Clay felt lonely. Even though he was surrounded by his friends--his family--he still felt lonely.

Why? One, Peril wasn't with him. She could always find a way to calm him down and actually see how nervous, how scared he was when no one else could. Two, he was scared to talk to anyone. If he didn't talk, he wouldn't say anything that would upset his friends. He couldn't say anything that would make them worry more, which would make them worry about him.

He was Clay. He was the one who could keep them all safe.

He wondered if Sunny was feeling the same way. Starflight--he knew he was worrying a lot. By being so smart, he could think of so many terrible outcomes. Glory was able to talk to Deathbringer, and everyone was worrying so much about her that she was able to talk. Tsunami could easily talk about her feelings. And if she didn't, she would just punch something, and then she would act fine.

Sunny, on the other hand, she was always so bright. She was an amazing liar, which sometimes could be scary, and this was one of thse cases. She could hide how she was feeling and be strong for everyone else.

And Clay knew that because that was exactly what he was feeling. He felt os helpless. He wanted to protect them, he had to. But look at where it got him last time.

An Clay wasn't just worried about his friends. What about his siblings? His aunt and mother? What if someone came after them and all Clay could do was stand there, just as helpless as he had been after they had been captured.

Clay balled his hand into a fist and exhaled slowly. He could be strong. He could protect them. Things wouldn't go the way they had before.

Clay would change it. For the better.