He knows little of the wars that forced people to flee the cities. But when he starts to understand Bruno has his own troubles, helping him becomes the only thing Alexei wants to do.Īll Ilya knows about the world Before is from pictures old books: of glittering cities made of glass: of creatures like bears and wolves that used to haunt not only the forests. He doesn’t want to have feelings for Bruno. Things he doesn’t think he can deal with. Things that might make his world grow even darker. Hiding out in a room in his cousin’s flat, he tries to convince himself that’s where he needs to stay. And as he and Alexei gets closer, Bruno realises that his only real choice is between hiding his heart and trusting it.Īlexei is confused. But that’s the problem when someone starts to care about you, your secrets get harder to hide. Until the lonely boy next door throws up on him and they get stuck in a lift together. Alone in his empty, furniture-less flat, he thinks he has to. His secret means his life is, at its heart, a lie.īruno thinks he can live that lie. His secret means getting fired from job after job washing dishes, until delivering mysterious packaging around London is his only way of making any money. Never have a random hook-up or even a kiss-apart from that one time in a club when some beautiful guy wearing luminous wings and neon bangles up his arms, kissed him. The sort of secret that means he can never have anything more than sort of friends. Nineteen-year-old Bruno has a secret he can never tell.

Foxes by Suki Fleet