Cain's heart had always been made out of tin.
It was his polished tin star that he had proudly worn on his breast pocket for many years. Then it was his luminous achievement, and it took the light from his disciplined blue eyes and added to their fervor. Some learned to fear that heart, and Cain put it away every night because Adora didn't like to be reminded of it while they were together.
Then, it was the torturous suit Zero had locked him in. He could even feel the suit around him throbbing with a vengeful heat some nights. When he was unlocked, Cain was shocked when he saw and felt his hair and skin stained silver blue. For a single irrational moment Cain thought he was covered in blood from his star-shaped tin heart, bleeding from seeing Adora and Jeb being beaten and dragged away over and over again.
Now, it was one of the painted tin horses he had given Jeb. It was in the same box as the tin star which had used to hold such precedence, but he had given years to that badge. He fell on his knees as if in prayer and held the tiny tin horse to his lips for a moment, then put it in his pocket, where the tin badge used to hang so proudly. The acrid aftertaste remained on his lips for hours.
Zeros' knee hit Cain's mouth and nose squarely, and he could feel nothing but the pain. Heart had nothing to do with it, he had said, but the distorted voice above him assured his family was alive.
The metallic taste of blood on his tongue reminded him of the tin taste of the little horse in his shirt pocket. And Zero pulled back the hammer and fired. The fall and the impact was a painful, frightening blur. As Cain gasped from the shock of the frigid water, he marveled how cold the cloth-covered tin horse felt against his skin, it cooled so very quickly.
He later marveled how his heart could stop bullets.
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