48. Chapter 48
48
Nelle
“ L ET ME GO!”
There was a storm roiling the sullen sky. But it was my rage that swept a mighty tempest to thrash the trees. Branches slapped and creaked like ship-rigging. Dead leaves and pine needles sliced through the air and raked against my skin.
A heartbeat before I’d been about to strike Corné down, Caidan had thrown me over his shoulder, stealing me from the laundry. In mere seconds, we’d left the mansion, crossed the vast lawns, and plunged into the gloomy depths of the woodland.
Caidan pinned me to the knotted trunk of an oak, pitting his entire weight and strength against me. He banded his broad hands around my upper arms, holding them to my side. I struggled, lost to a rage so vengeful I could barely think, could barely hold back the creature. The thing inside me roared with blood thirst— Let me go. Let Me Go! LET ME GO!
A surge of dark power vibrated within my fists and I bellowed at Caidan, “LET GO OF ME!”
“Shut it, Wychthorn!” The cords on Caidan’s neck strained. His feet slipped and skidded, flicking up clods of dirt as I fought back. “Get a grip. You were one breath away from revealing yourself!”
Graysen obviously had told his brother that I was other and my fists shaking with menacing might tightened at his betrayal. “I DON’T CARE!”
Corné was hurting her.
He’d never stop until he’d broken her or killed her—
I punched out with dark power. “I’M GOING TO END HIM!”
A roiling mass of magic slammed into Caidan, knocking him backward, sending him sprawling into the undergrowth, flattening saplings and ferns and bellwort .
Caidan rolled, flipping to his feet—
I surged forward—
Caidan, faster, crashed into me and shoved me back up against the oak with a force that crushed the air from my lungs. “You kill him, you’ll reveal yourself!”
I sucked in a sharp breath and screamed, “HE’LL BE DEAD!”
“YOU CAN’T—”
I snarled, snapping my teeth at him.
Caidan jerked away, cursing.
And I loosened the leash on the creature—
The ground beneath our feet exploded in great shuddering quakes. Dirt and stones blew skyward. A rotten reek, as foul as my temper, filled my nostrils as the decaying forest litter whipped upwards, writhing through the air.
Caidan jostled. His footing slipped against the shaking earth. His hold on my shoulders fumbled. “HELLS!”
Trees groaned and yawned, tipping over as their twisted roots were unearthed. Birds, frightened from their roosting perch, burst into flight, wings snapping as they scattered.
Swifting winds gathered around me.
I’d swift back to the mansion, hunt Corné down— End him!
Someone roared, “ DON’T YOU FUCKING TOUCH HER! ”
Something—dark and fast—charged from the dim murkiness between thick gnarled trees. And slammed into Caidan—
Sending him careening into the leafy darkness—
And I was free.
I bolted forward, the swifting winds intensifying—
Someone tackled me—
I soared sideways to land with a startled cry as I tumbled, smashing through the thicket and over lichen-studded stone, caged by a hard body and arms that held me tight.
I ended up on my back with Graysen on top of me, caught between the shivering earth and his powerful physique. Chest to chest, our rapid heartbeats hammered in time with each other.
His eyes were wide. The wyrmfire inked on his throat undulated as he swallowed great gulps of air. As soon as Graysen’s large hands touched my shoulders—
Something unwanted blew a cool soothing breath on the rage burning inside.
“NO!” I yelled, desperate to get free of him, desperate to keep hold of that fury that dampened with every passing heartbeat. “LET ME GO! ”
I writhed, squirming, struggling to escape.
Fierce black eyes met my grays. “Don’t do this!”
The gray-coated swifting wind beat against my chilled skin and tore at Graysen’s raven hair.
“I’m going to end him!”
He was breathing hard. His long eyelashes shadowed the fear in his gaze. “You’re not thinking straight. This isn’t you!”
“Let me have him!” But it came out more as a plea than a demand.
I bared my teeth and went to scratch his face—
He snapped aside, grabbed hold of my wrists and pinned my arms above my head. With his other hand, his fingers weaved beneath my hair to grip the nape of my neck while his calloused thumb pad stroked the frantic pulse point in my throat. But it was his scent washing over me, cedar and something indefinable, that had every inch of my body submitting to his dominance.
