Page 415 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

Kade blinks through the sting of the rain. ‘No.’

‘I thought I was helping, but it didn’t matter. The damage was already done. I’m the one responsible for what happened to Julian and Jessamine.’ Pain strikes them both. ‘I promised your little sister that if anything went wrong, I’d hide you from your father. I swore it. The curse in this Tower is my promise. The bubble was her protection. Tanner’s ritual will fail because he doesn’t know whose fault it is.’

Riley steps back, close to the edge.

And then he raises a gun.

It’s Lachlan’s gun.

The MP7.

He aims it directly at Kade’s heart.

Riley already has a scar there.

They healed each other’s death wounds.

The Death Knot kept them both alive.

‘Your memories are inside me,’ Riley tells Kade. ‘When the binding took hold, they all poured inside me… to hide.’

‘You… you have Julian’s memories?’

‘Every single one.’

‘That’s how… oh my God.’ Kade looks away as a dozen tiny things click into place. Riley understanding ASL despite not being able to speak it. Knowing who Roman was. Knowing Lachlan the first time he looked at him in the Tower. Knowing Julian in a way Kade never did.

Knowing… everything.

‘All this time? Seven fucking years of lies!’

‘I kept my promise.’

‘To hide me from the man I love? From my friends?’

‘Yes.’

‘You’re just a coward. Lachlan is right. You’re a fucking coward, and you used me for my power and you…’ Kade sobs, looking out at the storm surrounding them. ‘You locked me away, all of me!’

‘I did, but I can give it all back now. I can make it right.’

‘No, you’ll never make it right! You can’t make this right by…’ Kade gestures at the gun, his heart breaking. ‘By fucking killing yourself.’

‘You get the man you love. Your friends. Your memories.’

‘It’s not good enough. I want my brother too. I want my brother to stick around and fight with me so we can figure this out together and I can kick your fucking ass for this bullshit later!’

‘I’m just the Tower.’

‘You’re a person. A lying motherfucker of a person, but—’

‘I’m your Tower, Jules, and it’s time to break free of it now.’

His hand steadies. His aim solidifies. Thunder rumbles.

‘Don’t you dare.’

‘I should have loved you better.’