Chapter 80. Both of Us

ARDEN

It was silent for a while. There weren’t any lingering people in the garden, and the lights began to flicker off one by one, casting the space into deeper shadows.

Finally, he looked up at the moon and said quietly, “I’m different from my family. I think you can tell.”

I nodded, my eyes searching his profile, illuminated by the pale blue cast of the night.

Cade sighed, then added, “I think you could have guessed it from our features and skin color. I look like I’m not related to her.”

He paused, and I took that as my cue to lean a little closer.

“That’s because they aren’t my real family,” he confessed.

My breath hitched, but I remained silent, allowing him the space to speak.

“I was born far north of here, in a place I don’t even want to remember the name of,” he continued. “I was five when I witnessed my dad kill my mom right in front of me. We were starving, and he decided that dying together was the best way to escape our lif