Page 2

Chapter 2

Prince

I t took two days to get a flight to the States, to the home that my brothers and I had built so many decades ago. A home that was little more than déjà vu in the scattered mess that was my fucking head. Mags had found the address in a book that looked almost more ancient than they were, and complained the entire time about my incessant nagging, warning about the "consequences of meddling too soon". Of course, each word went in one ear and directly out the other. This wasn't something I was willing to wait for—fate be fucking damned —I needed to get home before he could.

I couldn't stand the thought of being too late. I spent the last several decades being too fucking late. The memories I'd recalled so far were little better than acid on open wounds that wouldn't stop festering. Every knife those depraved doctors had put to her skin, my Aaliyah's skin, every broken bone, and every scream …

I could save her this time. I would save her. After years of being absolutely fucking useless, I could finally be her Prince. I could earn that name and keep my brothers from falling to the hands of a madman at the same time.

There wasn't any other outcome I'd accept.

I half stumbled onto our property through a ward that felt like home. Osiris's magic, something I only vaguely remembered, welcomed me as if it were him lending me a guiding hand. That gave me hope enough to hurry my steps. The thick foliage was grayed from the winter weather, the chill in the air a refreshing change in pace that felt entirely foreign, even as my feet guided me forward with ingrained certainty. It was strange being back in the flesh. The memories I had of this place were minimal, but they were there. A constant whisper in the back of my mind, telling me that this was home.

Home was a moss yard and delicately trimmed bushes, with a forest that scented like mountain air hinted with the freshness of the close sea. Home was lavender eyes that made my heart thunder in my chest like it had never stopped, and that was enough to ease every hardship the last couple of weeks had thrown at me.

" Et in domum suam in solem ." The words slipped quietly past my lips as I walked up the familiar black steps to the front door.

Before I ran directly into it.

I grunted as my nose hit first, a pained ache to add to the humiliation. I hadn't even reached for the handle, like I was just expecting to walk right through. Bastard . I brushed it off as Mags chortled behind me.

"Haha, very funny," I said, rubbing the abused bridge, one that felt crooked before I'd taken the unexpected hit. "Let's just pretend you didn't see anything."

There was a silence that was borderline deafening, only broken by the sounds of creaking floorboards as Mags came to my side. "Didn't see it, just listened. Maybe you should do it again. Mags swears they won't miss it this time."

My mouth dropped open, shocked at the mirth that still lingered in their weathered eyes. They crinkled at the corners, crow's feet almost making them seem slightly younger than dirt.

"Oh, they have jokes! Remind me why you decided to come again? Weren't you busy, I don't know, cursing some poor farm boy, or pretending to turn passersby into sheep?" I asked, crossing my arms, watching as Mags rolled their eyes.

They were dressed in drab robes, gray abominations that stretched over the porch, trailing behind us on the stairs. Their hair, still scraggly white, peeked out from under their hood as they pushed it back. Dust plumed around them as they shook their head. Or rather, sand.

"Mags is exactly where Mags needs to be," they said, staring at the door with a vacant, bored look. "Or did you forget your promise already?"

Consequences.

Mags hadn't helped willingly, not really, though I doubted anything they did was by their own will. I needed them to get me to the States. They needed me to stay in Rome. I wouldn't budge, so I did the only thing I could. I made a deal, a promise . One I was conveniently trying to forget.

Mags was owed one favor at a time they felt was right to ask, and I'd be their dog to do whatever it was they wanted.

Bound in blood, literally tied to my shambles of a soul. Dammit .

"No, got it locked away, right here. Ready for a rainy day," I grumbled, tapping my head before brushing them off, turning my attention to the door again.

Something nagged at the back of my mind, a warrior's intuition that told me something was wrong. Osiris should have known I was here long before his wards let me in, but on the off chance he was out, Eirik would have been able to scent me the moment I'd hit the steps. He would have greeted me at the door and pulled me into one of his godforsaken bear hugs I knew damned well I missed.

Someone should have realized I was here by now. At the very least, they should have heard me crash quite literally into our home.

But they weren't here, and as I sucked in a hard breath, searching for a scent that my mind would recognize, I realized they hadn't been for a while. Through the quiet, I could hear a heartbeat. One . Dread quickly replaced my hope. Fuck this.

"Knock, knock, assholes. Daddy's home." I walked in, turning the fucking handle this time and burying my fear as I swung the door open.

Whatever follow-up retort I'd planned died the moment I saw the chaos of the living room. It was in shambles, a struggle clear from the damage: from a ridiculously obnoxious red couch that had been ripped up and knocked on its side to the muddied prints on the floor that burrowed deep, like needles in my eyes.

"The Butcher beat us here," Mags mumbled, skimming their hand along the dried tracks.

I didn't give them my attention as I moved to the staircase, hand trailing a splash of intricate stonework among the gray, begging that they'd leave things be and not try to sacrifice a goat or anything while I wasn't there to watch them.

I took the stairs two at a time, hyperfocused on the heartbeat that led me to an open mosaic door that had a full-body shiver racking through me. Just past it was something I couldn't quite place but knew was important. I flitted in, the state of the room barely registering as I saw the first hint of a slick tailcoat on a still body. Somewhere in my head, the thick gold embroidery around the edges rang like a bell. It was devious and almost ridiculously gaudy.

