My Brother's Keeper Read Free Page A

had to be sure she meant what he thought she did.
    Rheia pointed to his head. "You just pulled up some sort of mental file and read from it didn't you? Meryn can do that. She has what Aiden calls 'Meryn Moments' where she has to stop and allow things to process so she can store it correctly. If I hadn't done the physical on her myself, I would swear she was half computer."
    Kendrick felt a spurt of hope flare. In all the centuries he had been alive, he'd never met anyone who thought like he did. That tiny, strange human could think like him? "She seemed a bit..." He didn't know how to describe her without being rude.
    Rheia laughed. "Quirky, strange, immature, odd, manic? Take your pick. But the thing is, she's all that and brilliant. She sees things so much differently than we do that, honestly, it can be hard to keep up. We just let her do her own thing though; it would be a shame to force her to act normal, when she's so much more."
    Her words triggered a memory of his mother. 'Kendrick why are you trying so hard to be ordinary when you are clearly extraordinary?' The society in which he was raised didn't tolerate deviations from the norm, so he had left home to learn on his own. Yet here, in this house, they not only accepted Meryn as she was, they encouraged and nurtured her differences.
    "I can't wait to get to know her better."
    Rheia hesitated, took a deep breath, and met his eyes. "She hasn't had it easy, so please be patient with her. I don't think she has accepted what has happened to Keelan; it's why she was going to try to reach him with the Ouija board and why she calls you Keelan-From-the-Future. She has only recently experienced what it feels like to have a family, she hasn't learned how to process losing someone."
    Kendrick felt a rare moment of shame. He had judged Meryn in the same fashion others had judged him in the past. "I promise to be both kind and patient with her."
    Rheia's relief was written across her face. "Thank you." She looked down at her watch. "I'll let you get ready for breakfast." She turned and walked out of the room.
    Kendrick removed the leather pouch at his belt and laid it on the bed next to Keelan. Next, he removed his clothes and folded them into a neat pile. He waited a moment for the spelled garments to reset and then put them back on thinking of the clothes he wanted to wear for the day. Instead of worn travel clothes, he now had on a pair of perfectly broken-in jeans, an undershirt, a black button-down, a thin black hoodie, and a black blazer to go on over it. Black boots covered his feet, and as usual, his magic washed his hair, teeth and body for him. He reattached his pouch and headed out the door. 
    He followed his nose to track down the source of the amazing, rich aroma of freshly ground coffee. When he opened the dining room door, all conversation stopped.
    "Keelan!" A child-like, female voice called out happily. Kendrick looked around the table and spotted the owner of the adorable, squeaky voice. Seated next to Rheia was one of the most adorable little girls he had ever seen--except for Amelia, of course.
    Despite the lack of coffee, he found himself smiling gently at the child. "No, I'm afraid I'm not Keelan. My name is Kendrick, and Keelan is my little brother."
    Her small face scrunched up in thought. "You make him better, like Momma?"
    He nodded. "That's the plan."
    She smiled brightly. "Good. Miss him."
    "Me, too," he admitted before taking the open seat next to Amelia.
    "That's Keelan's seat," Meryn grumbled.
    Kendrick found that he actually liked the way she frowned at him. She didn't fear him one bit and didn't hesitate to let him know that he was sitting in Keelan's chair. Her honesty was actually refreshing.
    "Why are you smiling?" she demanded.
    "Was I smiling?"
    "Yeah, it was kinda creepy."
    "Meryn!" Amelia admonished.
    "What? It was."
    Amelia turned to him. "Yes, that is Keelan's chair, but I don't think he'd mind you sitting there. And yes you were smiling,