"And a softness came from the starlight and filled me to the bone."

~W.B. Yeats

Vivienne

Chad and I sat in my bed, watching Netflix, eating popcorn, cuddling with my dogs, and chatting about whatever came to mind. Ever since we'd gotten coffee together all those months ago, we'd nearly been inseparable. Although we didn't have much in common, we discovered that our differences gave us something to talk about. Chad asked me many questions, and I realized it was to keep the topic on me rather than him, but slowly, I got him to open up about things.

Including the death of his parents.

"I don't remember much," Chad said, slowly stirring his coffee. "I was only six or seven at the time; Shane was around fifteen. I entered our living room to find Shane standing over our parents' bodies with tendrils of darkness spewing from his fingers. He stood calmly in the middle of a ton of military personnel. He noticed me and asked that I be taken from the room before things got ugly. A soldier ushered me out of the room, and the next thing I know, I'm living with Caleb and his family. Shane went to trial, pleaded not guilty, was found guilty, and was locked up."

"Oh my god, that's horrible!" I breathed, staring at Chad with a newfound sense of respect for his strength.

Chad shrugged. "When I turned fifteen, Esmeralda took me, Dylan, and Caleb under her wing when the Queens and Amells went off to fight battles. It was only then I decided to go see Shane. When I told him about Esmeralda, he told me to be careful of her, that she wasn't who she appeared to be. I didn't know what he was talking about then, and I still don't now. Esmeralda has been nothing short of a second adoptive mother to me. Why she ever let him out is beyond me."

"Have you asked her?"

"No. I'm not sure I want to know the answer yet. I think she has something up her sleeve with him to help us fight the war. He's a lot more brazen with his powers than I am."

"You mean your umbrakinesis?" I said. Chad nodded. "When did you discover your powers?"

"Not long after my parents died."

"That must've been hard..."

"In what way?"

"I don't know... I guess discovering this life-changing event without your parents to go tell? I know the Queens were there for you, but it's not the same as your biological parents, who you loved. Then, there's also the fact you wield the same powers as your brother, who killed your parents with said powers. I hope I'm not crossing a line when I say all this, it's just something I noticed, and I know if I'd been in your place, it would've been hard for me."

Chad stared at me, curiously. "You know, you're the first person to ever put that together. Even Caleb and Dylan couldn't understand my dislike for my powers until I told them."

"I, uh, I took psychology in high school and college as my minor. Figured it'd help me as a nurse. So, why did Shane plead not guilty?"

"He made up some asinine story," Chad began with a scoff, "about our dad telling him to take his umbrakinesis because Esmeralda was going to kill him and our mom for creating an underground revolution against her. The counterargument was that because Shane had two powers and two extremely looked-down-upon powers, that he'd lost his sanity and killed our parents."

"How can you take someone's powers?" I queried, shoveling a spoonful of ice cream into my mouth.

"If there's anything rarer than elemental powers, it's power transferal. Depending on the user's strength, this can mean that they can transfer other's powers to themselves or their own powers to other people. For Shane's story to be true, it would have to mean that his power was power transferal and/or mind control and that our dad's was darkness and/or mind control. Either way, his story would require one of them to have two powers, and neither of them did, so this means he was lying."

"Is there any way your dad could've hidden the second power from you if he did have one?"

"No, and Esmeralda would've incarcerated him, not murdered him. It's why I don't trust Shane around anyone, even Lilly."

"What do you mean by 'even Lilly'?"

"She and I don't like each other, but that doesn't mean I want her to fall prey to my brother."

"You think she will?"

"I don't know," Chad admitted, leaning against my headboard. "It's hard to say with her. She's so stubborn, he might not. I don't want to underestimate his charms, though. How close have they gotten? Do you know?"

"I don't," I said. "Lilly's always training while I'm at work, and whenever she's free, she's almost always with Caleb, and I don't want to interrupt anything because I think they like each other. Whenever I do see her, it's at mealtimes with all the rest of you, and I kind of just want to talk to her alone, catch up the way we used to on Earth."

"Have you texted her?"

"Yeah, but I never get a response."

"Sounds like she's the problem, then, not you," Chad said. "You're trying."

"Maybe she's not getting them. Maybe I have the wrong number in my phone."

"Don't make excuses for her."

"Yeah, but-"

Chad's ringing phone cut me off. We both frowned, recognizing the ringtone as the emergency one. Hastily answering, he listened to the voice on the other end before saying, "I'll be right there."

In a flash, Chad was racing to my apartment's front door with me demanding to know what was going on. He turned around and said, "Caleb, Lilly, and Shane are in trouble. An enemy ship is approaching, and they're all alone. I need you to stay here and be safe. You're a Healer, and we're probably going to have an influx of injured warriors."

"I don't need to be safe! I'm not going up there to face the enemy!"

"Yes, you do! For my sanity, please stay here."

"You're my bodyguard. I'm not supposed to go anywhere outside the apartment without you," I countered, crossing my arms. "So your options are to either stay here with me, or you let me come with you. Take your pick."

Chad stared at me, a war battling inside his head. "Fine. Come with me. I want you to know that the moment we come within sight of Caleb's ship, I'm transporting you onto it. He'll be able to keep an eye on you until I return."

"Good enough. Lead the-"

Chad's phone interrupted me for a second time. He answered it, and I watched his expression turn grim and furious. When the voice on the other end finished speaking, he said, "Understood."

"What happened?" I asked worriedly.

Chad shoved his phone into his pocket. "The mission just turned critical. Shane and Lilly boarded the enemy ship."