"You came to see me!"
He bounced over like a rabbit, pressing himself against the glass, beaming at me.
My eyes dropped to his hands first. Clear palm lines. All ten fingers intact.
Then his body. Beneath the loungewear, both legs stood straight and whole.
My knees nearly buckled.
This was my brother. This was him.
Only—
"Why are you locked in here?"
Before he could answer, Muriel rushed in, breathless.
"Piers has a sensitive constitution, and with the baby to look after, he caught a bit of a cold this afternoon when he went out. Just a precautionary quarantine." She paused, studying me. "Weren't you supposed to be out of town? You said you couldn't make it back."
I smiled. "You forget what Mom used to say? Whichever one of us gets married first, the other has to be his best man."
Through the glass, I raised my hand gently and pressed my palm against his.
"I knew you'd come!" He tilted his head, grinning wide. "I already picked out your suit. You're going to be the second most handsome guy at my wedding!"
He cocked his head to the side, eyes squinting with delight as he pictured it.
My smile froze.
Our mother died when we were four years old. She never lived long enough to say anything like that.
The glass was thick and cold. My hand was already ice.
But his palm, pressed against the other side, was still flushed pink with warmth.
"Stay this time, okay? Just get rid of those disgusting zombies already!" He pouted, wheedling, one finger tracing lazy circles against the glass where my palm rested.
That was his habit. Exactly his habit.
He couldn't remember words that were never spoken, but the little gestures were perfect.
"The zombies are my trump card," I said quietly. "If anyone ever hurts you, I can send them to settle the score."
"Zombies have no humanity! Even if you control them, they'll turn on you eventually!"
"Tell me something." I held his gaze, studying every flicker across his face. "Did you know they used live bait at the gate today?"
He froze for a split second, processing, then quickly said, "Oh, I know about that! Didn't they kill a bunch of zombies? Everyone's been celebrating!"
The last trace of a smile drained from my face.
My brother and I had different ambitions, but we respected each other's choices. I would never stop him from devoting his life to the Bastion, and he would never ask me to destroy my undead and submit to humanity.