I heard the words that spilled from Diken Graye’s lips.
And they were Bryce’s words. In Bryce’s voice. The shock of it was like a sluice of cold water. The tree in which I sat seemed to rock beneath me. Fear clawed in my chest. Not for myself, but for Bryce.
“No,” I whispered.
“Oh, yesss,” he said. “Your one and only brother. Even if I don’t look much like him at the moment.”
If hearing Bryce’s voice issuing from Diken Graye’s mouth was meant to panic me, that plan came close to success. I felt the panic rising, but underneath the horror I felt also a bitter, burning anger. And the anger was winning.
This was Bryce. Somehow, his spirit—his khi as the Talerans call it—had entered and possessed another being. Yet, this was also not my brother. Not truly. Something had been done to him,
