I had been lethal at eight. Not just to the Many-Eyed, but the pirates as well. They're just kids wasn't a phrase that had ever meant much to me, because the Island had been full of children and we had done our level best to destroy anything that opposed us.

I didn't want to tell Steve that for some reason. I didn't want him to know about the pirates.

"You had a choice," I said instead. "Even if you think you didn't. Other people would have seen the choice and wouldn't have made the same one."