“I know.”
There was a long silence.
“Can we meet?” Luc asked.
Onyx growled, and Luc braced himself. “Fine. I don’t know why I assumed you’d play it cool. Meet me at my loft. Stay on the roof and I’ll see you there.” Onyx hung up without waiting for a reply.
Luc rubbed his temple, fire raging inside him. Play it cool? Apparently, it was too much to expect Onyx to be glad to see him, even after he’d reached out. How was he supposed to fix anything if he was fighting Onyx’s temper the entire way?
The flight to Onyx’s loft was short, the city blurring beneath Luc, his wings beating steadily while his heart thundered. He landed on the empty roof of Onyx’s building and shot off a text announcing his arrival.
Luc rubbed his chest, a strange hollowness spreading through him. Relinquishing control of the situation wasn’t something he usually tolerated. Onyx better appreciate the gesture. This was big and should help prove that he wanted to fix things.
Eventually, Onyx landed beside him, folding his shimmering blue wings at his back. “So, you’re hanging around town. Why aren’t you off on a tropical island or something?”
Luc raised a brow. “I told you I’d be here.” Never mind that he’d planned to leave. He’d have come back when Onyx called.
“Don’t say that like not lying this one time means anything. Wow, you’re here. I’m so impressed.” Onyx rolled his eyes.
Luc clenched his teeth. His brother didn’t make anything easy. It was best to get right to it. “I’m sorry, Onyx. I had no idea you felt left behind.”
“But you should have. We’ve been over this. I didn’tfeelleft behind. I was going tobeleft behind. I told you that I didn’t want to go, and you ignored me.”
Luc still couldn’t believe he’d missed it. When he’d been preparing to leave the Eternal Realm, he’d been sure Onyx wasas committed to following as Ash or Dante. He’d hardly spared it much thought.
“I don’t understand how you couldn’t have wanted your mate.”
Onyx’s cheeks flushed crimson, and he clenched his fists. “That’s your problem, Luc. You can’t understand anyone who doesn’t agree with you. Your way is the only way. You’re the most arrogant motherfucker I’ve ever met.”
The extent to which Luc’s self-absorption had blinded him was hard to wrap his head around. Onyx had seen everything in a completely different light. It threw Luc off balance. He wanted to say it wasn’t possible, that Onyx was wrong, which seemed to be the root of his problem.
Onyx wasn’t wrong, and Luc’s inability to see his truth wasn’t his brother’s fault.
“I’m sorry I didn’t listen. You’re right. I’m arrogant. My confidence blinded me to everything else.”
Onyx’s brows shot upward, and he shoved a hand through his hair, his horns hidden away as usual. “Your confidence? What is this, some sort of my-strengths-are-my-weakness bullshit?”
Luc snorted, and Onyx’s eyes flashed with blue fire. “No. That’s not what I meant. I used to think my unwavering conviction was a strength. I believed I was right because I held logic above all else. I was right about finding our mates—they had to be on Earth if they weren’t in the Eternal Realm. Even when I realized I was wrong, I still believed I knew the best way forward. I saw no other path because I was so full of myself that nothing else existed. No one else’s opinion mattered. That’s not a strength.”
It was obvious now, even if it hadn’t been back then.
“You can say that again.” Onyx scowled. “But how was letting magic seep into humanity the best way forward?”
“It wasn’t. I already told you that I didn’t father the first witch. Fixing that mistake was the only way forward.”
Onyx scoffed. “I don’t believe you didn’t create witches. You wouldn’t fix something for someone else.”
“Maybe not entirely. Would you believe it was, in part, my arrogance that led me to take credit for creating witches, even though I didn’t do it? I believed myself so important that the council would punish me and spare the rest of you.”
Onyx’s eyes narrowed. “I still don’t see it. You wouldn’t stick your neck out for anyone.”
Luc tamped down his growing frustration. “Don’t think of me as you know me now. Not as the one who imprisoned you. Think of me as I was before. Wouldn’t that Luc have sacrificed himself to protect others?”
Onyx’s brow furrowed, his eyes widening ever so slightly.
Luc pressed on. “If I’d been the one punished as I’d hoped, then I’d never have betrayed you.”
Onyx’s tentative surprise vanished. “How the hell do you figure that?”
