"I am too," he says, glancing down at Aurora like she might hear him and take some offense. "Mostly because I'm lazy and I had a lot less time on my hands back home, but now that I don't live at the inn, I don't see them as much."

Aurora was certainly more hands on, but she also came when he called, and if he needed a companion, he never had to wait on the mood to strike her for it.

Her answer makes sense, and he isn't sure what else he expected. It's always made sense for others, for people like Ty and Nicky to be protectors, for people like Casey to at least watch their own backs. Without explaining his gifts, he isn't sure how to express why he struggles with it, even when his own life is on the line. "So far I can only think of one thing we've had a chance to actually fight," he says instead. "And it was the kind of monster you can't face with just your hands."