Ugh…
I headed downstairs. People moved in and out of rooms, clearing the building. I wondered if my father’s body was still where he fell.
It was colder down here. Adelina had given me the key and told me each cell held one brother. Smart woman. I paused at the door, bracing myself. I had to face them sooner or later.
The hinges groaned when I pushed the door open. They were already on their feet before the gap widened enough for me to step inside.
“You’re okay.” Codrin’s hands wrapped around the bars. Relief hit his face fast, followed by the way his eyes darted over the marks on my skin. “That bastard.”
I didn’t say anything.
I unlocked his cell. He stepped forward for a hug, and I tensed without meaning to. His arms paused mid-reach, worry flashing across his face.
“Just… everything fucking hurts,” I muttered, trying to ease the tension while I walked into him anyway.
He kept his hands off the worst of it, careful around the bruising on my neck too.
Most awkward fucking hug.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Darius looked lost in a way I wasn’t used to. Angry, yes, but not for the usual reasons. I nodded at Codrin to unlock the cell holding him. I didn’t want to get too close yet. I wasn’t sure how he’d react, and I didn’t have the energy to brace for it.
Codrin opened the door, but Darius didn’t step out right away. “Brother… I’m so sorry, I—” His voice broke off. His head dropped into his hand.
I walked into the cell and pulled him into a hug. He carefully held onto me with one arm.
He finally understood more than he ever had.
“Does it matter?” I said. “We’re alive. We’ll be okay with him gone. I promise.”
I moved toward the exit. Darius grabbed my arm, his grip light around my wrist.
“Please. Tell us the truth, all of it. We deserve to know. Codrin might see it more clearly than I do, but we’ve both been blind.” The guilt in his stare was unmistakable; the years of falsely directed resentment written into every line on his face.
“I was told not to take forever, so you’re getting the shortened version.” We sat down, and I told them enough of my story to make sense of everything without handing over every ugly piece of it. Codrin broke first, quietly crying for all the years we had lost to Viktor.
Darius didn’t move until I finished. He reached for my hands. “You shouldn’t have had to carry that alone. Thank you for protecting us.”
I placed a hand on his leg to steady him. “We need to go.”
“Why? What’s waiting for us?” Codrin asked.
“Whatever you want, brother.” I took both their hands and led them to the door. The door that meant the beginning of the rest of our lives.
Fuck, my phone…
“Finally deciding to grace us with your presence?” Adelina’s voice rang out the moment I stepped through the archway.
“Sorry—”
“Stop that. I was kidding.” I looked between them. “You three good?”
Codrin gave her a small nod. Darius stayed rigid, which didn’t surprise me. After everything she’d done—and everything she had every right to do—hesitation made sense.
“Hey… you got my phone?” I sounded like an addict looking for a fix.
“You and your damn phone.” She pulled it from her pocket and slapped it into my palm. “Here. You’re welcome.”
The amount of power this woman holds.
