"Fortune favors the bold."
— Virgil
...
"So you're saying you're Jude's lost brother, and a regressor, and you—you're fucking immortal?" Kai asked, his voice climbing with each revelation as they settled in the lee of the massive, idling truck.
"Not a long-lost brother," Anton answered, unhurried, leaning against a smooth crystal outcropping with his arms folded. "I was never missing. We haven't even met before now." He gestured toward Zeke with his chin. "And as for him—immortality isn't even that shocking. It's a basic-ass trait inside the Tower. You'll see bastards like him everywhere. Cockroaches."
"And you know this because you're a regressor?" Jude asked. His gaze was analytical, moving across Anton's face as if searching for something familiar.
"So that's how you knew I was immortal." Zeke clicked his tongue softly. "I knew you must've seen it before. But—basic?" He theatrically wiped a nonexistent tear from the corner of his eye. "Wow. My ego is devastated."
