Counting Shadows (Duplicity)

sure,” he finally replies, and the despair in his voice convinces me he’s telling the truth. “Part of the prophecy not in this book is that our powers become apparent at the age of twenty. I’m not that old yet, and my brothers never reached that age before their powers were taken away.”
    “So you have no idea what your powers are?”
    “No, not the slightest clue. That’s another part of the prophecy that’s been lost.”
    I nibble at my lip, considering him and his sorrowful expression. “Why did you just tell me that, Lor? You could have lied to me. You could have told me you had already had incredible powers, and I might have believed you.”
    He just keeps tracing the lines of the book. “Because Jay trusted you. So I should, too.”
    “What happened to him?” I whisper. “What happened to Ashe? Was he disgraced, too?”
    Lor’s hand abruptly freezes. “Disgraced? No. No, of course not. Jay could never be disgraced.” His eyes flick up to meet mine, and he grits his jaw. It’s a challenge; he wants me to disagree with him.
    So I don’t. I just nod and say, “You’re right. It was wrong of me to assume that.”
    He grinds his teeth, his jaw working back and forth. Then, after a long moment, he nods. “Yeah. It was. What happened to Jay is completely different than what happened to Asair. Jay was stolen away. Our enemies knew of the legend, and they were afraid it would come true. So they kidnapped Jay when he was twelve to make sure that never happened.”
    I think of the first day I met Ashe, of the day the bounty hunter presented him to my father in court. The bounty hunter had worn a large grin as he’d pushed Ashe forward, and so had my father. I’d always wondered why a bewildered little boy, completely mute and beaten half to death, would make the both of them so happy.
    Now I knew. Ashe was the ultimate prize. He was Prince Jaylor, their future worst enemy—but not anymore.
    “So what about you? Why aren’t you back with your people?” I decide not to voice the dozens of other questions running through my mind: If he was so powerful, why had he let Chagra nearly kill him? Was he really the twin from the prophecy? And, the question that was nagging at the back of my head, slowly working its way forward: Could I trust him?
    “I’m not going to talk about that now,” Lor says. “It’s kind of a touchy subject.”
    The ocean churns at the base of the cliff, dashing against rocks and sending spray high into the air. Fog surrounds me, but it’s not thick enough to hide the figure in front of me. He stands at the edge of the cliff, his gaze rapidly flicking from me to the cliff-face behind him. His red eyes settle back on me, and he stumbles back a step. Rocks crumble off the ledge, tumbling into the ocean below.
    “Going somewhere?” I ask.
    “You’re not going to actually kill me.” He swallows hard. “You can’t.”
    I smile and take another step toward him, forcing him closer to the ledge. “But that’s where you’re wrong, Angel. I was created to kill you.”
    I open my eyes, gasping. My heart thuds in my chest, a frantic rhythm too fast to count. I feel numb, like the vision leeched all the feeling out of me.
    “Are you okay?” Lor asks.
    “Fine,” I gasp.
    “You zoned out again.”
    “Really, I’m fine.”
    I press a hand to my forehead and squeeze my eyes shut. What had the book said about the Unknown?
No, no, no.
That isn’t possible. I’m not going there.
    “Lor,” I whisper. “Why does the book refer to the Unknown as a female?”
    Okay, so maybe I
am
going there.
    Lor shrugs. “I don’t know. That’s one of those things that’s been lost over the years. Maybe the Unknown was a war ship? Or an enemy country? There’s a lot of dangerous things that people refer to as being female.”
    “But she’s not an actual person… right?”
    Lor scoffs. “Of course not. One woman couldn’t kill two powerful Angels.”
    “Good.”
    “Good?”
    “Just… I’m glad that you’re probably safe.”
    He frowns at me, like he isn’t quite sure what I mean. “Yeah, I guess. Actually, I don’t think the Unknown even exists. I think it’s just a made-up part of the legend, you know, to make it sound more exciting.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Pretty sure. I’ve never been threatened by anyone but my own people.”
    It’s my turn to frown. “You were—?”
    He snatches the book and jumps off the bed, cutting me off. “Well, I’ll leave you