Page 22

Zane didn’t pay attention to the speed limit as he raced across the city, headed toward the outskirts, the area most people would avoid at this time of night. He’d gotten the phone call so suddenly, he hadn’t had time to think, leaving Great alone at the restaurant without a word of explanation.

He’d feel bad about it, but by the time he settled this mess, the clock would have run out on his and Pavel’s bet, which meant Great was now obsolete. It was for the best, honestly. He’d probably just spared the pretty racer some painful memories.

His hover car zipped into the abandoned lot, gusts of dirt wafting into the air, though he hardly noticed his pressed clothes getting dirty as he exited and slammed the door for good measure.

Wouldn’t hurt to make his opinion about being here known.

The old warehouse used to make buttons or something else common like that but hadn’t been in operation for a little over five years, since the company declared bankruptcy and the owner fled the planet for greener button-making pastures. Zane had never visited it before, but he’d overheard Lyra talking to his brother about the use she’d found a time or two.

A use that was now seeping its way into his life.

He’d been instructed to use the side entrance, and the door hinges creaked when he shoved it open. The smell was dank, with a hint of copper he knew all too well. Following the scent, he headed down a narrow hall, toward the only light in the entire building.

There was a plastic tarp hanging over the entranceway, and he shoved it aside, scowling at the feel of it against his palm and the annoying crinkling sound it made.

He could be eating a five-star roast right now, instead he was here doing…

“What the fuck is this?” he demanded, coming to a stop as soon as he’d made it a few feet in and caught sight of the monstrosity set up in the center of an otherwise empty room. Metal beams set in a square with more tarp hanging from them kept him from seeing what lay within, but the moment his voice cracked against the silence, there was a rustle.

“Brother.” Aodhan Solace peeked his head out between two thin layers of plastic and grinned at him. The expression alone would have been terrifying to anyone else, even without the blood splatters currently painting his otherwise angelic features. “You came.”

“You told me you made a mistake,” Zane reminded.

“My exact wording was error,” he corrected, popping back behind the tarp. “Well? Aren’t you coming?”

Zane really didn’t want to, but his feet carried him forward anyway until he was standing before the slit with nothing else to do but follow. He took a single step and passed beneath the beams.

And grimaced.

“What did you do?” He covered his nose, mostly because of the smell, and glared as his older brother rounded the medical table, that manic glint still in his pink gaze.

Pink, like bubblegum. Sweet as candy.

That’s what Lyra had said the first time she’d met him.

Then she’d turned to Zane and told him it was a pity he hadn’t gotten the same features. As though the bitch hadn’t known he was adopted.

Why the hell was he thinking about Lyra right now when there was another female he should be worried about?

“Who is she?” He motioned to the body, moving closer in an attempt to catch sight of her face. It was turned the other way and bloody, and a quick scan of her outfit didn’t give any clues. She wasn’t dressed in any of the local school uniforms, in any case.

“I found her murdering her friend,” Aodhan said, not answering either of Zane’s questions, as per usual. “She was actually very good at it. Took her apart like,” he made a slashing motion with his right hand, a scalpel held loosely between his fingers, “like a stick of butter. It was beautiful.”

“I’m sure.” Zane could see where this was going. He sighed and rubbed at his temple. “Why do I get the feeling she didn’t commit this masterpiece of a murder at the hospital?”

“Because you, dear baby brother, are a genius. No, I found her on Fourth and Went.”

“Fourth and—” Why did that sound familiar? “Hold on.”

Aodhan tapped his forehead, uncaring about the spot of blood he smeared there with the tip of his gloved finger. “Smart. That’s what Dad likes best about you.”

“Mom always says you’re the smart one.”

He clicked his tongue and then returned his gaze to the cooling corpse, as though he still wasn’t done with her even though most of her insides were already on the outside. He’d carefully laid them out too, in some weird pattern Zane had never tried to decipher.

“Please tell me this isn’t the girl we’re all looking for,” Zane said, but he already knew the answer. If Aodhan had found her on Fourth and Went, he knew the exact person she’d been killing at the time.

“I’m fairly certain they said her name was Carter,” Aodhan drawled. “On the news? That’s what they said when they showed her picture.”

The press had finally gotten their hands on the death of Royal Aura, Jem’s sister, and was spreading it around like wildfire. They’d even leaked that Aura’s two best friends who’d accompanied her on planet had also gone missing, with only one of them turning up dead.

