Flashback ( PDFDrive )

attention.”
Alvar’s apartment was also gone.
And the hive was being buried.
She decided not to ask what they did with the bodies. Instead she
asked, “Are you okay?”
Alden sighed, turning to watch the gnomes tear down another
panel of glowing bars. “It’s not easy realizing you’ve been played for a
fool. Or that someone you love . . . doesn’t deserve that sentiment. It
was agonizing enough watching what all of you went through that
night, knowing there was nothing I could do to help—Gisela made
that clear with plenty of threats. But . . . watching Alvar. Seeing the
moment the flashback hit. And he stopped being the son I’d just
started to believe I was getting back, and instead became the monster
I never wanted to believe he truly was. Well . . . let’s just say that’s
going to stay with me. Just as I’m sure everything else that happened
here is going to stay with lots of people for years to come. It’s going to
be quite a legacy to live down. But change . . . is what our world needs.
I suspect my family won’t be the only one experiencing a few growing
pains.”
No, probably not.
Though “growing pains” was putting it somewhat mildly.
Thanks to the very public Tribunal of Luzia over the next few days
—and the more private investigations into Orem’s, Alden’s, and
Della’s involvement as well—there seemed to be a never-ending
stream of gossip about “the Vacker legacy.”
Fitz and Biana bore it well, but Sophie could tell it was eating at
them.