But now…
“He’s vulnerable.” This was the time to strike. After Zane had been abandoned by his toy Kazimir, and while the Imperial Heir kept leaving the Little Palace until well into the night. Zane needed to feel desired to keep himself from spiraling. If Pavel hadn’t acted, he would have been forced to watch as the doctor took another to his bed. Again. He wasn’t willing to do that.
“This is limerence,” Ledger sighed. “You are aware, yeah?”
“Yes.”
“Normal people don’t beat down the person they claim to love,” he continued.
“I’m showing him I want him.”
His brother snorted derisively. “You’re showing him he needs to get a restraining order.”
Pavel’s eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms. “Remind me again, how did you and Niki end up together?”
“That’s different.”
“How so?”
“Because I wasn’t obsessed with him for six years first.”
Pavel had been obsessed with Zane for a lot longer than that, but he didn’t bother correcting him. He rounded the couch and dropped onto it, spreading his arms over the back. “He’ll see what I see. I know he will. Eventually.”
“And what’s that?” Ledger drawled.
“That we were made for each other.”
He grunted. “Sure, easy enough for the shapeshifter to say.” His gaze turned pointed. “Zane is dangerous, brother, every bit as much as the rest of us are. Maybe even more so, thanks to his training with those damn unbreakable knives of his. You can’t forget that. Don’t let this infatuation blind you.”
Though Zane had kept his relationship with Lyra so under wraps that it was hard to tell if even Kelevra knew of it, Ledger was privy thanks to Pavel. He’d needed someone to confide in over the years, so his brother had lent his ear.
Ledger didn’t just fear Zane hurting him. He feared the doctor involving the Imperial Heir.
“He doesn’t want her,” Pavel said.
“That’s what you want to believe,” he stated. “There’s no real proof. The two of them have been together for years. Besides, even setting his relation to the Imperial family aside, there’s something…empty about him.”
Pavel grunted but Ledger doubled down.
“I’m serious. He’s a wild card. The quiet, studious guy is all an act. There’s not a single one of us that is actually normal, brother. Zane Solace is no different.”
“You’re worried over nothing,” Pavel reassured. “There’s nothing and no one in this whole universe who understands him better than I do. Why do you think he put up with Kazimir and Lyra’s treatment all these years? By your own accounts, it’s not because he’s incapable of defending himself.”
Ledger hesitated, considering but clearly unable to come up with an answer.
“Helikesto be used, Ledge.” Pavel felt a thrill race all the way through him just talking about it. “He likes to be treated like an object and manhandled, as long as he’s not being belittled too much in the process. It makes him feelvalued.”
“That is…” he pursed his lips, “super fucked up.”
“I know.”
“You don’t know, because you’re grinning now. I mean, you should be getting him psychological help instead of—”
“Why would I do that?” Pavel frowned. “He doesn’t need help. He’s perfect.”
“When mom brought you home and sat me down and tried explaining that you’re not capable of loving people the same way she and I do, I totally don’t think she meant this level of disconnect, Pav.”
That was easy for someone like Ledger to say. Unlike most of the other Devils, Ledger didn’t have a personality disorder. Not unless being an asshole counted. He had violent tendencies and a foul mouth, but he didn’t suffer with comprehending or experiencing a full range of emotions or put up a fake persona in front of the rest of the world. With him, what you saw was what you got.
