Page 9

He liked being up high, always had. It gave him perspective—literally.

From up here, he could see everything—every break in the treetops, every rustle that shouldn’t be there, every line that didn’t quite match up.

He could track the flow of the land, the way it guided or concealed, including those unnatural bends where an illusion might twist.

He’d learned that particular lesson the hard way. At Crescent Canyon, he’d made a mistake and paid the cost of it in lives. He wouldn’t be caught off guard again.

Vaughn was dead. But whoever sent him wasn’t going to stop just because their first try failed. Killing the minion never stopped the monster. If they were going to strike, it would be now—before they reached the city. While she was still out in the open.

Skye glanced over his shoulder at a break in the trees about a mile back. That was where they’d left Taly. They still had a full day of hiking through muddy forest and steep, uneven terrain, and she needed every bit of aether she could gather.

He closed his eyes, focusing inward. The bond with Taly was still new, a barely-there thread that whispered more than it spoke. He couldn’t read her thoughts, but there was a pull in the distance. He felt it like a faint tugging in his chest.

She was still there. Still in the same place he’d left her. He could be back to her in minutes, and that should’ve been enough to quiet the dull sense of dread permanently lodged between his ribs.

It didn’t.

Because he’d lost her before. The first time, when she left. The second, when he thought she was dead. When she didn’t come back. When every sign pointed to the worst, and he spent weeks clawing against the belief that she was really gone.

That left a wound. One that refused to close, even with her safe beside him.

So now it was a reflex. The second she was out of sight, his nerves twisted, bracing for her to vanish. Always waiting for reality to slip out from under him, for the moment he’d wake up and find her gone again, just a ghost he’d dreamed up to keep from breaking.

He swallowed hard, but the tightness in his throat wouldn’t go away. His fingers twitched on the branch. Just a flicker. Just a thought—maybe he should go back. Just for a minute. Just to see.

He edged forward on the branch. His weight shifted, ready to jump.

A rustle cut through the quiet below. Twigs snapped.

Then the groaning of branches. Heavy breathing. A scrape of bark.

Something was climbing. Coming closer.

Fast—though not as fast as he usually would’ve made the ascent.

“ Let’s go on a quest, Kato,” came the panted muttering. “Let’s go rescue a damsel, Kato .”

Skye sighed, briefly considering shooting a few bullets toward the ground before thinking better. That would just give the bastard more to complain about.

“Except then I’m going to ditch you at the first opportunity. No note. No parting goodbye.”

“We spoke before I left,” Skye said, not bothering to raise his voice.

Not that it mattered. Kato just kept going, breathless and complaining.

“And then after I find the fair damsel—after we kill the traitors and take all the glory for ourselves—then what? Do we come back? Maybe touch base with our noble, self-sacrificing brother who risked his life for our love?”

A pause. Just enough time for Skye to hope that maybe he’d fallen.

“No, I don’t think so.”

Skye hung his head.

“After all, we’ve earned it right? A little time for us . To rest, recover— reconnect —at what can only be described as a luxurious inter-dimensional spa!”

A branch snapped.

“Oh, what’s that? It’s a hell loop, you say?” A sharp exhale. “But like, you know, a luxury hell loop. One with enchanted grottos. Hot showers. Actual beds .”

A hissed, “Motherf—” was cut off by another creaking branch.

“Did anyone ask Kato if he wanted a bed? No . Kato got dumped downstairs. Still well within earshot, mind you, of the two star-crossed lovers dry-humping in the loft while he teetered on the brink of death.”

There was no teetering. There was barely a wave as Death passed by at a distance on his way for someone else.

Hands burst through the thick veil of leaves and branches at his feet, gripping the gnarled tree trunk. A shock of red hair appeared next, followed by a set of shoulders, then with a grunt, a torso as his brother pulled himself up.

Kato climbed a few feet higher, then hopped, pushing off the trunk and freefalling for half a heartbeat—only to catch himself on a nearby branch.

He gave a careless smile from where he hung. “Miss me?”

Skye shot him an irritable glare before turning his attention back to the forest below. “Your leg seems fine now,” he pointed out dryly. “Not exactly the picture of misery you’ve been painting all morning.”

“What, this old thing? Nah, it’s killing me.

I just decided suffering up here next to you would be more fun.

” Kato adjusted his grip, shaking loose a spray of water from the surrounding foliage as he pulled himself up to sit.

“Seriously, though,” he grunted, swinging a leg over the branch.

