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Lyrica couldn’t get rid of the vision of Hunter’s head hanging by a tendon. Right now, Dr. Fizzlewick was working on the soldier, and he’d kicked everybody else out of the medical building. The smell of the burned lodge filled the air along with thick wisps of smoke. A crew already worked on removing debris, and she could hear them coming up with a construction plan. Did they need help with that? She could create a PowerPoint present ation for them.

She stood outside with Vero, unsure of what to do next. She alw ays had a plan.

Paxton stared at his brother. “My side of the lodge is burned out, but I can bunk with the soldiers.”

Vero’s head jerked up so quickly he must’ve given himself a headache. “You are not bunking anywhere but in the lodge with me and the soldiers I’ve put in place. There are two empty bedrooms in the wing Lyrica and I have been using. You are now assigned to the room between mine and Lazart, who has been a soldier for five hundred years. We can trust him, I promise you.”

Paxton’s eye s flashed fire.

Lyrica retreated a step. She couldn’t see Vero’s expression, but if it remotely matched his brother’s, she wanted to get out of the snowy night and now.

Paxton exhaled. “I think you’ve forgotten that you named me the fucking king, brother.”

“Yes, I did, which means you stay fucking safe.” Vero sounded every bit as angry as Paxton. “Letting them kill you isn’t in my plans. So, get used to being covered at all times.”

Paxton stretched his neck like a stallion fighting a bit. “You have misunderstood me. I’ve put up with the extra detail and lack of privacy because Hope’s safety is paramount. But she’s going to return to Realm headquarters as soon as Hunter can be moved—to the safest place in the world for her. I’m not standing down. Whoever put her in danger and tried to kill us is going to pay, Vero. All I have to do is find them.”

“It’s my job to find them, and using you as bait is not going to happen,” Vero returned evenly, his back one long line of pis sed-off muscle.

“Who’s going to stop me?” Paxton asked softly, his expressi on a cold mask.

Vero stilled. Comp letely. “I am.”

Paxton’s smile lacked humor. “How’s that, little brother? You wouldn’t dare hit your king, now would you?”

For an answer, Vero struck Paxton so quickly in the jaw that Paxton didn’t have time to block.

Lyrica gasped, slapping both hands over her mouth.

Paxto n studied Vero.

Vero instantly dropped to one knee, loudly smacking a closed fist against his chest. “Your Highness. There’s no excuse fo r my behavior.”

Paxton cocked his head to the side and h eld out a hand.

Vero hesitated, then took it, st anding back up.

Paxton instantly clocked him with a hard right, sending Vero to the side. “I don’t think this is between members of the royal family. This is between brothers.” He punctuated the last with a hard drive i nto Vero’s gut.

Vero let out an angry oof, paused, and as if a demon unleashed, burst forward and partially lifted Paxton before laying him out in a tackle, both of them in the snow. Paxton roared and clapped his hands against Vero’s head, shoving him over. Vero growled and punched Paxton in both sides of his rib cage, held on, and flipped them over w ith him on top.

Paxton let out a battle cry and did the same, and the two threw up handfuls of snow as they rolled over and over.

“Wait!” Lyrica shouted, kicking into the deeper snow to get to them. “Just wait.” She tried to reach them, but immortal rolling-over speed was faster than a boulder tumbling down a hill. Finally, she caught up and shrieked. “Stop it. Both of y ou, right now.”

At this point, Vero was on top of Paxton, his fist cocked. He slowly looked to the side, his eyes an unbearable bl ue. “Time out.”

“Time out?” Lyrica yelled. Seriously? The guy knew what “t ime out” meant?

Paxton paused with a punch an inch away from Vero’s neck. Slowly, he turned to look at her, snow covering hi s head. “Okay.”

Vero let out a shrill whistle, and two Kurjan soldiers rushed toward them from behind the weapons depot. The first looked at them and hesitated. “King? Do you requi re assistance?”

“No,” Paxton said, sounding almost cheerful even though he lay on the frozen ground buried in snow. “This is fa mily business.”

Vero flicked his gaze from the soldiers to Lyrica. “Take her into the main lodge. Nicely. If she’s bruised, I’ll kill you.”

She stomped a foot in the snow. “ I will not be—”

As if she hadn’t spoken, the two ultra-tall soldiers each tucked an arm beneath hers, lifted, and easily started carrying her away. “You are so going to pay for this, Vero Phoenix,” she bellowed, kicking her legs uselessly three feet off the ground.

The only sound that came back was fists on flesh and an occasiona l pained grunt.

Finally, the two carrying her deposited her inside the door of the half-demolished lodge. Apparently one fact crossed species, immortal and human. As they shut the door behind her, she turned and stared at the slightly damaged oak. “Boys are stupi d,” she yelled.

* * * *

An hour after throwing the first punch, Vero panted wildly, spitting out blood. He sat with his back against the weapons depot, his arm broken, his legs stretched out in front of him. Blood, ice, and snow covered his new jeans.

His brother sat next to him, his body and face in similar shape. “Feel better?” Paxton grunted, blood dribbling from his mouth.

Vero sent healing cells to his damaged cornea and thoughtfully considered the question. “I believe I do.” Suspicion tickled the base of his mangled neck. “You mentioned this was a brother thing. Do brothers often break each other’s bones?”

