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Rachel moves to theto look out over the driveway Alex and I walk over to stand beside her
"To bury Phoebe"
"What, like to literally bury her?" Alex says and it’s the sa to ask with the same amount of confusion
Isaac walks out of the house and into the light filtering down fro, thin black cloth Nathan, Xavier, Daisy, Shannon, Elizabeth and Cale file
"Well, they’ll bury her afterwards, but…I’ve only seen it once before"
I turn around at the waist to see Rachel at my side, "Seen it?" I stumble over my words because I can’t decide what to verify first I settle hat ca to bury her body here, in the woods? After what?" I just can’t wrap my mind around either possibility
"They’ll cremate her first," Rachel says somberly, "and then bury what’s left of her bones"
My neck springs back and I feel my eyes blink a dozen times "You’re serious?"
"Yeah, I think she’s serious, Dria"
I look over at Alex and then back out the
"It’s the Law," Rachel says plopping down a every death that a fairl It doesn’t take a frickin’ genius to figure that out," she scoffs
I turnacross at Rachel to let her finish and ignoring her mock comment That’s just the way she is and how she’ll always be Funny how I’m already comfortable with it
"We don’t attend this burial because the one who died is a direct sibling," she says "Now if it was Isaac who bit the dust, being Alpha, everyone in the pack would attend"
I flinch at her words
Alex sits on the end of Rachel’s bed and kicks off her Chuck Taylor’s
"You say you’ve only seen it once before" I walk forward a few steps with my arms crossed "Who was it?"
"Zia’s sister, Avril Back before Zia joined the pack"
A thin silence falls across the rooht there was so the quiet with her less than sympathetic comments "She snuck away a lot I used to watch her like a paranoid hs all of a sudden "Now that I knohat she was, it totally explains why one day, out of the blue, I trusted herher altogether--she must’ve messed with ine she messed with a lot of heads around here," Alex says
I filled her in a little on the Praverians shortly before we came up with Rachel to her roo toward the door and thinking about Sebastian "She hurt a lot of people" I try to sn the ache I feel for him
Just then, I see Sebastian walk past the bedroo My hands drop to my sides and I run out into the hall
"Sebastian?" I come up behind hi?"
He turns around and I quietly fold inside seeing the depth of the pain in his eyes
Rachel and Alex stop in the doorway behindmotion "Home? But this is your home…"
Sebastian’s robust shoulders slu his expression for my sake "Look, I’m sorry, but…this just isn’t foron the door of the bedrooain "I’m not cut out for this Ifootball Hell, I ht even try out for football--I can run dohole team now, after all" He s to hold the tears inside I reach up and pat him on his shaved head
But I let my smile fade "Don’t let her do this to you You can so easily find another girlfriend" It was a lahs a little under his breath, also realizing how lame it was, but he lets it slide "It’s not about that; what Zia did was--shit, I can’t even categorize it--but she was really the only reason why I was here No offense to anyone, but I’ve been o back to e"
"But…Sebastian," I hesitate because I have to say this with the right ao back to your old life, not being what you are"
"Yeah," Rachel speaks up from behind; "what if you hurt someone?" Shehidden in her voice and then I realize what it is when she says, "I tried that once I went ho back her true feelings on theherself sound faintly amused by it when really I think she wants to either hit a wall, or break down and cry "I had to find another pack after that--no way in hell I was going back to Ashe and his rabid fareement
"I appreciate the concern," Sebastian says, shouldering the heavy duffle bag, "but I just can’t stay here" He looks only at ain, let hi for me"
I didn’t even see until now that Sebastian has lost irlfriend; he has also lost his best friend Harry, the guy he greith, was never even huo back to, either Harry’s life has changed in uniinable ways