“Did you really need to climb the tallest tree in the forest just to brood? That’s a bit dramatic. ”

“I wanted to get a look at where we’re going. Anything on your end?”

“Just trees,” Kato panted, making a show of settling in like that would somehow disguise how hard he was breathing. “You?”

“Same.” And that made Skye nervous. It had almost been too easy, too quiet, since they set out that morning. A heavy stillness hung over the forest, the kind that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

“You know, I think I finally figured it out.” Kato’s smile was all sharp edges as the breeze ruffled his hair. “The reason you seem so… twitchy lately.”

Skye spared his brother a glance. First, he wasn’t twitchy. Second— “Do you ever stop talking?”

“Not when I’m onto something. And this—” Kato sighed, shaking his head. “This is officially a pattern. It’s fascinating, really. Every time Taly’s out of sight, you pine . The quiet, tortured gazes. The sighing. The tension.”

He exhaled dramatically. “And now? You’ve taken to the trees, like some majestic, brooding eagle mourning his unmated status. Don’t try to fight it. I’ve been stuck sleeping below you two all week. I can hear everything that’s not happening.”

“If you have a point, Kato, just make it.”

“Oh, I have many points. But for now let’s start with the twitchiness.” Kato leaned back against the tree trunk, smirking. “You need to get laid, little brother. Don’t even try to deny it. Remember, I’m downwind, and the pheromonal deluge is… Well, it’s nauseating.”

Skye breathed deeply—and refused to engage. Kato was digging for a sore spot. If he so much as flinched, he’d never hear the end of it.

“Seriously,” Kato said. “You spent three days in a lovers’ paradise—”

“You’re not going to let that go, are you?”

“Uh, counter: you were gone for three days!”

“Three hours ,” Skye corrected. True to her word, the Queen had sent them back not long after he left off.

“Three days, three hours—it’s the principle of the matter.

And it doesn’t change the fact that while I was tied up and lying in horse shit, you were shacked up with the woman of your dreams—your literal soulmate, who coincidentally hasn’t so much as seen a man in over a year—and you still couldn’t close the deal. ”

Kato threw up his hands. “What was my suffering for, Skye? My sacrifice ? Seriously, it’s like someone wrapped up the horniest dream you’ve ever had, tied a bow on it, and you said, ‘Nah, I already ate.’ ”

Skye didn’t bother responding. Just shoved Kato hard enough to rattle the branch beneath him—though not enough to send him flying.

Yet.

Of course, he was frustrated. His brother had a gift for stating the obvious. Everything he’d ever wanted was already on the table. Laid out like a feast, warm and waiting.

He just wasn’t allowed to have it yet.

Had been making do with scraps—the rare moments when he could slip away into the forest, alone, and imagine what it would be like to finally indulge.

Not that it was any of Kato’s damn business, though it didn’t stop him from picking at it anyway.

“Wait,” Kato said, his eyes wide with fake concern, the smirk at the corner of his mouth ruining the act. “You do still remember how it works, right? I know it’s been a while.”

“I’m going to push you out of this tree if you don’t shut up,” Skye snapped.

“I can draw you a diagram if you’re struggling.”

It wasn’t like Skye hadn’t warned him.

He reached out and snagged Kato’s ankle, but his brother clung to the branch with both arms like a stubborn cat.

“Wait!” Kato yelped, kicking wildly as Skye dragged him an inch closer to falling. “Wait, wait. I’m just trying to help.”

“So am I,” Skye grunted, his grip slipping as Kato twisted out of reach. “I’m helping you out of this tree.”

He reached again, catching the cuff of Kato’s pants, but his brother yanked free with a sharp jerk, throwing Skye off balance.

“Shit,” he muttered, clutching at the branch above him to keep from toppling out of the tree altogether.

“First you leave me tied up in horse shit,” Kato huffed, scrambling back onto the branch.

“Oh, Shards save me.”

“And now you threaten to throw me out of a tree! Just saying, I’m feeling very unappreciated right— Okay, okay, okay. Truce,” Kato conceded, kicking Skye’s hand away when he lunged for him again, fingers just missing. “I’ll be good.”

Skye shot him one last look—not quite a threat, but close. Then he settled back onto the branch.

Kato, for once, took the hint.

The quiet that followed didn’t feel awkward. Not comfortable. But there was an easiness to it as the gray afternoon light filtered through the thinning clouds, pooling in patches over the canopy, where the wind stirred damp leaves in restless circles.

A distant flash caught Skye’s eye.

Even Kato perked up. “Did you see that?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Skye said lowly.

There it was again—a bright flash among the trees.