Osiris .

I was by his side in a breath, my hand going immediately to his twisted neck. My blood went cold, and all I could do was stare as my lungs constricted in my chest, my vision growing narrow as I ran shaking hands through my hair. Everything in me had warned me this might happen, even Mags's incoherent rambling.

Not all paths lead to redemption.

I refused to believe it, even as all signs pointed toward one thing: Sebek had been here. I could smell him in the air, ancient, sour, and fucking disgusting, something I hadn't been looking for before.

Even the faintest traces of lavender were hours old, too old.

Where in the hell was Aaliyah?

I shook Osiris's still body, desperation clinging to me as I fought off the will to scream.

"Wake the fuck up, Osiris." I rotated his head, setting his neck so it could heal. I might have been a touch too rough, wincing as I heard his spine shuffle and pop. But luckily, after an eternity, his eyes opened. "You managed to choose the worst possible time to nap."

There was confusion in his mismatched blues, a twinge of wonder hiding there. The guilt came after, and his head fell back against the floor with a thud as he closed his eyes again. He seemed to have aged from how I remembered him. His skin was dulled, his eyes lacking the fire I recalled so vividly from the night I'd been turned.

His hands went to his face before dragging through his disheveled black hair, disrupting the perfect waves. "I don't have time for nightmares of you today, frater ."

I could feel his pain, and for a second, I lost the vindictive force that had slowly overcome me. This was my brother, the man I seemed to know better than myself, even with the few memories I had of him. The man who'd left me to die , and who I could tell with barely a look, was still haunted by that. I remembered the fight, and the screamed words that led in to the last day I'd seen him before the pyre took me. He'd used my own failings against me that day, so I'd do his bidding, played me like he'd done to kings and peasants. It soured the warmth I held for him.

I wanted the good memories, the ones I felt in my chest that brought prideful joy I knew were buried there, but right now, all I felt was that betrayal. It would be something to fix after we figured out whatever this mess was.

A sickening feeling told me I already knew what was coming.

"Not a nightmare this time, brother," I said. Osiris flinched, his head tilting to look at me again and eyes shooting back open as his jaw dropped. I didn't give him the chance to speak. "While I realize it's been a while since you've had the pleasure of seeing my beauty in the flesh, you need to get yourself together."

Still, Osiris sat silent and stared at me with a slack-jawed expression that showed no sign of moving. It would have been hilarious under any other circumstance.

"Admire. Later." I snapped my fingers over his face before tapping his chin. That seemed to get him, his mouth cracking shut.

He finally focused, narrowing his eyes and scowling at me. When he reached up, brushing a shaking, ungloved hand across my cheek—something that threw me off in a way I couldn't place—that scrutiny exploded into surprise. The hesitancy to his touch faded away, his free hand coming up to match its twin on the other side of my face. "Nero?"

"No, I'm his evil twin, Herbert." I scoffed, sitting back on my heels and crossing my arms over my chest. "Who the fuck else would I be, Osiris?"

I gestured to my body, waving my hands in a circular motion.

"But—"

"But you're dead !" I gasped, putting on a show like I was very surprised by that fact, even clutching my cheeks at the shock before I rolled my eyes. "Been there, heard that. We have something far more important to deal with than my resurrection."

Osiris's eyes landed on my lips, taking in the smirk I couldn't seem to get rid of, even now. Years of trust, life, and bonds passed between us, and even with the warring anger in my head, I calmed.

At least, until pressure built in my skull. It started low and heavy, as though someone had placed a weight on my neck at the start of my spine. Like a fire had been lit under my ass, I jumped to my feet. "Oh, now is not the fucking time."

Osiris was quick to follow me, stabilizing me as nausea took over my thoughts. My teeth gritted, blood sliding down my nose, into my mouth as I coughed.

"What's wrong?" Osiris asked, grunting as he moved to take more of my weight. His arms shook, and I knew it wasn't from the strain.

"Fucking Rends ." I bit hard, grinding my teeth as I gripped Osiris's shoulder. "Listen. I'm about to drop like a sack of extremely pissed off potatoes. Treat me just like you would have treated Aaliyah. I'm not actually dead, all right?"

My words were clipped, boiling down to a groan as tension grabbed at my soul. They never got any easier, even after Mags gave me their vile miracle cure that had dragged the Rends to a drizzle. It had slowed them, the endless memories that made up my life, but nothing would stop them.

Not until I remembered.

I shuddered as the pressure hit again, more insistent this time. The weight was gone, replaced by a red-hot iron that jabbed into my temple, and I stumbled as vertigo slammed into me.

"How do you know about Aaliyah?" His question echoed in my mind, bouncing off the walls of my skull.

Aaliyah.

Like always, it was thoughts of her that got me through the worst of it, the pain fading as I chuckled, shaking my head at the twist of fate that had led us here. My Aaliyah, the one I'd follow into the depths of hell, was the same one that had mended the bonds of the family I'd left behind. Somehow, she'd found her way to us all.

Ours, then, but I'd be damned if she wasn't mine first.

"Because, brother." I held on to the last strings of my consciousness as I flashed him a smile, dragging my tongue across my bloodied lips, my fangs extended and on display. "You weren't the first Vivas to meet her."

My eyes rolled back, and I was stuck in my personal definition of hell: watching my body fall, as I could do nothing to stop it.