CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Relief coursed through me. The ache within my chest subsided at the sight of Sebastian, though it was quickly replaced with an unnerving sense of dread. The energy of the room shifted to a palpable tension, the thick air constricting my throat. I kept the dagger poised above Alaric’s heart, even as he sat up.
“Hello, brother.” Alaric gave a deviant smirk.
Sebastian stepped into the room, his expression of stone unmoving, but I could feel the anger that simmered beneath. I wondered if he hadn’t seen Alaric since the day he helped overthrow his father. His anger was the strongest emotion I felt through the bond, but there was also a deep, unending hurt. A betrayal.
“You can’t even say hello to your own brother?” Alaric taunted.
Sebastian gritted his teeth. “I didn’t think I had a brother anymore.”
Alaric huffed out a breath that was part scoff, part laugh.
I looked between the two.
“Well, little fox, are you going to do it?”
My head snapped to Alaric as I realized he was talking to me.
His eyes were alight with challenge, delivering a test he knew I’d fail. My body clashed with my mind, both fighting to overtake the other, though both had no clear direction, and so both would lose. And Alaric saw that.
A wave of exhaustion slammed into me. I fell limp onto the bed. I struggled to prop myself up on my elbows. It was an immense effort just to keep my eyes open.
Alaric slid out of bed. He was wearing nothing but his black sleeping shorts as he stalked over to Sebastian. “Tell me, brother, do you find pleasure in stealing what’s mine?”
Sebastian’s eyes grew colder as they narrowed. “You’ve always been deluded in taking what you think you’re owed.”
Alaric laughed in a way that chilled me to the bone. “Everyone takes. Turns out it’s a trait that transcends worlds. Some will even create their own war to be able to possess some control. After everything had been taken from me, why not take something of my own? Surely you can understand, brother.”
“Understanding doesn’t right a wrong.”
There was a long, drawn-out silence. I fought to keep my head up as it lolled to the side.
“You couldn’t have just let me go.” Alaric’s tone was sharp with a bitter edge.
“I couldn’t let you become the very monster you destroyed.” Sebastian stepped forward. “But I guess I was too late.”
“What can I say”—he grinned wickedly—“no one dares to challenge a monster with a brutal enough reputation.”
“Not no one.”
Before I could blink, Sebastian punched him square in the face. Alaric didn’t even try to block it. He just laughed maniacally before he tackled Sebastian, slamming him into an armoire, the splitting wood resounded throughout the room with a deafening crack.
Thuds rang out as they drove their fists into each other. Fresh blood poured from Sebastian’s mouth and the split flesh of his cheekbone. He lifted Alaric up, both hands around his neck, just to slam him back down onto the floor. The room shook, sending items across the desk toppling over. A mirror fell, shattering as it struck the floor.
Sebastian was stronger than Alaric. He had the upper hand until his body grew rigid, and his eyes glazed over. Alaric threw him to the floor. I struggled to sit up fully, my heavy head begging for rest. Alaric loomed over him, sitting back on his haunches as his eyes glowed with manic obsession. Whatever he was showing Sebastian took him completely out of this world. He was so immersed within the illusion, he didn’t see Alaric draw his dagger.
And I felt it through the bond.
Alaric was going to kill him.
I couldn’t breathe through the finality that cut through me.
“You should have let me be, brother.” His calm was the placid glass of a black lake, hiding otherworldly horrors in the opaque depths.
“Alaric, please,” I whispered. His full attention stole a breath straight from my lungs. Whatever semblance of control he had was gone. A fresh wave of exhaustion racked through me. My eyes nearly welded shut. “Please, don’t. I want to see.” A twisted sense of pride rained down the bond to me.
The full scope of his rage narrowed right on Sebastian. His grip on my sedation wavered, and I took what was my only opportunity. I slipped from the bed, tiptoeing behind him, holding a breath that would soon break me to release.
