As they leave the classroom for good, Farid signals to Fiona that she should go on without them, then he pulls Sebastian aside. "We need to talk," he hisses.

Farid steers Sebastian into a corner, then lowers his voice to a hush, "Bash, we can't keep pretending that nothing ever happened. We've gotta tell someone."

Sebastian looks at Farid, confused. "Tell someone what?"

"About the Shifter!" Farid says through clenched teeth. "You know, the one we had to bury in the woods!"

"Oh, that!" Sebastian's confusion turns to amusement and he laughs. "Farid, you can't be serious? Who are we gonna tell and what do you want to tell them?"

"I don't know." Farid shrugs. "I'm just feeling increasingly uncomfortable with what we did, especially after getting to know the other kids better and talking to Master Liu." He begins to pace. "I mean, sure, I did mention starting a race war when you first showed the guy to me, but I was kinda blowing smoke out of my ass at the time. We know it's illegal but--"

"Farid!" Sebastian raises his hands to put a stop to his brother's panic. "Think about what you're saying. Why would we do that?" he asks earnestly, "so they can kick us out of the Academy? Or worse, have us arrested?"

Anxious, Farid drags his fingers through his shoulder-length hair, desperately needing to do something with his hands. "I don't know, Bash," he moans, "I just... I just don't want to keep carrying this guilt around with me anymore. Isn't it eating you up inside?"

"Oh, brother, brother, brother." Sebastian shakes his head as he slips his arm around Farid's shoulders, pulling him close as they walk slowly down the hall. "Look," he says, "even though we didn't kill the guy, we did go to a hell of a lot of trouble to respectfully bury his body out in the woods. We even left a marker on his grave," he adds.

"And what about his family?" Farid pleads. "Don't they have a right to know?"

"Know what?" Sebastian replies.

"Know where he's buried!" Farid shoots back.

Sebastian stops abruptly and throws Farid an incredulous look, his face a mix of confusion and disbelief. "Are you serious?" he scoffs. "They're Shifters! They're warriors! Things like this don't matter to them. I mean, a hundred years ago they would have left the battlefield littered with the bodies of their fallen comrades."

"And you know this, how?" Farid asks skeptically.

"I'm not sure." Annoyed, Sebastian waves Farid's concerns away. "I read it on the Internet somewhere. The point is," he rushes his words in an attempt to deflect Farid's challenge, "Shifters aren't like us," he says. "They don't stand on ritual and ceremony like we do. They're... " He looks up at the ceiling, searching for just the right word. "They're... Well, let's just say they're more primitive than we are."

Farid is horrified by the comment, but Sebastian just plows on. "Plus, like I said earlier," he adds, "it's not like we were the ones to kill him or anything. We did the best we could, given the rather unfortunate situation we got stuck with." He shrugs.

Farid stares at his brother in shock and disbelief. How on earth can they share the same genes?! He closes his eyes and shakes his head to try and refocus. He's determined to find a way to make things right. "Okay, fine," he says to Sebastian, "but that doesn't mean we can just ignore it. What about the guy's family? Don't they have a right to know where he's buried?"

"Oh, for the love of the gods, Farid!" Sebastian throws up his hands, then glares at his brother, his brows furrowing in frustration. "Honestly, I can't tell if you're being obstinate or naive."

"Bash!" Farid retorts. He stops cold and fists his hands at his sides. He could throttle his brother right now, he's so frustrated. But instead he says, "You know good and well I'm not naive. I'm just trying to do the right thing."

Sebastian rolls his eyes, but before he can reply with his typical snark, Farid adds, "Look, I know you. And I know that deep down, if you'd just put your ego aside for a minute--just a minute--you'd admit you want to do the right thing too. I mean, c'mon. What if it were one of our family members who had been killed like that and buried anonymously out in the woods? What if it were Astrid or Greta or..." He pauses a moment in order to leverage the tension. "Gods forbid, Mateo!"

Sebastian gasps, his mouth falling open at the mere mention of his little brother suffering the same fate.

"Exactly," Farid exclaims, enthusiastically pointing a finger at Sebastian, acknowledging his brother's response. "If it were someone we loved," he adds slyly, "wouldn't you want to know?"

Sebastian grimaces, then bows his head. The mere fact that Farid would bring their siblings into the equation pisses him off, but it also changes his perspective. He looks away as he considers Farid's question, then turns back and says, "Okay. You're right. I understand what you're saying. I suppose we should at least try to find out who the poor guy was and somehow let the family know where he's buried," he concedes. Then, he points his finger back at Farid and gives him a very stern look. "But only under one condition, and I'm serious about this, Farid. We find a way to handle this mess on our own, okay? We do this by ourselves."

Relieved, Farid blows out a breath and nods. "Okay, that's fair. We'll figure it out together." Then, he steps closer, and this time, he's the one to make the brotherly gesture. He throws his arm over Sebastian's shoulder as if to seal their camaraderie, and begins to guide him down the hall. They're headed back to their rooms.

Suddenly, Farid smirks and gives his brother a sly smile. "So, I know you love all of our siblings, and you claim to love them all equally. But the minute I mentioned Mateo." He winks. "I knew you'd change your mind. You have such a soft spot for that kid."

"Oh, shut up!" Sebastian grumbles as he playfully pushes Farid away. "Look, you get to play the Mateo card once, bro," he says as he holds up a finger. "Once. You hear me? Because if you play it again, then you're playing really dirty, and that's not cool."

Farid chuckles. "I know."

"No, I mean it!" Sebastian huffs. "You know how protective of Matty I am. I'm serious about this. Don't play the Matty card again!" he warns.

"I won't. I promise." Farid holds his hands up, still laughing, but also letting Sebastian know that he really does understand.

They walk down the hall for a moment in silence. And then after a beat, Farid chuckles and remarks, "I love it how you're fine being a selfish prick to pretty much anyone and everyone, but you bring a precocious six-year-old into the mix, and your heart melts like butter."

"Yeah, well..." Sebastian grumbles, begrudgingly. "Even the heartless can have a heart sometimes. And Matty's my little buddy, so what can I do?" He shrugs, lazily. "The kid is my Kryptonite."

***********

A/N - I may have a bonus chapter for y'all on Thursday, but I'm not sure yet! 

I love that I can finally break up my formerly long chapters into more consumable ones because, when the story is all done, I think it will have a nice pace. But it sort of messes with my head, you know, trying to keep everything straight. 😅

Random Question - Did any of you all watch either Supernatural Academy or Vampire Academy (the TV series) on the Peacock network? I knew they were both debuting last year, but I sort of kept forgetting the Peacock network exists. I'm sure the Peacock executives just love hearing that.  😂😂😂

Anyway, they're both fun as long as you keep your expectations tempered and you're ready for camp. :-)