Page 53 of The Other Side of Green

For a moment I hesitated, looking at the beautiful man in front of me, unable to believe the wild claims he could be my brother. Tell him, Lyra, tell him.

As much as it had been my intention to never tell him, the reprieve of sharing the dirty secret teased me, begged me to let it go.

I couldn’t though. For the first time since I’d found him, and even standing in black with faded bruises on his skin, he looked the closest to Blue I’d seen in what felt like a lifetime.

Trouble was, could I be happy with Blue now that I’d had Jack?

I went to turn for the door, but he held me back. “I’m never giving up, Lyra Bird.”

My breath caught and I glanced down at Grams, hearing the echo of her voice in his words.

I’ll try not to, I thought back, but this is fucking hard, and make no mistake about it.

A smile curled my lips as I walked for the door, Grams reprimand at my bad language rising in my ears.

Chapter Thirteen

Jack

Lyra kept her hand in Luca’s as they walked behind the coffin drawn on a black hearse and pulled by black horses. French Horns, trumpets and saxophones heralded the journey to Grams’ church.

“You okay?” Mom ducked to my side, stepping in pace with me. I glanced around for Phillipe. It seemed he was a permanent feature in this new world that had opened in my home town.

“Yeah.” I ducked my head, trying my hardest not to scowl at the fact I was six courteous rows back. I mean, I hadn’t been here for four years, what was I expecting?

“Wish you were up there with Lyra?” Mom’s lips flickered at the edges. Even the smallest of smiles could make my heart swell. Smiles were as rare as precious gems in that old world that used to exist in this place.

“Well, yeah. She’s pushing me away though.”

“She’ll come around, Jack. Grams going like that must have come as a real shock.”

I nodded. “I think we’ve had enough shocks for a fair while.”

“How long do you think you’ll stay once the funeral is done?”

I kept my gaze forward. “I don’t know. I need to go back to work before I lose everything.”

From the corner of my eye, I caught her small head bob. Reaching out, I caught her hand. “I’ll be back though.”

Mom’s smile spread wide and sent shivers over my skin.

As we got to the small Baptist church, I did a double take at the sight of Alex Collins’ blond hair, my stomach sinking, but he gave me a curt nod and then greeted Lyra, kissing her cheek. Next to him the small slight shape of Lyra’s roommate ran to hug her friend.

“What are you guys doing here?” Lyra’s voice drifted over the crowd to where I stood.

“I decided that setting fire to my bra could wait.” Her friend, Eva, smiled but then stared hard at Lyra. “We wanted to be here for you, and also to make sure you have a ride back to college.”

Lyra’s skin paled and Eva squeezed her arm. “Not yet.”

Luca leaned in and interrupted, Eva’s cheeks stained pink. I hoped Raven wasn’t lurking, otherwise we could have a full-on turf war smackdown in the middle of Grams’ funeral.

The pallbearers began to slide the coffin off the hearse and with a loud, keening cry, Lyra’s mom fell to her knees, wailing as she landed.

“Oh God,” Mom muttered.

“Shit.”

Patience, one of Grams’ cronies, poked her with her stick while a man with skintight trousers and a greasy sweep-over picked her up off the ground.