the best stories!”

Mallory rolled her eyes. “I have no interest in getting information on Andreas’ character. I was simply curious about Kalen’s connection to him.”

Casian shrugged. “You could say that Kalen is as close to Andreas as he would ever allow someone to get. And as much as I hate to admit this, probably closer than me.” Kalen stared at him wide eyed. “You were there for almost everything he had to go through, the only person he has nothing to explain to. It makes sense that you’d be his closest friend right now.”

“He doesn’t really treat me like a friend,” Kalen remarked dryly.

“You’re right. But that’s only because he’s afraid that as soon as he starts showing how much he cares for you, that something might happen to you as well. I mean hell, if I were the guy I’d start to believe I was cursed,” Casian said, his tone taking on a somber quality.

“The people he cares about get hurt?” Mallory asked skeptically.

“No, they usually die. All of them,” Casian said, the jerkiness Mallory had come to expect from him, gone.

“That’s a very sad way to live…” Mallory replied, her voice trailing off.

“That’s why he acts the way he does. He feels like he doesn’t deserve to be happy and that the universe is punishing him for something, and so he has decided to give it a reason.

“I would like to meet him,” Mallory said, determined.

Kalen and Casian shared a look. “I would be keen to oblige that request, if I had any idea where he was. After Lana’s… uh… death… I haven’t been able to contact him,” Kalen said.

Casian’s attention perked up. “U know where he used to be – the crystal cove. I visited him in my spirit form before I was brought back to life. But he should’ve been shown the way out now.”

“That’s very helpful. Now we have narrowed down possible locations he could be to the entire planet,” Kalen noted with a roll of his eyes.

“Wouldn’t he simply go home?” Mallory suggested.

“No, he believes Lana is dead… I suspect he’d be wanting to do some damage,” Kalen said gravely.

“But if what Lana said was true, wouldn’t he just go back without caring?” Mallory asked.

“Wait, wait, wait, you’ve met Lana?” Casian asked, his eyes going wider.

Mallory rolled hers. “Yes, the same day I met you.”

Understanding flashed behind Casian’s eyes. “The other reunion!” Casian ran to his room.

“What was that about?” Mallory asked Kalen, but before he could answer, Casian came back with a small figure draped in cloth walking by his side.

“We have to find her,” Casian said, slightly out of breath.

“Why?” Kalen asked.

Casian stopped, letting the bag he had slung over his shoulders drop to the floor. “Because Andreas does believe she is dead, and trust me when I say he did not simply let her die. If we do not prove to him soon that she survived… well, you could say that some very bad things are going to happen… particularly to the Argeno brothers.”

Mallory raised her eyebrows. “Raphael?”

“And John.”

“So it’s true, he does have a brother?” Mallory asked, her voice surprisingly small. Again, Kalen was left wondering what exactly had happened between her and the leader of the Followers of Light.

Casian’s eyebrows furrowed. “There was ever any doubt?”

Before Mallory could answer, Casian waved off the question. “This is all beside the point. While John might deserve everything Andreas wants to do to him, and more, Raphael, however misguided he has been lately, does not. I made a promise to myself when I found out I got a second chance in life, and that promise was to save Andreas from himself. This is the only way I can do that.”

Mallory nodded and then sighed. “So I guess we are paying yet another visit to James Wilston. I’m thrilled.”

Casian smirked. “Oh, come one. This guy cannot be worse than me.”

Kalen raised his eyebrows. “He hates our guts. Yeah, he’s worse than you. I doubt he’d even let us talk to Lana.”

Casian patted the cloaked figure beside him. “If he’s uncooperative, we’ll put my friend Argento here on him. He can be very persuasive."