2
KURT
I stood in the back of the room, watching the others’ reactions as our understanding of the world we lived in fell in tatters around us.
Asher met each person's eyes briefly, then nodded, taking his seat. "Let us begin now."
The silence of shell shock echoed around us. I scanned the room, but as always, my gaze zeroed in on Benjamin. All this talk of phoenixes and Ancients was mind-boggling enough, but somehow, it all centered on Emerson Wamp. And Benjamin was the only one among us who had suffered directly at his hands.
Guarded as always, Benjamin's focus was half on the child who played happily at my feet: his three-year-old son, Evan. I leaned down and ruffled the boys’ hair, drawing the attention of his father. I straightened, and Benjamin looked away, rubbing his pregnant
