A smile ghosted his mouth. Playfully, he tugged a lock of her hair, and she laughed.
The tender moment had Reynner looking away. His chest hollowed out. There was no redemption for one such as him. No mate.
Yet, he was aware Eve had moved closer to him. He wanted to hold onto her. Instead, he clenched the table edge he leaned against.
“What do you want me to see—” Aethan turned. Shock and utter disbelief crossed his old friend’s face. As if in a time warp, Reynner was hurtled through the millennia to the last time he’d seen Aethan in Empyrea. His expression held a similar look, except it had been shock at the atrocity that had occurred, one Reynner had caused.
The phantom of his careless words rang out in his head.
“Is that all you have?” he taunted Aethan. “You fight like a female.”
Aethan growled, looking pissed. His sword flashed, his deadly ability powering his weapon to a lethal white glow. He flew at Reynner, his blade swinging in a dangerous arc.
Laughing, Reynner evaded the attack. Whatever was troubling Aethan, a good fight would soon take care of that since neither one of them would accept defeat.
It was always about outdoing the other.
“A’than!”A childish voice swept through the arena.“Here, for you.”
No, no, no!Reynner’s heart slammed against his ribs in horror.
Aethan spun around, his sword slipping from his sweaty hand, went hurtling across the field in a blaze of his deadly power light.“Ariana, no! No! Get back!”
Reynner tried frantically to shield her. Too late.
The sword struck the little girl, the power of the sword dragging her several meters before she fell.
Blood flowed profusely out of her small body to pool where she lay still on the ground.
“No!” Aethan’s anguished roar reverberated the arena.
Reynner stood there, unable to move, frozen in shock as they fought to save Ariana...
Breathing hard, Reynner struggled for calm. He waited for Aethan to grab his mate and storm out from the studio instead of looking into the face of the person responsible for his little sister’s death.
If he hadn’t taunted Aethan into a stupid fight, Ariana would still be alive.
The next minute, Aethan strode over. He grabbed Reynner in a hug he’d never expected. “Urias, I never thought I’d see you again!”
Reynner stood still, unable to move. He had no words.
Aethan pulled back. His expression held no recrimination, which made things worse. How could Aethan look so happy to see him?
“What are you doing here?” he asked, seizing Reynner’s biceps in a painful grip. Pleasure lit his gunmetal gray eyes. “When did you get here?”
It was then that Reynner realized Aethan had no idea of how bad things had gotten in their realm. Or the farce his life had turned out to be.
“I’ve been searching for the missing Stone of Light.” Yeah, that was safe to talk about since Aethan wouldn’t know that the scroll and Stone had disappeared.
Aethan froze. “What—how?”
Reynner shrugged. “War, strife—the usual political crap. It vanished two thousand years ago.”
Aethan lowered his gaze to the floor as if assimilating what he’d just heard. Then he glanced at Reynner and nodded. “You need my help, let me know. Look, come over to the castle, we can talk. There is so much to catch up on.”
He had to be joking. Go to Aethan’s home, when he could barely live with himself? Reynner shook his head. “I can’t. There’s much to do. Time’s essential.”
Finally, his cool, unresponsive attitude pierced through Aethan’s pleasure. He stared at Reynner for a long moment. “We were best friends once. I understand why you can’t see past the unforgivable sin I committed.”
