Page 71 of Tales of a Deadly Devotion (Tales of a Monstrous Heart, #2)
A chill stung my skin, my magic surging to make the veins in my hands glow faintly with my power. ‘What is that?’
‘The Old Gods’ blade,’ Gideon answered without hesitation. Despite how unsteady I suddenly felt in such an ancient relic’s presence.
Lady Ramsey had known. Of course she had.
‘It’s been here all along?’
Gideon nodded as he tugged at his golden hair. ‘My father found it. It’s how he met my mother. Both of their masters were seeking it. How strange they’d find it long before Emrys was even born, as if something has been guiding us along this path all along.’
Lady Blackthorn was in service to the rebellion. Lord Blackthorn in service to the mad king.
‘The Countess wanted it?’ I demanded. Lady Ramsey had given us that warning and Gideon had dismissed it so easily. Yet now his jaw was tense as he nodded. The Countess was seeking an Old God’s blade.
‘The relic she possesses calls to it. Or the madness does.’ He took something from his desk – the shard from the gobrite’s cage – and placed it on Emrys’s.
It slid across the papers to be closer to the blade.
Seeming to have a mind of its own, practically vibrating with its need to be connected.
Just like my father’s sword when it wished to demonstrate its will.
Only as I faced such strange truths, a different sadness pierced my chest at what that blade meant. ‘Emrys has been like that before. What would Blackthorn do if he didn’t come back?’
Gideon’s brow furrowed with a deeper emotion.
‘It’s said the only way to kill an old god is with their own blade.
It’s why they battle between themselves for power and rank.
There is no threat greater than their own blood.
Kysillians might have buried them and removed their mortal form, but they didn’t destroy that power. ’
He swallowed painfully, almost resistant to tell me the rest. ‘I fear my father kept the blade as a last resort.’
My heart sank. For the little boy who never had a chance, never had a moment to falter before they’d labelled him a monster. Emrys would have known by looking at it exactly why his father had it. He’d have known it was because no matter what he did … he’d never escape how they feared him.
‘Why is it out now?’ I demanded softly, feeling my skin heat. My fingers curling in anticipation of summoning.
Gideon considered me, watching that fury flicker in my eyes. A small smile coming to his lips. ‘You think I’d hurt him?’
No. I didn’t think he would but the presence of that blade and the threat it posed to Emrys made my magic feral. Especially with the vow I’d just given him so new between us. Seared into my very bones to protect him.
That smile didn’t falter on Gideon’s lips, but hurt sank into his eyes. ‘We were born the same night. Under the crescent moon. A bad omen for a witch, but my mother made certain I was born first. That makes Emrys my little brother.’
He picked up that shard again, such deep pain cutting across his expression. ‘He was mine to take care of and I didn’t protect him. I let my father hurt him. Let him torment him and I let him call it love.’
He tossed that forsaken shard back onto the desk, its clatter so loud in the silence between us.
‘I’d rather commit myself to the fucking saints before I laid a finger on him. Even if he was the darkness promised to ruin this world.’ Gideon sank back into his chair, resting his head in his hands. ‘I should have told him that from the start.’
Weighted with such pain.
Because he loved him. The house let out a small sad groan in answer to those words.
I crossed the space between us and laid my hand gently on his shoulder. ‘You were a child too, Gideon.’
‘You sound like Emmaline,’ he snorted but didn’t shrug off my touch.
‘Then maybe we’re both right,’ I smiled, wishing she was still here for both of them. How painfully that wound still gaped.
‘He thinks I left because I’m ashamed of what he is.’ He rubbed at his jaw, his eyes shone with unshed tears. ‘I’m ashamed of myself. Ashamed of the times I should have chosen him over my father’s schemes.’
‘You did choose him Gideon. You’re here.’ He’d come back. Emrys had listened to me but he’d listened to Gideon too. He’d needed him. ‘I don’t think the crescent moon was a curse at all. I think he was blessed before he was born to have a brother like you.’
Such agony cut across Gideon’s expression, yet he didn’t fight those words. Not as he turned his attention to the fire. It was strange to see such depth of emotion from a man I knew was reserved and sharp.
But living with Alma, calling her my friend, I understood Gideon. He felt too deeply and wished not to.
‘You’d better get back to him. He’ll know you’re missing.’ His voice was the barest rasp, as if struggling to swallow down his feelings. ‘And I’m certain we should be anticipating a right bollocking off Lady Ramsey any time soon.’
Not a dismissal. A request for privacy I understood as I smiled again and moved to bid him goodnight.
‘Kat,’ he called, making me pause at the door. ‘Thank you for caring for him. Even now.’
Even knowing the truth of it all.
‘I’m glad he found you. Even if you are both massive fucking pains in my arse.’
I couldn’t help the small laugh that burst from my lips. How true those words were. ‘Get some rest, Gideon. Please?’
He nodded in small surrender just as the house manifested another apple tea for him and a small tray of tarts. I also noted the small handkerchief on the edge of the plate.
I went back into the calm darkness of the bedroom.
Emrys was still as I’d left him. I curled into his side.
Slipping back into the bed, sliding back into his arms and pressing my palm against that mark over his heart, watching the darkness slowly moving beneath his skin. As if recognising my presence.
‘Shh,’ I chided. Unwilling to disturb him. Burdened with the sadness of everything that had come before. But knowing, no matter what came next … he was mine, and this world would know it. I’d make certain of it.