“to turn to dust the instant I called them up. The only sensation I could recall was that of moving very fast. Perhaps it had been too fast for my brain to process? I wasn’t sure, but in the end, all I could remember was that during those brief seconds, I had taken out all of our enemies. Somehow. It irritated me that my brain was striving to block that knowledge, actions that I had taken, evading me. The scrape of a boot on rock announced the presence of someone joining me on my high hideaway. “Not now, Vir,” I said without looking, unsure if I could handle his constant positivity at a time like this. He just believed so much that I was the one who could do this that at times it became grating having to live up to such lofty standards. “If he shows up, I’ll be sure to tell him to scram,” Aaron chuckled as he joined me. “Oh, sorry,” I said, still not looking back. “This is my favorite spot, too,” he said. I looked down at where my feet dangled into nothingness. The path to get up here hadn’t been easy to find, but it wasn’t impossible either. And the vista was spectacular. “Listen, Aaron,” I said. “I don’t know if I want to talk about this.” “No?” I snorted a single burst of laughter. “No. Definitely not with a vampire,” I teased. Aaron flopped down on the ledge next to me and looked over, his bright blue eyes looking silver-white in the sunlight. “How about with a friend?” “That was lame,” I pointed out. “You looking nothing like Legolas.” The vampire chortled with laughter. “It’s so much,” I said as he calmed. “I’m not the hero he thinks I am.” There was no need to specify which “he” I was talking about.”