Brandor knelt beside them. “Brogan, please don’t leave me alone!”
Still, she didn’t move. She didn’t even appear to breathe. Her face turned pale, then blue.
Fearful tears choked Medea as she feared what they did. That the Crom had freed Brogan by killing her. Though she’d just met the woman, she felt for her and didn’t want to lose her any more than the men did.
Blaise cupped her cheek and cradled her against his shoulder. “Speak to me, my lady. I cannot live knowing I caused you harm.”
When she didn’t respond, Blaise choked on a sob and lifted her up. Her head fell back while Brandor took her hand and kissed it as if it were unspeakably precious. Tears fled down his cheeks. This was pure brotherly love and it made her chest tighten in sympathy for all of them.
Medea’s gaze swam from her own unshed tears, especially when she saw the agony on Urian’s face. Without being told, she knew he was reliving the death of his own sister. And more than that, his beloved wife.
His most precious Phoebe.
That tortured look made her stomach ache for him. And it brought out the memories of her own loss. Made all those old wounds fresh and new.
For a moment, she feared she’d give in to the agony of the past and be ruined by it again.
Falcyn wrapped his arms around her and held her back to his front as her vision blurred from unshed tears. She felt his jaw tic as he whispered, “I can’t interfere in this realm. My powers won’t work here.”
“What?”
Falcyn ground his teeth. “I can’t save her from this.”
His eyes flaring at those words, Shadow swirled past them to Brogan and lightly touched her cheek.
No sooner did he withdraw his hand than her eyes fluttered open. Lost in their grief, neither Blaise nor Brandor saw it at first.
Not until Brogan pulled her hand from her brother’s grasp and sank it deep into Blaise’s pale hair. “They can take me by force and break every bone I have, but only you will ever have my heart, Blaise. For it alone is mine to give.”
Laughing and crying, he pulled her to his lips so that he could kiss her.
Brandor quickly withdrew from them. And though it was obvious he didn’t like to see his sister in the arms of another man, he didn’t say a word as he moved to stand beside Medea. Facing the opposite direction.
Like Urian.
Snorting at their ridiculous actions, Medea wiped at her eyes. She drew a ragged, grateful breath.
Urian glanced at her with Falcyn, then over to Brandor. “Don’t we feel like the odd ones out?”
Shadow manifested between them and draped his arms around their shoulders. “I feel your pain, my brothers. I’m always the oddest of the odd.” He darted his gaze around them. “So which of you assholes destroyed my rope?”
Medea let out a half laugh. “That’s your concern? Seriously?”
“I like my rope. Comes in handy for all kinds of things. And we still need to get the whole lot of you out of here. Mairee is only one of a number of treacherous bitches who can summon all manner of hell down upon us.”
That made her think of something else, other than their near miss. “She called you the prince of shadows. Why?”
He let out a long sigh. “This dimension is its own world. With its own predators. Its own rules. And as with all things in the shadow realm, the title is both one of respect and one of shame. Neither all good nor all bad. Always something between.”
She didn’t understand. “How so?”
“Because I reign here as the supreme badass, and at the same time, it’s a reminder that my mother abandoned me to the beasts who used to rule this land when I was a child, to be preyed upon.” He cut a sinister glare to Falcyn. “You had your sister and brothers to rely on. I had no one. My brothers don’t even know I exist. What actions I took during the Primus Bellum to survive, I took to protect the only family I’ve ever known. And instead of protecting me for my loyalty, they stripped my powers and sent me back here, where it took me a thousand years to regain all I’d lost in the blink of an eye. You judge me when you know nothing of who I am or what I’ve been through. And you know even less about Jared. Instead of holding grudges for what youthinkhappened, maybe you should spend five minutes learning the truth. Open your eyes and engage the brain the gods gave you for something other than watching porn and jumping to conclusions that even a three-year-old would see were stupid lies.”
With those bitter words spoken, he turned and lifted his cowl to cover his head. His charcoal-gray armor clanked in the darkness as he strode with his hand on the hilt of his sword. “Follow me or don’t, it’s entirely up to you. But unless you wish to build home property in this hellhole, I suggest you pick up the pace.”
Falcyn fell silent as he watched Shadow moving ahead. He went to help Brogan and Blaise so that they could all follow after Shadow.
Urian and Brandor remained quietly behind them.
