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“Okay.” Thank fuck for that.

He wiped at his eyes again. “Anyway, I messed up. I love the wrong man. I’ve ruined lives. Marie…I can’t believe…I can’t believe she’s gone.” He dipped his head, breaking down. “I never meant for any of this.”

Dammit. My empathy intensified.

“I never meant to shoot at you or break hearts or behave like this. I’m sorry.” He stumbled backward, arse landing back in the chair. “I’m so sorry. I’m so lost.” He covered his face, his sobbing heartbreaking.

I moved forward, unable to stand there anymore. Crouching before him, I put a tentative hand on his leg.

“I wish I knew what to say, Elio.”

His situation was totally screwed up. I still couldn’t wrap my head around Marie going to such extremes to get revenge, especially when it meant harming others. The damage it could have caused, the entire race it could have wiped out.

Melusine, that evil deity. This was on her too, for making that dagger.

Elio looked up, leaning forward. “I wish I knew how to feel about you.” He put his hand on mine.

Yikes, talk about a bullet to the soul. “I… Shit.”

“We’re brothers.”

I didn’t know what to say.

“I’ve always been an only child. Now I find out I have a brother, and a sister who…I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not. She should be here.”

Don’t go there. Don’t bring the guilt over loving a vampire back to me.

Man, no matter what, I still sought Pearl’s approval in this. I wanted to hear her give us her blessing, to tell me it was sweetcream.

I have to live for me…

Mental statements like that didn’t come along often. Especially when I spent the past year living for her.

Only a year. Man, it seemed like a lifetime.

“These things takes time,” I said, a crack in my voice. “There’s a lot to wrangle with here.”

I miss you so much…

Elio sniffled. “I’m not sure what to think about any of this.”

I let the dam open a tad. “Neither do I. I spent years hating my parents, believing they gave me up. There’s a lot of anger in me with nowhere to go. Well, that’s not true. It’ll go into Aidan’s face, but you know what I mean.”

That got a small laugh from him. “I can’t even imagine the pain.”

I sighed, my chest aching. “My faith helped, until it didn’t.”

Now Silv’s embrace does instead.

I kept the thought to myself.

Laughter downstairs.

I glanced over my shoulder. “They seem to be having a good time.”