Rayden left me with Ares without waiting to hear whether we wanted to address the issue of Aleks’ behaviour and I realized that was more for Ares’ benefit than anything else.
He was still withdrawn and clearly distracted; asking him to make an important decision would not achieve anything.
“I’ve missed you.”
I laughed; I didn’t think it was funny, but I wasn’t really sure how else to respond. I don’t think anybody had ever told me they missed me before.
“We weren’t apart for that long…" I noticed him looking at me sadly and felt guilt twisting in my chest."But...I missed you, too."
He smiled half-heartedly and reached out to rub my arm, but his hand dropped to his side before he could touch me and he sank back to sit on the floor.
He looked so young, and exhausted, and I sat down be
