Chapter 18

Elio woke up to the sound of the whirling blades and realized that he was on a plane. His mouth felt like there was dry cotton in it. He opened his eyes and sat up slowly, his body feeling very weak. His brothers saw him trying to get up and Mateo helped him. His memory came back vividly and he remembered the old man back at the training ground. The man's helpless look as he breathed his last and the awkward way his head had hung over when he finally fell into the cold hands of death would forever haunt him. He shed tears for the man who had died trying to him and his brothers because he had thought that they were being forced to learn. How could his brothers not feel remorseful over such a thing? How could they have enjoyed watching that? How could it not hunt their conscience? He wasn't even sure if they had any conscience left in them. Their father had successfully made a monster out of each of them.

Dominic Sanchez saw his third son crying and he felt ir