Chapter Five
Conrad
It was hard to take a breath, and yet Conrad did. He’d kept it light in the car, going with his instincts. His friends. His brothers were a huge part of his life, and what he was about to do—in part—was a betrayal of that trust.
Mates come first!
The universe had chosen, and the man who sat staring at him like a bottle of soda about to explode after a solid shaking, needed Conrad’s honesty.
There was no one thing that said hedging, giving half a story would work, and Conrad had discarded that idea before they’d driven away from Kylo’s home.
He considered where to start. “Devil is Wyatt’s mate.”
Kylo shot out of the jeep so fast that Conrad had to jump out of Kylo’s door to catch him.
“Get off me,” Kylo growled low and mean enough to send shivers through Conrad.
Conrad let go immediately. He always listened when there was a need. Only he didn’t get out of Kylo’s space. “It was a shock, as you can imagine, for Wyatt. The Fates seem to think they were perfect for each other.” Conrad agreed. If anyone could tame James, it was Wyatt. He had a way about him that made folks want to please him with little to no effort.
“Devil is fucking evil! But that explains everything. How the fuck could he help him escape? I fucking knew he wasn’t dead in the pile of body parts,” he snapped, all teeth as his face went an ugly shade of red that suggested Kylo could stroke out at any moment. “I figured something was going on when no fucker mentioned what happened to Wyatt!”
In the two seconds he had to consider his next action, Conrad pressed his chest to Kylo’s, keeping his hands loose at his sides. Though Kylo was broader, he was slightly shorter than Conrad, so had to look up at him. “What do you feel when I touch you?” Conrad kept his voice low and deep, needing to derail the unhealthy anger pouring off his mate.
Kylo’s body language showed he was about to shift back, and Conrad shook his head. “No! When I ask you a question, you will answer me.” Honey soft, he kept the tone sultry and commanding, revealing to Kylo who he was.
There was confusion mixed with anger, but Kylo didn’t pull back. He also didn’t answer, so Conrad waited his mate out. He had all the time in the world.
When Kylo’s lips thinned, and teeth ground together, Conrad could see they were getting somewhere. “Tell me,” he urged gently, just giving Kylo a little nudge.
“Like every cell in my body is straining to get to you. That if anyone stepped in my way, I’d…”
“What?”
A dark scowl came as eyes flashed at Conrad. “Rip them apart.”
Deep red splashes of color coated the top of Kylo’s strong cheekbones as he held Conrad’s gaze in challenge. One Conrad was more than ready to accept, only Kylo wasn’t ready for what he had to offer… not yet. “Exactly, as I would, too. The Fates decided for Wyatt and James—”
“James?” Kylo frowned. “Who the fuck is James?”
Damn it all. Neither Beaumont nor Duron had mentioned there was a connection to Devil. “James was… shit is Devil.”
Kylo’s chest pressed harder against Conrad’s making his blood sing in his veins. “How the fuck do you know his name?”
The scowl gracing Kylo’s face gave Conrad a perverse sense of pleasure, especially when it came with the lip curl. “Wyatt is my brother in every sense. When Duron asked me to leave Wyatt be, he didn’t understand, or maybe he did, that I couldn’t do that. I needed to know that Wyatt was safe andhappy.”
“Where are they?” The light of danger in Kylo’s eyes needed careful handling.
“Somewhere that James can’t leave, and he can do absolutely no harm to anyone else.” Conrad had felt the depth of protective magic around the island. It was only afterwards he suspected maybe he wasn’t the only one who knew where Wyatt was. Someone had used powerful magic to ward the place. A place that Conrad could easily access, making him consider Wyatt had taken James’ safety, and that of others, seriously. This did not surprise him. Wyatt had always been one step ahead when it came to protection of those closest to him.
His words had Kylo moving jerkily over the ground before he swung back around. “Are you saying you aren’t going to tell me where he is? That we aren’t going to make him pay for everything he has done?”
“What I’m saying is that Wyatt deserves happiness in whatever form that takes for him. You saw the state your brother’s mates were in when they were found?” Kylo’s nod was stilted. “They caged us. Treated us like we were nothing more than assets to be abused, tested on, and disregarded while they trained us to hurt each other. Kill at their whim.
“They did that to James, too. He was a victim to start with. They created him, much like they created us. Me. Even when they set us free, they chained our spirits with death.” He took a deep breath filled with the scent of his mate and lowered his voice. “Wyatt deserves whatever the Fates have given him. I won’t believe that it’s wrong.” Seeing Wyatt with James had confirmed that to Conrad, but Kylo didn’t need to know that, as it would make no difference to them.
Conrad stepped closer to Kylo and cupped his cheeks, needing him to hear what he said. To understand that Conrad would never betray Wyatt and that they didn’t need to chase Devil because Wyatt already had him captured and contained. “Wyatt knows what he’s dealing with. He’s a chameleon and can work to make those around him see his way of thinking. Even Devil himself. Wyatt, like us, will kill whoever goes after them, and that includes you. I would never let that happen, which might cause both Wyatt’s and my death, as we are equally matched. Would you want that?”
“Fuck, what kind of question is that?” Kylo snapped, his jaw jutted forward, leaving their lips within inches of each other.
