For Darkness Shows the Stars

their letters out of spite. Close her eyes and remember a time when her grandfather and her mother were here to temper things for them all. Just spend a few minutes not thinking about the estate, not being a North, not worrying about anything.
    She made her way in silence across the floor of the dairy, past the machines Kai had repaired, past the stalls where the Innovation horses dozed, and headed toward the stairs that led to the loft.
    Nero was waiting for her on the landing.
    So was Kai.
    He startled her, sitting there in the darkness, silent and unmoving even when she almost jumped out of her skin. The cat sat on his knees and he was scratching the animal’s neck. Were it not for those tiny flicks of his fingers against the fur, Kai could have been a statue. She turned up the lantern, but he didn’t blink in the sudden brightness.
    Elliot composed herself, as much in response to his uncanny presence as to her raw reaction to seeing him again. “How’s Olivia?” she forced herself to ask, though her voice broke on the words.
    “I don’t want to talk about Olivia right now.” He studied her. “I heard about your grandfather, Elliot. I’m so sorry.”
    “Thank you.” She stood still. His body blocked the stairs. She couldn’t push past him. She didn’t want to push past him. If she inadvertently touched him, she might dissolve. For weeks she’d waited for him. He hadn’t sent word that he’d left the estate; he hadn’t come to visit when he’d returned. And now, of all times, he came to her?
    “I thought, maybe . . .”
    “What?”
    He waited. Took a breath. “I thought maybe you . . . needed to talk to someone.”
    “You mean like when my mother died?” The words fell like stones into the space between them. That night. That wonderful, terrible night when her mother died and her whole world had been destroyed, when she realized she loved Kai and her whole world had been created anew. Now he wanted to take that night away from her, too? Her throat began to burn, and a vise squeezed at her heart. “I think you’ll find, Malakai, that I’m a different person than I was then. I don’t need anyone. The last four years are proof of that.”
    “So now when you come to the barn, it’s to be alone?”
    She stiffened. “Yes.”
    Kai stood and moved to the side of the stairwell so she could pass, but still she did not. He looked at the locked door to the loft, and back at Elliot. “Go ahead.”
    She didn’t move. Damn him. He knew what she hid in there. He had to know. Or at least suspect. “I thought I told you to stay out of here.”
    “Go ahead, Elliot. Open the door.”
    She shook her head. No. If he saw she’d kept the letters, he’d know how much she still cared. She couldn’t bear for him to see, not tonight, when she’d already lost so much.
    “Why?”
    “I don’t owe you an answer.” Did his unnatural eyes give him X-ray vision? Could he see through the boards of the door and tell what she was hiding inside? Had Felicia given him the power of flight? Had he levitated up to the window and peered inside?
    Or did he just know her so well that he could guess?
    “You told me you did experiments, Elliot.” So he did believe her. “You must trust me. I came tonight because I knew you’d be here. Please, will you unlock the door now?”
    It was too late for that. He might not hate her anymore, but that didn’t mean she was ready to give up all her secrets. “Go back to Olivia,” she said flatly. “She needs you more than I do.”

S IX Y EARS A GO
     
    Dear Kai,
    After giving it a lot of thought, I’ve decided that this will be my last little note to you. I’ve grown tired of playing with a boy who lives in a barn and only owns one pair of pants. I can’t possibly imagine what you find so fascinating about bunches of rusted metal. It was a fun game while it lasted. But I’m bored now. Please don’t ever talk to me again.
    Not your friend,
    Elliot
        
     
    Dear Elliot,
    I really wish you’d stop coming and bothering me. I have lots of chores to do, because I’m a servant. I would much rather do the work I’m supposed to than waste everyone’s time by playing with you. I’m twelve years old now, and that means I have to work my allotted twelve hours a day on the farm, and if I don’t, I won’t get fed. I’m sure you don’t want me to starve. So leave me alone.
    Not your friend,
    Kai
        
     
    Dear Kai,
    That was Tatiana. Don’t worry. Mother