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darkness forevermore, but I held back.
    “Do you know why I love this spot?” Tarek asked after a few silent moments, moments I spent searching for my twin—and sure enough, I found him as a king of a land that he was tormenting. I wanted to reach through this Fall and slap some sense into him.
    “I don’t,” I said under my breath.
    “The balance. The beauty of it. Seeing darkness and light side by side.”
    Words like that were the reason he was our leader; he saw splendor where most had given up hope.
    “Just as it is when we stand with our eternal soul, the half that completes us.”
    My gaze rose quickly to meet his.
    A slow, knowing smile eased across his image. “Once Guardian returns, I think it will be fitting for you to stay at the Falcons for a while, to evaluate him at a distance from Camlin.”
    That was not our procedure either. Those that came back stayed with us until we were sure they had balance, that the lives they left behind in the dark reality were as vague as a dream. When that occurred, they could fall back into their life here.
    “Camlin will be thrilled with that breach of procedure.”
    “I could not care less what Camlin or his family feels. His own thoughts and actions will punish him in time.” He let out a breath. “I’m more concerned that he seems determined to harm your Sky. That he would choose to corrupt the mind of Guardian. This is best. Three days time, you will take a holiday…unless...”
    I furrowed my brow at his pause.
    “Aden, I wish I could tell you otherwise, but Seneca is convinced your time will not arrive soon, but brashly.”
    “Meaning?”
    “Meaning make the most of the time you have now. Make every second count.”
    I gazed up at the blue sky, the stars I could see twinkling in the vast distance. “Logic tells me that any man can find falsehoods in his actions and change his ways, including my twin image. Logic tells me that I was not born to destroy. Logic even tells me that it is not I that will save or destroy my twin. It whispers that if we are connected, it is for reasons I can ’t fathom.”
    “As I said, logic is your weapon. You have been so focused on this one point that you must resolve it before you can truly give yourself over to the balance of life.”
    He vanished from my side, leaving those words to linger in the air.
    For the first time, I willingly left my post and all but ran to my quarters. I wanted to change out of these sodden fatigues. I wanted to see her. I wanted to understand her.
    For once, I was going to take my grandfather’s advice and planned to live in the moment.

 
     
    Chapter Three
     
     
    A long, hot shower, a clean shave, and a suit—no, I couldn’t do the suit. I tried. I really did. I saw too much of my grandfather’s regal stance in my reflection. I left the dark slacks on and tossed the jacket. I unbuttoned the top of the white shirt and rolled the sleeves up.
    I wasn ’t dressed to court the angel I was determined to find, but at the very least I wasn’t wearing fatigues, looking like a brute warrior with only one focus. I brushed my fingers through my dark hair and stared forward at my reflection, finding it odd that just the thought of that girl brought a glint to my emerald eyes, that I didn’t look furious, or even somber. I had to understand why she had that effect on me, why I felt so vacant without her at my side.
    I flung my bathroom door open and stopped short. Seneca was there. Her white hood was still down, but not quite as far. Her gaze started at my feet and rose to meet my eyes. Her eyes were a mix of lavender and blue. The lavender was always dominant when her gifts of seeing forward were in action, and lately they stayed lavender.
    Seneca had a classic beauty, the kind that every artist tried to capture but failed, and it wasn’t because she was an Allurest, but because of the wisdom in her young eyes. If I had a friend outside of my pupils and warriors, it would be her.
    Though our