The other, Avaline, had been tortured to death and they’d yet to discover any clues to lead to her killer. It’d been so different from the way Aura had died, they were out of leads.

“Why did she do it?” Zane asked.

“There,” Aodhan pointed to a holo-pad set on the edge of a metal table off to the side. “Her full confession was recorded. I believe you’ll find that useful, baby brother.”

“Stop calling me that,” he demanded as he headed over to get the device.

“But I like calling you that. It’s the only time you’ll look at me with anything other than disgust.”

Zane frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“I know you don’t like what I do.”

“This?” He waved the device at the body. “I don’t give two shits about—”

“No, not this,” Aodhan corrected, propping a hip against the table, blood instantly seeping into the white material of the jacket he wore. “I could kill everyone on this whole planet and you wouldn’t bat an eye. We have that in common.”

There was very little they had in common and Aodhan well knew it.

Aside from their dark hair and basic features—not including the eyes.

And their height.

And the last name scrawled on their birth certificates—though Zane’s was fake.

And—

He straightened and made a noncommittal sound which had his brother chuckling.

“You hate that I chose to work off planet,” Aodhan said. “Removing myself from the ties that bind our family to the Diars means all of the pressure to keep the peace falls to you.” He tipped his head. “You also don’t like the director of my hospital.”

“I don’t give a shit who you fuck,” he growled, his burst of anger giving him away. “I was always the replacement child, you leaving only solidified that fact. But do us both a favor and stop coming around so often. It’s causing problems.”

“Why? Oh.” His expression darkened ever so slightly, anyone else would have missed it. “You don’t mean with Mom and Dad. It’s that bitch again, isn’t it?”

“Don’t call her that.”

“Out loud,” he concluded. “You mean don’t call her that out loud. We both know you think it. Tell me. What’s she done this time?”

“As if you care.” The last time Lyra had gotten something on Zane it’d been Aodhan, and she’d used that to her advantage. Now, she had someone to help dispose of the bodies and operate her organ trade, and Aodhan got a free pass to slice and dice people open.

No, his brother didn’t care about the fact Lyra held her knowledge of Aodhan’s secret pastime over Zane’s head.

“She can’t expose me, baby brother,” Aodhan said then, and it was like he was reading his mind. “Not now. She’s already let us in on her biggest secret. That organ trading ring isn’t mine, it’s hers, and if she ever told anyone about me…” he traced the tip of the scalpel across his neck with a grin. “So if that’s what she’s threatening you with, don’t sweat it. Tell her to go fuck herself.”

Zane gave him a suspicious look. “Since when did you give a shit about how she treats me?”

“You’re my brother,” he stated. “If someone treats you poorly, they’re treating me poorly. Family is important.”

“To you family is an important social construct and you need me to help sell yours is perfect and normal.”

Aodhan winked. “Something like that.”

Zane sighed, not sure what he’d been expecting. But… “She’s threatened to make me her Royal Consort.”

For a moment, his brother didn’t respond, and when he glanced back over it was to find that was because Aodhan was busy staring at him.

Or through him.

“Find what you’re looking for?” Zane snapped, a bit uncomfortable under all that scrutiny. Sure, he could hold his own in a fight and typically didn’t fear anyone, but Aodhan…He’d seen the guy take apart grown men three times their size—literally. He might instigate a bit of surly banter, but he never wanted to incite his brother’s actual ire.

Aodhan Solace was one person you were better off never gaining the attention of.

“You said threatened, as in, you don’t want to be her Royal Consort. I’m curious as to why. Just because she sucks? She’s pretty enough,” Aodhan shrugged. “Not my type, but whatever.”

“I don’t want to be made anyone’s lapdog.”

“Ah. And you think that’s what’s happening? Find a way out of it then.”

Zane rolled his eyes. “If it were that easy, I would have.”

“Isn’t it though?” Aodhan turned back to the body, dragging the scalpel down the fleshy part of the girl's thigh as though this conversation was already beginning to bore him.

Good. Let him set that creepy sight on someone else.

“It’s my understanding that a Royal Consort can only be selected if they’re not already married to someone else.” Aodhan inspected his handy work then set the scalpel to the side, reaching for a blaster.

“What are you going to do with that?” Zane asked, confused about how he was going to use that on the body. “Also, I’m not married to anyone else, if you recall. I’m not even betrothed.”

“Not an engagement,” he shook his head. “That would be too easy for her to break. She’s the Imperial Heir, after all. No, you need to be married by one of the three laws, and your marital status must be filed with the Intergalactic Conference for you to be safe.”

