“So?”
Gods, Stryke could be difficult. “I just wanted to give you a heads-up so you don’t crush him when you say no.”
Stryke scowled. “I wouldn’t do that. Cyan and I both think his presence might be the best thing for him and the baby. Maybe their souls can reconnect.”
Something clogged Blade’s throat. A lump? Why, yes, it was. He’d grieved the loss of Chaos for so long, and while he’d never get his little brother back—not the child he was—Blade welcomed his return to the family.
“That’s actually really cool,” Blade said.
“Approval?” Stryke gave Blade a quizzical look. “From you? Miracles do happen.”
Blade snorted. “Like you give a shit about my approval.”
“No, I never have,” Stryke said with his trademark brutal honesty. “But this time, yeah. I might not care much about what you think, but Ido care about you, Blade.”
What a joke. “Do you? Do you really care about me or my life?” Blade reached up to touch the new rings around his neck. “You haven’t even said anything about my mate mark.”
“Why should I bother? You’ll just tell me to fuck off.”
Blade’s head snapped back as if he’d been punched. Stryke had never been one to hold back, and he’d just let Blade have it with a knock-out blow of truth.
Stryke was right, the bastard.
Just a few weeks ago, Stryke had apologized to the family for pulling away from them following Chaos’s death and had offered to restore the brotherly link he’d severed. Rade and Crux agreed, but Blade had refused.
All this time, Blade had blamed his brother for all the tension between them. He’d blamed him for not engaging with his family after Chaos’s death. But in truth, Blade had shut him down every time he tried—not that he’d tried often, which was also part of the problem. But for the first time, Blade understoodhisrole in the estrangement.
You pushed him away.
Rade’s words from a few months back rang in his ears. That brother was right too. All he needed now was for Crux to come downstairs and deliver an ego-crushing judgment.
“Well?” Stryke prompted. “You gonna tell me about your mate, or are you gonna tell me to fuck off? I don’t have all day.”
Blade sighed. Stryke would nevernotbe Stryke. “It’s Scotty.”
For a long moment, Stryke stared. It wasn’t the dead-eyed stare Rade had, but it wasn’t the one Stryke usually had, either—the one that looked right through you, as if he was looking at an insect. This one was contemplative. Curious.
“How does Mace figure into it?” Stryke asked. “Isn’t that his eagle perched on your sword?”
“We’re both mated to her.”
“Hmm.” Stryke studied Blade’s new symbol even more closely. “I didn’t know it was possible for two males to bond with the same female.”
“I don’t think anyone did.”
Stryke’s eyes went dark and focused, the way they always did when he went into a hyperfocused thought mode that would distract him even if the world was crumbling down all around him.
“I need to look into this,” he murmured. “If I can isolate the—”
“Yeah, I’m outta here,” Blade said, figuring Stryke wouldn’t even notice. So, it shocked the shit out of him when his brother stopped him with a firm hand on his shoulder.
Stryke smiled, just a twitch in the corner of his mouth, but it counted. “Congratulations. Scotty suits you. She suits you both. Somehow, I’m not surprised that it turned out this way.”
Blade had heard that more than once today.
Not one to stick around for personal conversations, Stryke started past Blade, but he stopped his brother again.
“You should know…” Blade took a deep breath. Bringing up this topic was like lighting a fuse. “The day Chaos died—”