Paxton snorted. “You’re the first brother I’ve had, but I’ve seen how other vampire and demon families relate to each other. I know you’re torn up about Hunter, and since you can’t hit him right now, I figured I’d be a good substitute. Plus, I’m not entirely sure I appreciate you declaring me the king of the Kurjan nation.”

Vero licked at a split in his bottom lip. “Yeah, I understand. I should’ve realized you’d have a huge bullseye on your back.” Yet he probably would’ve made the same decision. It was time to bring the Kurjan nation into the modern times and create coalitions with other immortal species, and having Paxton as their king made the most sense. Plus, as the eldest son of the ruling family, the title belonged to him. “I didn’t consider the danger to you.”

Paxton’s shoulder loudly popped back into place. “I don’t care about the danger, except when it comes to Hope. It’s the responsibility. I grew up with a vampire dad who wasn’t my dad who hated my guts. Then I traveled with my uncle, who was in a secret society that still wants to hurt everything we believe in. I had two friends my whole life, and they’re both females. I mated one of them. I know fuck all about how to run a nation. How to protect people and create lasting bonds.”

Vero hadn’t considered self-doubt when it came to Paxton. His father and uncles had never shown an iota of self-doubt. They’d viewed doubt as an unforgivable weakness. “I figure the fact that you care makes you a good leader. Plus, you have me.” Not that he’d been of much good his entire life. “At the very least, I can co ver your back.”

“Because we’re brothers or because I’m the king?”

It was a good question. A fair one. “Either way, I’d kill or die for you.” It was the truth.

Paxton slapped him on his newly healed thigh. “I guess it’s a good start.”

Vero lifted his head to allow snow to fall on his flesh and calm his wounded skin. “I felt a kinship to my now deceased cousin while growing up, but he didn’t really care about me. He certainly never told me I had a brother.”

“Well, you do, and I would never keep a secret like that from you. No secrets, period.” Paxton turned and looked at him, blood on his face, and mellow flames in his powerful eyes.

“We’re a pair,” Vero muttered. They’d both grown up with more punches than compliments thrown at them. “I hadn’t considered that we might be too damaged to actually fix the Kurjan nation and build a good future for everyone.” His spine needed attention, so he sent more healing cells to the base. “When Hope faced certain death if she didn’t pick Drake as her mate, and she chose you, I thought you were the luckiest male in the world.” Vero’s cousin had dragged her in front of cameras so the young Realm heir could choose him publicly. She hadn’t—regardle ss of the cost.

Paxton nodded, then groaned. “So did I. Believe me, I didn’t expect her declaration. I figured she’d agree to mate him to save everyone. But in the end, she said only one a nswer existed.”

That kind of loyalty proved rare. “So I thought that she knew something about you that I didn’t. She’s the Realm princess—the heir to everything. She chose you, Pax. So I figured I should, too.”

Paxton coughed, turned to the side, and spit out a couple of blood clots. “You have a g reat uppercut.”

“Ditto.”

Pax lifted an ankle and his boot jerked to the right as it healed with a loud crack. “When Hunter heals—”

“No. I don’t want to talk about Hunter.”

Paxton sighed heavily. “He was just doing his job. The one the King of the Realm, his father, orde red him to do.”

“I know,” Vero said softly. “I understand. I really do.” Vero had always followed the orders of his superiors as well. But Hunter had pretended to be his friend for years. They’d trained and had gone on missions together, always having each other’s backs. More than that. They’d geeked out together in the science labs in a way other soldiers would ne ver appreciate.

“You’re related to him now. I mated his cousin and you’ re my brother.”

The words weighed heavily but Vero kept his focus pure. “You can deal with them all you like, but I’m not. I’m your enforcer here and out in the world. And I hope to hell, if you somehow come to an agreement at the Convexus and save the Kurjan nation, that you’re not planning to settle the Kurjan nation in Idaho near demon and vampire headquarters.” Vero would never live that close to them, even if they became allies. The idea of losing this brother he’d just found felt like another fist to the gut, but he’d never admit it.

Paxton chuckled. “No. Canada is the place for us.” He cleared his throat. “If things go south and the Kurjan nation crumbles, there’s a place for you in the Realm. Jus t so you know.”

“You can’t have a plan B, Paxton. It’s the Kurjan nation or nothing. ” Sad but true.

“All right. Well then, I will succeed in bringing the Cyst soldiers back into the nation. There’s n o alternative.”

Vero’s gut actually ached. “I’m glad you un derstand that.”

Paxton sighed. “For the record, I’d love to reach a point where we are true allies with the Realm. Maybe even friends.”

That would take centuries. Maybe. “The easiest way to do that is to arrange for matings, if the Cyst return home. While vampires and Kurjans are male only, a lot of demons, shifters, and fairies align with the Realm. Maybe we start speed dating with other species i n a few years.”

“Speaking of speed dating, what’s up with y ou and Lyrica?”

The mention of the stubborn female’s name heated his blood. “Nothing. The female is impossible.” But that kiss. That was something.

“You like her,” Paxton said, h is voice light.

“Do not.” Vero could finally see out o f his left eye.

Paxton punched him in the t high. “Do too.”

Vero swiveled and grabbed Paxton around the waist, throwing them both into a snowbank. “Do not.” He punched first without hesita tion this time.