“That’s…overkill, don’t you think?” Filing with the Conference wasn’t something required of them.

“If you only do it through the Vitality government, you risk her undoing the order. She couldn’t touch it if it went through the Intergalactic Conference.”

“Okay, fair point, but again, I don’t have anyone.”

“So pick someone,” he said. “Any random off the street would do. Or find someone you like. Doesn’t matter. Just make it happen. I assume she gave you a timeframe?”

“Graduation.”

He nodded. “Do it before then.”

Zane frowned. “Why are you helping me?”

“I’m not,” he smiled. “I’m helping myself. You’re not the only one sick of having that bitch—sorry, her Imperial Majesty—yanking their chain. I’d prefer not to return to this planet so often as well. Mom never shuts up when she finds out I’ve visited but didn’t stop by the house, and she always finds out. I’d rather stay at home, with my sexy as sin hospital director boyfriend, but in order for that to happen, you have to get her off our backs once and for all.” Aodhan pointed the gun at him, but Zane wasn’t concerned.

His brother wouldn’t shoot him.

It wasn’t his style.

He sighed and then opened his mouth to ask if there was any more sage wisdom he wanted to spout, but movement at the entrance to the tarp wall cut him off. His gaze swept over there, just in time to see someone step through.

The blaster went off and whoever had been attempting to walk in on them stumbled and fell out of sight.

“You weren’t expecting anyone, right?’ Aodhan asked, though it was clearly his attempt at a joke.

“Seeing as how you already shot them, I don’t think—” The person who’d been shot groaned and the sound stopped him dead in his tracks. “Wait.”

Zane rushed forward, practically tossing the tablet he was still holding at his brother on his way toward the exit. He shoved the plastic to the side, staring down at Pavel who was clutching his right side.

“Hey, gorgeous,” Pavel smirked at him, unable to mask the obvious pain he was in. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“Clear the table,” he shot over his shoulder, spinning on his heels to glare wildly at Aodhan when he didn’t hear any immediate movement. “Get that fucking filth off the table!”

His brother only hesitated a second before he shrugged and literally shoved the body off. It rolled and then plopped to the floor, organs spilling after her to smush against the plastic-covered ground. He shrugged innocently after.

Cursing, Zane moved to help Pavel up, practically carrying him into the tarp room and over to the now, mostly, clean table. He got him on it and then growled at all the layers. “Damn three-piece suit.”

“You knew I was watching you,” Pavel said, voice thready.

“Shut up and let me take a look at this.” Zane quickly undid the buttons on Pavel’s vest and then tore through the ones on his silk shirt, exposing the bullet hole in his side. Blood gushed and he swore again, crossing the tiny space to snatch up a few handfuls of gauze. Only, when he turned back, he came to a screeching halt.

“Baby brother.” Aodhan had the tip of the blaster pressed against Pavel’s temple. “He was eavesdropping on our conversation.”

Which meant he knew about Lyra’s illegal organ ring and the fact that Aodhan was a killer.

Zane’s fists clenched around the gauze.

“He’s a friend of yours, right? A fellow Retinue member?” Aodhan nodded like he understood. “You’ve always taken your position with them very seriously. I can see why you don’t want to do this but don’t worry, I can take care of it without you. Why don’t you step out and—”

“Wait.” He could do it. He could leave and let his brother murder Pavel Hart. Zane would never have to worry about being stalked by him again.

Or hunted down in the forest.

Or almost drowned in the pool.

“You’ve never looked at Kazimir the way you looked at Pavel in that video.” Lyra’s words echoed in his mind and he scowled. After her confession, he’d gone and found the tapes.

And she’d been right.

Zane had watched them to the end, thinking she was crazy and messing with him, only she hadn’t been. He’d watched it several times over and the truth was always plainly there in blinding color.

When Pavel pulled Zane from the water and he’d clung to his shoulders as they’d fucked, the look on Zane’s face had been…

“Wait,” he repeated.

“What am I waiting for, baby brother? Your friend to find a way to call for help? Let’s get this over with and we can go out for milkshakes after, yeah? Just like when we were kids.”

“He’s not my friend,” Zane said, ignoring the way Pavel tensed at that comment, “and I know how to solve our bitch problem.”

“Oh?” Aodhan cocked a brow. “Do tell. If he isn’t your friend, then…?”

“Brother, I’d like you to meet,” he risked a step closer to the table, “my future husband.”