“Let me go, asshole!” Kaz twisted, jerking his big body in the hopes of throwing off his brother’s grip, but Theodore wouldn’t let go without a fight — which, in a crowded hall full of soft, hungover academics, was not a good idea.
Theodore lifted his lip and let loose a terrifying snarl. “Let go? Let you go over a fucking bridge! Save me the hassle of dealing with you! Do you have any idea howworriedwe’ve been?”
Worried? He was worried? Kaz had a mate all alone when she needed him most. Theodore didn’tknowworried.
“I have to find her,” he gritted out, thrashing harder as the lights came down over the audience. They were standing in the gap between the front row and the stage. He was so close. He just needed to hop up and run behind the curtain. She’d be back there. He could feel it.
“I’m not letting you go, idiot.” Theodore gave him a hard shake. His teeth clacked against each other hard enough to make him momentarily worry about snapping a fang. “Come sit your ass down next to my wife andapologize.”
“My mate is—”
“Currently a few seconds away from giving a groundbreaking presentation and completely surrounded not only byyourrogue team, but an entire unit of Patrol. We’ve got people behind the curtain in the frontandback row of every section, and in all the balconies. She’s fine.” Theodore was just about the only person Kaz knew who could actually manhandle him. He used that ability to drag his brother toward the front row and toss him into one of the velvet-covered seats.
His vision went a little wobbly for a second.Gotta breathe. Gotta go. Godsdamn this shit really kicks your ass.
If he’d known the bond would make him as weak as a baby, he probably would have picked a better time to ask for it.
No, that’s a lie,he thought, covetous even at that moment of the sun shining in his mind. Atria was well and truly his now. He didn’t regret that for a second. Kaz just wished his brother would let him fuckinggo.
He wanted to throw himself out of the seat, but now that he was sitting, he couldn’t quite find the strength to get up.Just need a second. Then I can find her.
More words came through the speakers. He shook his head, trying to clear it.
Teddy’s here.The knowledge actually began to sink in. His eyes widened. Craning his neck, he found his sister-in-law in the seat beside him, her arms crossed over her chest and her expression some odd mixture of furious, exasperated, and concerned. Delilah sat next to her, long legs outstretched and phone in hand, like she couldn’t care less about her brothers brawling a few feet away.
Beside his sister, Winnie, Valen, and Andy leaned over to give him their own relieved but reproachful looks.Margot’s here? Valen? Andy? Winnie? Did they bring the entire fucking Tower?
His head swung the other way. The blood drained from his face so fast, he saw spots.
The entire first and second row was full of elves. An entire entourage, most of them in armor and wearing the Solbourne crest, sat attentively in their seats, their eyes on the empty stage. Theodore hadn’t brought the Tower with him. He brought a smallarmy.
“What did you do?” he wheezed, gripping the arms of his seat with his stiff, bandaged fingers.
Theodore threw himself into the seat beside him with a grunt. “Did you really think I wasn’t going to show up? If you weren’t dead, ofcourseyou were going to be here. Idiot.”
And he’d shown up. Even if there was a chance that he and Atria weren’t there, Theodore had gone through the trouble of assembling a small army, bringing nearly their entire family, and traveling to the New Zone to help.
Maybe it was also to beat him up a little, but Kaz couldn’t exactly blame him for that.
Looking into his brother’s face, he saw the signs of sleep deprivation and worry. There were dark smudges under his eyes, a groove in his forehead, and a stiff set to his expressive mouth that Kaz had only seen when his brother dealt with life or death situations.
Theodorehadbeen worried.
A hard lump formed in Kaz’s throat. It wasn’t that he assumed his brotherwouldn’tworry, but rather… Well, he did, a little. Not because Theodore didn’t care, but because he knew Kaz could take care of himself just fine. They’d always been extremely close, but they were independent and always had been. While Theodore was busy learning to be a monarch, Kaz had happily roamed the streets of San Francisco, collecting secrets and getting into fights just for fun.
It was never a question that they’d come back to one another eventually. Not even when he’d spent those miserable years on the homestead. They were brothers. They trusted each other to take care of themselves and always come back home. That was the beginning and the end of it.
Perhaps Theodore knew that, but he was concerned anyway. Because his brother loved Kaz even when he was a bit of a shithead.
“I’m sorry,” he rasped. He didn’t regret what he’d done, but also never wanted to hurt his brother, either.
Theodore didn’t look at him when he crossed his arms over his chest. His hard gaze was leveled straight ahead at the stage when he growled, “Yeah, well, I’ll fucking kill you if you ever disappear on me like that again. Got it?”
Kaz looked at the stage, too. Where did all these lumps in his throat keep coming from? “Got it.”
“Apologize to my wife.”
He turned his gaze to Margot, who was staring holes into the side of his head. Had he ever seen her look that pissed before? His sister-in-law was a gentle soul, comparatively speaking, but at that moment, she looked ready to spit nails. And then maybe stick those nails somewhere very, very uncomfortable.
