“It was when I wassixteen, I’ll have you know. We held hands occasionally, and he made these sick boosters for my skateboard.”
Those little green tendrils mostly disappeared, replaced with cheery rose bubbles of amusement and the occasional streak of chartreuse interest. “Sounds like an illicit affair.”
“Something like that. We broke up when he had to move away, so I took apart the boosters and learned how to remake them myself.”
“You’ll have to forgive me for saying this, but that’s about the most classically Cherry thing you ever could have said.”
“Nothing to forgive, I take that as a badge of honor.”
He chuckled, and I got the impression that he wanted to say more, but his sister called him back over to help. As much as I would like to be in his presence as often as possible, I didn’t mind the slight break so I could concentrate on the arm.
Metal is not conductive to heat. Cool to the touch and does not warm even after several moments.
God, was this really on Paul’s brother?There’s no blood anywhere within the mechanics, so it’s unlikely this was connected to actual flesh.
Must have been a mechanical connection that broke.
Broke, or released because of his transformation?
Oh look, here’s the magic reservoir.Parallel to the battery; pretty outdated technique.
Is this artificer on the older side?
Wait!
There’s the inscription Jackson was talking about!Lemme see, lemme see, lemme see!
It was so tiny that I had to squint even with the magnifying scope mounted to the swivel arm. But once I could make out the full phrase, I knew exactly what it was.
“Hey, this is Latin.”
At that, Jackson hurried to my side, his coffee only half consumed. “You’re telling me you know Latin?”
Now it was my turn to blink at him. “Doesn’t everybody?”
“I don’t know. I always fell asleep whenever my Latin tutor opened his mouth.”
“You know,” his sister said, not even looking up from her laptop, “that explains a whole lot more than you’d probably like to admit.”
“At this point, I’m more surprised if the psychic isn’t an expert on a subject,” Chris said through a mouthful of greasy burger. At least shifters didn’t have to worry about the long-term health effects.
I chuckled, not minding the light teasing, and turned my attention back to the inscription.
Libertas a vinculis aeternis.
But that wasn’t all. There were also inscriptions in the casings of the fingers. I could barely see them around the once-whirring mechanisms and wires, tilting the glove to get a better look as I read them one by one.
Semper Puniti
Semper Victores Fient
Semper Accipiens
Semper Servus Fiet
Semper Optimum Familiae Nostrae
I stared at those words, my brain sparking with recognition that took me several moments to decipher. But when I did, it shocked my entire system, and I gasped so loud that every single VanMarche whipped their heads in my direction.