“I said get here!”Violet barked, and the line went dead.
Fear clawed at Kamon’s chest as he and Rune bolted for their Jeep.He fired question after question into the silence—what if Klarissa had pushed too far, what if she’d uncovered something that broke her, what if someone had gotten too close?Rune’s jaw was set hard, his knuckles white on the steering wheel as they tore through the streets.They didn’t know.They only knew Violet’s voice had shaken.
The drive blurred into red lights ignored and horns blaring.Every second was a knife.
When they screeched into the garage and sprinted for the elevator, the car was already waiting.The ride up to Violet’s penthouse felt like the longest of Kamon’s life.His pulse thundered, every floor a torment.Klarissa was alive.Violet had said she was alive.But whatever waited at the top had his gut twisting.
The doors opened and Violet stood in the living room, arms crossed, her face tight.“She’s on the roof.The dojo.”
Kamon didn’t wait for more.He and Rune took the stairs two at a time, bursting into the rooftop training space.The sight that met him ripped the air from his lungs.
Klarissa stood in the center of the room, arms wrapped tight around herself, shoulders hunched as though trying to make her body smaller, less of a target.Her hair hung in tangled waves around her face, and her eyes—God, her eyes were haunted and so damn red, which meant she had been crying.Kamon’s heart cracked wide open.
“Suuway,” Rune breathed, taking a step forward.
“Waan jai,” Kamon said at the same time, his voice rough with desperation.They both moved toward her, instinct screaming to gather her close.
But Klarissa flinched back, one foot sliding across the mat, her chin jerking up in defiance even as fear flickered across her features.The unspoken plea in her eyes was a knife to Kamon’s chest as he realized she was braced against them—as if they were the ones she expected pain from.
“Talk to us,” Kamon urged, stopping a few steps short.His palms lifted, open.“You are our mate.Nothing you say will ever change what you are to us.”
Her throat worked, tears glittering.“You don’t understand.You can’t.”
“Make us,” Rune pressed.“Tell us what’s wrong.”
The words seemed to tear out of her.“It was me.”
Kamon’s brow furrowed.“What do you mean, it was you?What was you?”
Klarissa’s voice shook harder as she spoke.“I searched for Boonsri’s killer, I tried to make sense of it all.I thought if I kept digging I could give you names, give you vengeance, give you closure.”
For one breathtaking instant Kamon felt a rush of joy so fierce it almost toppled him.She had done this for them—for him and his brother.His chest swelled with pride and gratitude, visions of standing before their parents with justice finally in hand filling his mind.They could honor Boonsri, ease their family’s pain, and keep the vow that had defined so much of their lives.It felt like a victory, like fate had given them a gift through their mate.
Kamon shared an excited look with his brother.“Fuck,waan jai, you did that for us?”
Rune clapped his hands together with glee.“Tell me you have a target,suuway.All you have to do is give us a name and we will do the rest.”
“I can give you a name, but—” Klarissa started, but Kamon’s thoughts surged ahead.
He grabbed his brother’s shoulder, his voice cracking with emotion.“You know what this means?We can finally fulfill the promise we made to our father.”
“Wait—” Klarissa tried again, but Rune cut her off, practically vibrating with excitement.
“I know!Five fucking years!I cannot wait to feel that bastard’s warm blood rushing over my fingers.”
Kamon saw from the corner of his eye that their mate flinched, but his own voice pressed forward, driven by the glow of long-awaited justice.“He does not deserve your pity or your fear,waan jai.He took away the most pure, beautiful soul this world has ever seen, and whoever he is that is responsible will rot in the depths of hell for eternity for it.”
“It was a woman,” Klarissa said in a quiet voice.
“Doesn’t matter,” Rune practically snarled.“We will end that bitch just the same.”
“My work.My chemical.”Her voice broke, brittle as glass.
Rune blinked, confusion twisting his features.“What the hell does that even mean,suuway?”
Kamon’s heart slammed against his ribs.“Explain it to us,waan jai.We don’t understand.”
Klarissa shook her head as if the words themselves cut her.“The compound Boonsri was given—it wasn’t random.It was mine.I designed it years ago when I was trying to save my mother.It was supposed to target corrupted strands in her shifting DNA, strip them away so her body could heal.In controlled doses it was meant to give her a chance to live.”
