“Did I know what?” I grind out, the pain from the lashings making it nearly impossible to breathe let alone speak.
“Did you know who she was when you brought her here?”
My pace slows.
“Fuck, Ryjax, you fucking knew.” His voice is so raw that I’m forced to halt.
I turn. “I didn’t know, all right?” And it’s the truth. I didn’t know. Not at first. “It was a coincidence.”
“A coincidence?” He chokes on a laugh, his eyes narrowing. “Gods damn you, Jax. You should have told me when you found out. And you definitely should have told me before you left for Bragunda.”
“Why?” I snap, stepping toward him, seconds away from losing control, and I can’t lose control because I truly don’t know what will happen if I ever do. “So I could disappoint you both? Not sure if you noticed, but I came back empty handed.”
And hell, I wish I hadn’t. I wish I’d found her. For him, and forher.
But I spentdaysscouring that country. Moving at the speed of light to search every inch of it. But she wasnowhere. I couldn’t find a single hint of her. I checked every mine, every field, and slave bunker.
It’s as if she just…disappeared.
“Like I wouldn’t notice something like that.” Tears form in his eyes, one dripping down his cheek, and I curse myself.
What the hell is wrong with me?
Theo has every right to be pissed. He fucking loves her, and I never fully understood what that meant. Not until…no. Fuck.Donotgo there.I can’t go there.
“When did you realize it? Who she was?” I ask, because up until this moment, I didn’t know he’d made the connection.
“She said her name. When I escorted her to the ball. She said her fucking name, and my heart stopped. I thought I might die right there. Damn, Jax, a little warning would have been nice.”
I release a sigh, long and full of regret. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Theo. Really, I am.”
“I know you are.” He turns from me then, surely trying to hide his tears, not that it’d matter. All of his emotions can be heard in his voice. And besides, just as he knows me, I also know him. He’s my cousin by blood but best friend by choice. Always has been. “You can’t let anything happen to her,” he says. “I’m going to get Telfi back, and I’m not going to be the one to explain to her that something happened to her little sister. Do you hear me?” He faces me again, so much pain and rage in his expression.
“I hear you.” My jaw clenches, annoyed that he eventhinksI’d let any harm befall her, especially after what he just witnessed in that throne room. As if I wouldn’t destroy this entire fucking palace if it meant saving her.
He doesn’t say anything, and neither do I.
But then my mind pins on the moment they dragged Serafina from the room, when my heart nearly gods-damnedshatteredinto a million pieces.
“Did you see it?” I ask.
“Did I see what?” He breathes out slowly, as if he’s still processing everything. Or at the very least,tryingto.
“The shadows,” I say, my words harsh because Ineedto know if he saw it, too. “When they took her away, did you see the shadows on the walls move?”
“Of course, I saw it.” He shakes his head. “Kind of hard to miss.”
My heart stops.
“Wait,” Theo says, cocking his head to the side. “Are you saying thatwasn’tyou?”
Fuck.
“I don’t know what I’m saying,” I spit because what I’mthinking…it’s not possible.
My nails dig into my palms, so deep, I’m surprised I haven’t drawn blood.
It wasn’t fucking me.
