With the moment equivocally ruined, he bid his farewell to Finnian for the day and teleported back to the Land.
He strolled into his sitting room, straight for the bar cart, poured a glass of bourbon, tipped it back, and reveled in the burn numbing his esophagus.
A tumultuous energy pressed at his backside.
His shoulders stiffened, and he cut his eyes to the fluttering insect at his left.
Divine power pricked in his veins as he summoned a serpent to appear around his nape. It struck through the air, catching the death’s-head hawkmoth in its mouth.
It appeared his day was only destined to grow worse.
A low rumble of laughter came from the furniture behind Cassian.
He steeled in a breath and spun to greet his brother. “Acacius.”
The High God of Chaos and Ruin was lounged back on the sofa, propping his feet up on the accent table. His pale strands were tied back off his shoulders, and he wore a normal set of trousers and a fitted shirt. It was uncharacteristic of him to be in anything but his ominous robe and an animal carcass mask.
He tilted his head along the back of the cushion to look at Cassian. “And wherever are you coming home from?”
Cassian refilled his glass, swung it back, and gritted his teeth. “Remove your feet from my table.”
Acacius ignored his demand. “Could it be the young god’s city?”
It had been a decade since they’d had a conversation regarding Finnian in the graveyard, when Cassian had arrived to intervene with the triplets and Acacius had followed him. In those ten years, Cassian had not reached out to Acacius, and Acacius had kept his distance. There was a wedge between them, and it was Ruelle’s doing.
“Why are you here?” Cassian turned his attention to the window, the sour taste in the back of his throat growing thicker. He washed it down with another drink.
Acacius teleported from the sofa, materializing in front of him. He smoothed out the lapels of Cassian’s tailcoat. “I am here because I seem to have found myself between a rock and a hard place.”
Cassian’s heart stuttered as he analyzed his brother. There was a weight in him. A resignation in his eyes, a sag to his features one could easily mistake for exhaustion.
Acacius let out a dejected sigh and met Cassian’s gaze. “I have avoided the quarrel between you and Ruelle for as long as time would allow, but it seems now that time has come to an end.”
Cassian gripped his glass tighter. “And you choose her side.”
Acacius frowned, crossing his arms. “Is that what you really expect of me?”
“You have always had a tendency to fall quickly and walk blindly until you spiral off a cliff.”
His jaw set. “I assure you, I am not the one walking blindly here.”
Cassian dismissed his stupidity with a lousy wave and moved around him. “Do what you wish with your unrequited love, Acacius.”
“Ruelle truly loves me. Must I really attempt to convince you of our relationship?”
The brevity of his foolishness crawled all over Cassian. It was dosed with the guilt and resentment burdening him that had stolen away precious moments with Finnian. More and more each day, it was growing difficult to remain present.
Rage clipped in his vision, blotching the edges, and he whipped around. “If that is so, tell me why your darling Ruelle is so determined to torment me for something that took place between us thousands of years ago? If she were truly infatuated with you, Acacius, don’t you believe she would’ve let go of her vendetta by now? Do not fool yourself into believing what she feels for you is real when you are nothing more to her than a puppet.”
Acacius smiled, the cut across his face vicious. “And you truly believe that you mean anything more to Finnian? If his love was true, he wouldn’t have hesitated to give up his necromancy, but that hasn’t come to pass yet, has it? Because he never will. He will continue to steal your souls and you will stand by and allow it. You and I, we are no different, Brother.”
Cassian crushed his drink in his fist. Fractures of glass pierced through his skin and flesh. He stormed forward and snatched Acacius by the collar of his shirt. Ebony whorls of divine power swelled around Cassian’s backside, streaked with tendrils of golden lace, meeting the violent midnight storm of Acacius’s power in a head-on collision. “You and I arenotthe same!”
“Are we not?” Acacius roared back. “You love Finnian, despite his faults and selfishness! As do I with Ruelle!”
“Why are you here?” Cassian snarled.
Acacius slumped in Cassian’s hold, and the tension filling the space between them snuffed out. The ripples of their divine power disbanded into smoky ribbons drifting in the air, like cirrus clouds separating in a sky.
