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Shock registered on the faces all around

"And, well, since Aaron isah," he added weakly, and then finally he gave up trying to be sensitive and blurted out, "You’re their only kin You see?"

In the long moment that followed, Alex appeared to have turned into a stunned statue No one elsemy parents are dead," Alex said finally, "and I’ve inherited these screa babies" It wasn’t a question He shook his head slowly in disbelief First Meghan, then Aaron, then this crazinessit was all too much What was Alex supposed to do with two helpless babies on top of everything else he had to do?

"Yes," Liam whispered

"No," said Alex "I do not accept this Not any of it" And then, without another word, he turned and walked up the stairs

Simber started toward the stairs to follow hi touched his shoulder "Let hio after the s better than he did He stood at the base of the staircase for a long moment, and then he bowed his head and returned to his spot by the door

Heartbreak and Loss

Alex stared unseeing at the library shelves in the Museuh in the past few days He still couldn’t believe Meghan was gone forever, along with ten other Artiméans Then his brother was kidnapped, and Alex had no idea where he could be Then Liam told him his parents were dead, and he had so babies that he’d never laid eyes on before

He closed his eyes and gripped the shelves, wanting to pound his head against the wood, but ultihan had been the closest thing to family Alex had known for years Ever since Alex’s parents had told hie ten, they’d distanced themselves from him He’d always pretended it didn’t hurt, because that’s what a good Quillen would do

And now Meghan was gone, his parents were dead, and AaronAlex squeezed his eyes tighter, trying to tarew heavy and wretched, and before he could pull hi toward it He cried out in anguish--a deep, ugly groan that began at the depths of his gut and burst from his throat, and then he dropped to the floor and pounded it, sobbing incoherently about the unfairness of life and his awful childhood

Growing up in Quill, being taught not to feel--those lessons would never quite leave hiet them He hated Justine for it, and Aaron, and all of Quill for inserting their fears and rituals into his mind He hated his parents for it Even in their death, he hated thean to occur to him that rowing up in Quill was because he had experienced life differently since then He’d experienced so that his parents and Aaron had never known And that maybe, if he hadn’t been Unwanted, he’d have been just like them

"I wouldn’t!" he said, but iret that he’d never reached out to his parents froht of it as their job to come to him if they wanted to see him, and they’d chosen not to do it They’d chosen to let him be sent to his death, and they’d chosen to stay in Quill once Artimé was exposed That was their decision! Even when Alex saw his father near Mr Today’s grave, Mr Stowe had hurried away froerous What was Alex supposed to do? Beg? After what they’d done to him? But he’d never asked And ht

Maybe if he had invited them to Artimé, they would have come But he hadn’t, and now they were dead

His heart tore anehen he thought about Aaron Aaron had been close, once Close to joining Alex in Artimé He’d been tempted--Alex had seen it in his eyes But when he’d reached out, Aaron ran the other way It was too late for him

Alex soet the infraction Would Aaron have turned out differently if they’d both been Unwanted from the start? Would they be friends now? He’d never know

"You’re so stupid!" he cried into the floorboards, and then he pounded theer and remorse flowed over him "Aaron," he pleaded now, "you had so rew quiet as the waves of eo of you How could I?" He lay there for a an to swell inside him, this ti away, being torn froony and surprise and pushed hi his side where the pain ripped through him A revelation came over him as he knelt there, alone in the stacks, clear and vivid as any dream, and as certain as the pain that split his soul

"He’s dying," he whispered "Right now, thisOh, help me Soh the pain and tried to take hold of the truth--his brother was dying, and he was never co back to Quill But the pain in his side remained sharp and steady, no matter what Alex tried to do He stared at the library shelves and tried to focus, but he wasn’t ress