#Chapter 18 – Old Secrets

“Christian,” I murmur, leaning forward to peer into his face after we sit in silence for a too-long moment. “Do you…do you not have any hope in this world?” He scowls a little, turning away from me and looking out at the dark city through the wide expanse of windows. “I don’t even know what that means, Iris,” he murmurs. “It means…believing that there’s good out in the world. That things, no matter how bad they look right now, are going to turn out for the better.” I study his profile as he stares away from me, and am struck again at how like and unlike this man is to the boy I knew. So much is the same – but the harsh lines, the rigid clench of his jaw, the way his mouth turns down in the corner… He is so, so changed. He sighs, startling me a little, which just makes me realize the intensity with which I was staring. And then he turns his eyes back to me. “If that’s hope, then I guess no, I don’t have a lot of it, Iris. This world is a…dirty, harsh place. After everything I’ve se