Page 55 of Broken Souls

He ducks back into the room, outside of range, and holds up his hands as I walk in. “She ain’t shit to me, bruh.Youare. You’ve been there for me all my life. Been there for all of us. Mostly in an annoying way, but still, and you’ve never let anyone look after you, not even Mom. But you’re not alone, bruh. You know that, right? You’re not fucking alone. I care aboutyou, and this is the first time I have seen you passionate about anything. You need this, V. You need her.”

“She lied to me,” I say flatly. “She’s the reason Khalid’s gone, why Mother’s stuck in bed. She betrayed us.” She fucking kissed another man.

“Yeah. Yeah, she did. And you can punish her for that later but not like this.”

“A traitor’s punishment is death.”

“You’re the fucking Boss. You can change the rules.” His voice softens. “But what you can’t do, V, is come back from this. You know it.”

I stop, the truth in his eyes rooting me still. Breaking her will break me. I will feel every cut upon her skin like it’s my own. I will feel the cracks of our relationship, the ones that can never be repaired until they shatter into sharp pieces that cut me further. I will lose the last part of my humanity when I’m standing over her lifeless body. When I scream over the fact that I can’t even take her into my shadows, to lay her to rest in a way where she’ll always be with me.

But I will have saved my brother.

I will have learned where he is.

That has to be enough.

“Get out of my way, Maddox,” I say softly.

He shakes his head,

“Let me talk to Zita,” Maddox says, his voice soft and low. “I’ll get the information we need out of her. We’ll go rescue Khalid, and then when we get back, we’ll break her. Together. So you can rebuild her into what you want. Into a faithful breedmare who will never betray you again. You know I can do it. Let me do this for you.”

I look past him, my throat tight, and my gaze settles on my girl. I don’t want her complacent, nothing but a doll or a true breedmare. I wanther.

I want all her fire and passion and her inability to listen to any order. I want her loyalty, her love, the fucking blood bond she told me we started.

But everything I want is a fucking lie. An act.

So I dart forward before my brother can react and slam my fist into his jaw. He stumbles back. I feel the change in the air, the ripple of magic he’s trying to use, and I push forward with my other foot, spin, and snap the back of my heel into the side of his skull.

Crack!

He crumbles to the ground, and I am there to catch him before he hits. He is a little shit, but his heart’s always in the right fucking place.

But mine is too.

Because I have a duty to this Family, a duty that takes priority over my own desires. I have to save my brother. To bring him back home.

But perhaps in the next life…

Perhaps in the next life, I will find her again and we can start over.

Closing my eyes, fighting back the unfamiliar touch of tears, I lay my brother down on the ground.

And then I stand.

Walking over to Micha, I remove the witch’s snare that’s still snug around her waist. She won’t need it anymore now that she’s never leaving this room. Going back over to my brother, I tie his hands behind his back, binding his fingers so he can’t use his magic when he comes around. Then I shut the door. Lock it.

And turn to the traitor lying still on the bed.

Twenty

HER

I’m vaguely aware of the rustle of someone in my room. The conversations. The touch of someone’s hands as they move me. But I saw Varius the last time I opened my eyes. I know I’m safe. The way he looked at me, the way he held me, squeezing my hands like he could never give me up… He won’t let anyone touch me. I can sleep for a little longer, get some much needed rest now that the pain in my belly –

I freeze.