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There was another unshakeable truth about Rhyder, and that it’s my attention made himreckless.

A word of praise from me or a specially-baked cake would go to Rhyder’s head, fill him with such emotion that he’d stretch even his massive power and abilities to do something wild, and untamed.

“I’ll set the drones and then we’ll go see their settlement,” he said, holding his hand out for me.

“This is a bad idea,” I said, but I reached for his hand as I always had.

It was not safe to let Rhyder go anywhere alone when he was in a mood like this, and I crossed over to the forbidden place with him.

My brother stood with his arms crossed looking out over the rolling lands. Even in the chill late February night, it was obvious these were prime lands, streams full of fish and lush, fertile fields.

There were soft tufts of grass under my feet. This place wasparadise.

“Soon holy warriors will have reconquered this land for the Allfather,” he said.

“Ronan!” he called into the night, spreading his arms wide as he faced the breadth of the rival Prophet’s rolling green hills. “Show yourself!”

“Rhyder, stop!” I gasped.

“Let’s go,” he said, taking my hand again and drawing me down the soft hillsides. “They’ll all be asleep. I want to see what their settlement looks like. Maybe I can end the holy war now.”

We crept down through the hills and trees, and I saw the first little silvery glimmer in the sky that indicated it would be early dawn soon.

The abandoned guard post we passed made me more nervous, though.

What was wrong here? Why would the gate be so well-maintained but the gate house empty?

Their settlement looked unimaginably prosperous and cozy as we crept up to it, rings of well-made stone or deep well-polished wooden homes around a neat settlement center. We peeked in the window of a big, fragrant storehouse, looking at the rows of cured meats, grain, and abundance of frozen fruits, vegetables, and berries for the long winter months.

“Stay here for a moment,” Rhyder whispered in my ear as he pressed me firmly in the shadow of a large thyme bush and melted in the darkness.

I realized I was nestled up against a bedroom window and, to my horror, I began to see movement inside it.

A big man, hard to see in the darkness, was moving on the bed.

As I watched, embarrassed, he moved over the woman sleeping beside him, her soft curves visible in the sliver of early morning light slicing through the window.

She slept soundly and he moved a big arm over her, bending his head to kiss her throat, all I could see of him his dark, pitch-black hair. He made low, aroused noises as his hands caressed her all over. Her face looked like an angel’s in the dim room, plump pink lips, long dark lashes, with long beautiful honey-brown hair spread across her pillow.

I felt my stomach turn with the wickedness as he settled between her thighs, entering her with a swift thrust.

Shocked, I closed my eyes tightly, but I could still hear his thrusts, slick wet sounds as he moved in and out of her pussy.

When she made a sleepy little sound, my eyes popped open, and she was rubbing her face like a kitten.

“Husband,” she said, her voice raspy and thick with sleep, and he flipped her on all fours.

“I couldn’t wait,” he said, his voice a low growl, and I watched as her lips parted with pleasure.

Just then, I felt my brother beside me. “I found someone awake,” he said, putting a finger to his lips, and I followed as he stalked silently behind a man wandering out sleepily to grab something from the storehouse.

Rhyder stepped in front of him and shoved the other man against a nearby wall.

“The fuck?” the man grunted. “Who are you and how the fuck did you get in here?”

He was in his 20s, medium-height with messy brown hair.

Rhyder closed his big hand around this other man’s neck. “Which house is your Prophet’s?” he asked. “What is your name? Repent of your time under the Apostate and you yet may be saved.”