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The words dropped into the space between them like a stone in water—too loud, too honest. Kato cleared his throat, suddenly aware of how stupid this was. Talking to a dying, unconscious brother like it would fix anything. But if he didn’t say it now, he never would.

“And I could give you my reasons why. I, uh… I could tell you that I was angry. I was hurt. That being passed over broke something inside me. And that until you were born, I never realized how much of my own drive hinged on family approval or… or how much it would hurt when those successes were immediately forgotten.”

Kato’s leg bounced. He stared at the ground. “I spent a decade convincing myself that meant I had a right to be cruel.” His voice caught on that word—cruel. He forced himself to keep going. “Even though I knew—and I did, I knew—that you had nothing to do with it. You were just… small and helpless and easy to blame.”

He leaned forward, elbows braced on his knees, voice going low. “But I won’t tell you any of that. It’s all just excuses. Reasons I made up to make myself feel better. And now…” His throat locked. He forced a laugh past it. “Now I guess I fucking missed my chance.”

He’d had a lot of reasons for coming to Tempris. And one of them, he realized now, was this—to set things right. To earn Skye’s forgiveness. To see if there was even a sliver of that man left that Sarah had once loved.

The man that would’ve looked at that furious, squalling bundle of limbs and royal indignation and felt his heart move instead of harden.

“I missed it,” he said hoarsely. “All of it. Every single chance I had to be your brother when it counted. And I hate that the only thing I know how to do now is sit here and say I’m sorry like that means anything.”

A pause. The air felt too thick. Kato kept waiting for Skye’s eyes to open, but they didn’t.

Voices rose outside the tent—muffled at first, then clearer as footsteps approached. “I swear, Taly, if I find you out of bed again, I’m sedating you.”

“You say that like it’s a threat.”

“Itisa threat.”

“Oh, come on. I wasn’t in the way. I just wanted a look at the bodies. I was there when they dropped. I’m pretty sure you need me to identify—”

The flap of the tent jerked open. Aiden all but shoved Taly inside with one hand on her arm, and the deep, practiced patience of a man at the end of his tether.

“Stay,” he said firmly. “Or next time, I’m taking away your glamour. I should’ve just held onto it when Aimee brought around a backup.”

Taly glared up at him, listing slightly. Her hair was damp with sweat, her gait a little off, and her boots left faint white smudges in her wake. She looked like she’d been dragged backward through a salt mine, covered from head to toe in white powder, which made the already deathly pallor of her skin even more alarming.

She opened her mouth—probably to argue—but then her eyes snagged on Kato.

She took him in: jaw locked, shoulders drawn tight, a perfectly respectable, manly amount of moisture rimming his eyes. Then Skye, pale and barely breathing in the bed beside him.

“Are we interrupting something?” she asked, glancing between them. “Is this why Skye keeps SOS-ing the bond? Seriously, you can stop now. My head is already splitting.”

Aiden frowned, fingers tilting her chin up. “That could be a symptom. Or just the delayed consequence of ignoring literally everything I’ve told you.”

Kato blinked. “I’m sorry… what’s happening?”

Taly growled a sigh. “Skye, stop pretending to be asleep and talk to your brother instead of screaming down the bond at me. I’m not mediating whatever…thisis.”

Then from the bed, Skye muttered, “He just sat down and started talking. I didn’t know how to make him stop.”

Kato turned slowly toward the bed. “Wait…” His voice dropped, somewhere between horrified and betrayed. “You were awake? This whole time?”

Skye cracked open an eye. “In my defense, you never checked.”

Kato stared at him, frozen. Heat blazed a trail up the back of his neck.That little shit. That smug, infuriating, impossible little—

Then his gaze dropped back to the black veins curling across Skye’s throat.

Kato turned on Aiden. His voice came out too fast, too loud. “You said the Curse was accelerating. You said Fey weredying. So why isn’t someone in here with him?”

“Kato,” Skye said.

Kato held up a hand without looking at him. “Shut up. I’m handling it.” He took a step forward. “I don’t care if the whole city’s on fire—you don’t leave him alone. Not when no one even knows what this variant does yet.”

Skye let out a quiet sigh. “Kato—”