Torn by Amanda Hocking

I got to have Matt around me again. I didn’t know for how long, but at least he knew the truth now.
    And I finally knew why the Vittra were so fixated on me. Sure, the answer didn’t really make things any easier, but I understood, and that was something.
    When I thought about it, the only real dark spot was Finn’s absence. It left a dull ache inside my chest, but I had to ignore it. There were too many other things going for me to sit around missing him.
    I hated that he’d even come at all. It would’ve been easier if he’d just left me alone, and I’d never seen him again.
    I went over to Matt’s room and discovered Rhys keeping him company. Elora had fixed him, much to my relief, and Rhys said that I’d have to begin my “training” soon to harness my abilities. I didn’t know exactly what that would entail, but I didn’t want to pump him for information.
    I sat down in an overstuffed chair in his room and decided to tell Matt everything. Rhys had told him some in the Vittra dungeon, but I wanted to fill in the blanks. More importantly, I thought Matt needed to hear it from me.
    I started from the beginning, explaining how Elora had switched me for Rhys. I told him how Finn had been sent to track me and bring me here, about what it meant to be a Princess, and about the Trylle and their abilities.
    The whole time I talked, Rhys said nothing but watched with rapt interest. I’m not sure how much of this he already knew.
    Matt didn’t say much of anything, either, only asking the occasional question. He began pacing when I started talking, but he didn’t seem anxious or confused. When I finished, he stood silently for a minute, absorbing it all.
    “So?” I asked when he still didn’t say anything.
    “So… do you guys still eat?” Matt looked over at me. “ Cause I’m starving.”
    “Yeah, of course we do,” I smiled, feeling relieved.
    “I wouldn’t call what they eat food ,” Rhys scoffed. He’d been sitting on the bed, but he stood since the conversation appeared to be wrapping up.
    “What do you mean?” Matt asked.
    “Well, you lived with Wendy. You have to know how she eats.” Rhys realized he might have said something wrong, and he hurried to correct it. “Trylle are more careful eaters than us. They don’t drink pop or eat meat really.”
    Matt stared at Rhys for a moment longer, then glanced at me. There was something new in Matt’s eyes, something I was feeling for the first time myself. Rhys had just put Matt and himself into an “us” versus me in a “them.”
    I had never and could never think of Matt as less than me, but we were different. We were separate. And despite all the differences between us that had been so obvious, it felt weird to actually know it, to have someone articulate that we weren’t even the same species.
    “Fortunately, I have a fridge stocked with real food,” Rhys pushed on, trying to change the mood in the room. “And I’m a pretty decent cook. Ask Wendy.”
    “Yeah, he’s pretty good,” I lied, but I wasn’t that hungry anymore. My stomach had tightened, and I was amazed that I could even force a smile at them both. “Come on. Let’s get some food.”
    Rhys thought that talking nonstop would make up for his small blunder, and neither Matt nor I contradicted him. We walked down to the kitchen, with Duncan tagging along as soon as I’d left Matt’s room.
    Duncan’s constant presence irritated me far more than Finn’s ever had, even though Duncan hadn’t really done anything. Maybe it was simply because he was there and Finn wasn’t.
    I pulled up a stool to the kitchen counter and watched Matt and Rhys interact . Rhys kept playing up his cooking skills, but once Matt saw him in action, he realized that he’d better take the lead. I propped my chin up on my hand, feeling all sorts of conflicting emotions as they talked and laughed and teased each other.
    Part of me was thrilled that they got to have each other in their lives, the way