Fusion by Nicole Williams

time of the month or something?”
    Boom. And he was back down, my foot hooking under both of his and pulling them out below him before he knew I’d moved. And this time, I hadn’t used teleportation.
    “I’m in jail. I haven’t touched, embraced, kissed, or copped a feel on my girl in months. I’m serving a sentence for a crime I didn’t commit. My brothers fight like a bunch of girls. And I find out Father is going over the Reversal Project with Bryn.” Extending my hand, I helped Joseph up. “So, yeah, maybe it is that time of the month.”
    “Your life sucks,” Joseph acknowledged, patting my back after I hoisted him up. “Good luck with that.”
    I grumbled at him, holding back from taking him down again.
    “The RP, as it was intended to work, is a necessary evil, Patrick,” the big brother who I was happily going to kick into next week said. “You know that, right?”
    I spun around, my eyes narrowing. “No, Nathanial. I don’t know that. In fact, I’m quite positive it was the worst idea ever conceived.”
    Leaning into a tree, Nathanial crossed his arms, looking totally unconcerned with my lid about to blow. He was like William in that way. The only one I could get a rise out of was brother number four. “You’re tainted because you lost a friend. We all lost friends to the RP,” he said. “But if it worked like it was supposed to, it would have been bloody brilliant.”
    A tremble ran up my spine. “And instead all it was was bloody.”
    “It was the perfect solution to those Immortals that never fit into the lifestyle, and those who no longer deserved it. It was an out for them, without actually having to kill them.”
    My brows came together as I searched the sky. “I don’t know, Nathanial. I seem to remember everyone dying where the RP was involved.”
    “In theory,” he emphasized. “If no one died and we could successfully transition an Immortal to a Mortal, it would be another weapon in each Alliance’s arsenal.”
    “It was a weapon all right,” I said, glaring back down at him. How did he have such screwed up views of what had been the Immortal equivalent of genocide?
    “Stop being such a girl, Patrick,” he said, rolling his head back into the tree. “Father and the entire Immortal community learned their lesson. It will never happen again.”
    “Then why is he talking about reversal with Bryn, huh?” I said, glancing over at Joseph, who was looking between the two of us like he was trying to decide if he should run for popcorn and a soda or try to break us up. “If he’s learned his lesson, why’s he spending copious amounts of time talking about the ins and outs of reversal with an Immortal who is able to single-handedly kill another Immortal?”
    Nathanial waited to reply, either gathering together a response or waiting for me to take a step back from the ledge. “Because he needs to know if it can be done.”
    “Why?” I shouted. “Why does he need to know that?”
    “Because if it can be done in our Alliance, it can be done in another Alliance,” he replied, still a pillar of calm. “Part of his role as Chancellor is to delve into the dark realms of possibility the rest of us would prefer to stay blissfully ignorant to.”
    “What part of me has ever been blissfully ignorant?” I said, looking at him with a degree of disgust. “I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty. I’m not afraid to delve deep into those dark places. And neither are either of you two for that matter.”
    “True,” Nathanial agreed with a shrug, “but that’s because we’re Haywards. It runs in the blood.”
    “Just keep your head up and ears open, okay? I don’t care who, what, or why, the RP is not making a comeback on my watch.” Shoving Joseph’s arm, I looked at him. “You too, little brother.”
    “Got it,” he said, righting himself. “Head up. Ears open.”
    I blew out a breath, willing myself to let this go. For now. I wasn’t here to get in a fight with my