“What?”
Arek lifted his eyebrows in an unamused expression.“Did I stutter?”
“De—” Saer stopped himself and growled softly, eyes squinting.“Dragon.”
Arek lifted the cup.“Bravo.”Greed raised his other hand and showed one die in his palm, which he’d squirreled away amidst Saer’s frustration.Scooping up the game pieces, he poured them all into the cup and held it towards him.
Saer stared at the clay container until Arek shook it again.“You’re the Roller now, Eldest.Take your prize.”
Ah, yes.
Plucking away the cup, Saer made the show of shaking, peeking, and stating his claim.“One star and nine points.”
“Demon,” Arek answered without missing a beat.
Greed was correct, but Gluttony asked the question this time.“Are you having fun?”
“What?”
Alus grinned.“For my next inquiry, I’m going to ask if your hearing is going, old man.”
Saer fought the compulsion, but ended up laughing despite himself and realizing at the same time, even with the annoyance of feeling thrown off balance…
“Yes.Surprisingly, yes.”
“Good,” Alus said.“Your go again.”
Saer rolled for his turn.“One die landed on top of two others.”
“Ooohhh, I think he’s starting to get it, Bro.”Alus elbowed Arek, who had the grace to look moderately impressed.
Still, Greed only had one word to say.“Demon.”
“Damn it!”How was he supposed to win when Arek had an uncanny ability to discern truth from fallacy?
The chill in Arek’s tone cut through the mirth of the game.“Do you know how many threats Father’s made against you?Againstusbecause of you?”
“Rek, c’mon—” Alus said.
“No, Alustar,” Arek said.“His focus has been on one thing since he got here without any true interest in you, me, or anyone else.So I’ll ask you again, Saer,Eldest—do you have any idea the impact your absence is having on the rest of us?Do you care?”
Energy hummed between the two oldest brothers as they locked eyes, an uneasy roiling turning over in Saer’s stomach.He’d suffered at Lucifer’s hands.Deserved it and expected it to a degree.To think of the Twins, or any of his other kin at the receiving end of such ire…
“It hasn’t been my intention to disrupt the rest of the family—”
“But it has,” Arek interrupted.“He’s gone through periods of screaming and isolation, obsessed with where you are, what you’re doing, why you haven’t come back.He swears to destroy you one moment, then takes the rage out on whichever of us is nearest.”
Saer’s breath caught.
“The next instant, He says you don’t matter and pretends as though the lapse never took place.”
The horror of what Arek described dripped like melting ice down Saer’s back.“I didn’t know—”
“You deserve to,” Arek hissed, all the lines of his neck taut.“Because you were never going to ask.”
“What do you want me to do about that, Areknar?”He kept his voice low, despite the growing urge to yell.
“I want you to be aware of it!I want you to consider others beyond yourself.”