“You go back there, like this, you’ll show yourself as other . You’ll play right into the Pellan’s hands.”
“But he’ll be dead and Evvie will be free,” I cried.
Graysen made a soft sound as he brushed his thumb gently against my throat.
That damned touch of his, so similar to Evvie’s soothing way she had about her, I didn’t know why, how he could calm me, but the hate and rage ebbed away.
Pressing his forehead to mine, his nose slid against my own, and his lips so close they feathered my mouth as he said, “It’s us, Crowthers, that Sirro will order to end your entire House. Everyone you love will die. And we’ll be the ones to do it.”
“ No… ”
But he was right. Everyone would die, including Evvie.
I let go of the swifting wind with a choked sob.
And the last of my fight seeped from me.
The earth stopped quaking. The wind died. Stones, dirt, and debris dropped to the forest floor in rattling thuds. And the creature, lulled by Graysen’s touch, twined around itself, settling inside my stomach.
All I was left with was heavy trembling limbs, uneven breath, and pain. Such overwhelming pain.
He let go of my wrists, and my arms fell slack.
Pulling back, he braced a hand against the churned earth beside my head while his other went to his chest, fingers spread wide, kneading the spot above his heart. Silence stretched out between us as his eyes scanned my own. I didn’t know what he found, emptiness and pain probably, while I stared into a dark gaze smothered with worry. “What’s wrong? What can I do?” he asked softly.
Everything.
Everything’s wrong.
I hurt because of you.
My bottom lip quivered. “Corné hurt Evvie. He’s been hurting her all this time.”
His features hardened. “I know. I saw the bruises.”
“He brought his mistress here. That pretty friend of the Pellans.” Grief pierced my heart with the sting of a thousand barbed thorns. “That woman you fucked last night. It’s her.” Graysen obviously hadn’t fucked her this morning, but who was to say he hadn’t last night? After mocking me with that horrid bet of his brothers, he claimed he’d take up her offer of a one-night stand.
Graysen’s head jerked back as if I’d slapped him.
But he didn’t dispute it, didn’t deny it.
He glanced away. Thick brows drew over his eyes as he stared at some fixed point in the underwood, chewing his bottom lip thoughtfully before whispering, “Nelle, I—”
“Don’t you dare,” I rasped, shoving at his shoulders, trying to push him off. I couldn’t bear to hear my name leave his mouth.
Refusing to move, his gaze swung to mine, and I squeezed my eyes shut. But all I saw in my mind was him. All I felt was him, the air swirling with his movement as both of his warm hands cupped either side of my face, brushing his thumbs back and forth along my cheekbones. I still couldn’t look at him when I whispered, “I hate you.”
But I was a liar.
Such a spiteful liar.
I wouldn’t hurt this deeply if I simply hated him.
A deep sigh. “I know.”
The sound of crunching twigs had my eyes flashing open and my head turning in the direction the noise came from. Caidan appeared, shaking his hair free of leaves. He glowered at Graysen. “Territorial much?”
“You had your hands on her,” he snarled over his shoulder.
“I’d been trying to stop her, you idiot.” Caidan rubbed the back of his neck, wincing painfully. “Corné. She was about to annihilate him.”
The breath was sucked from me. Corné… Evvie…
It finally sunk in what I’d been about to do. What could have happened if Caidan hadn’t intervened .
I’d given into my fury, to the creature inside. A heartbeat away from revealing myself. But if I had been discovered, it would have been my family who paid with their lives.
“Get off me.” The words came out broken and barely a whisper.
Graysen hesitated, then rocked back on his heels. I scooted out from beneath him. Too tired to go any further, I pulled my legs to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. A hard lump formed in my throat and tears threatened. I furiously blinked them away, dropping my gaze to my feet, to those silver shoes my mother gave me, now stained with grass and dirt.
What is wrong with me?
What the hells am I becoming?
A monster, a killer, a life ender.
Graysen moved to crouch in front of me and cupped my chin to tilt my head upward to meet his gaze. The emotion swirling in his eyes squeezed my chest tight, and my heartbeat stumbled. Worried. He looked concerned and worried for me.
Does he care for me?
But his hand that had touched the friend of the Pellans was touching me.
“Take your hand off me,” I hissed. “I don’t want you touching me after you’ve touched her. ”
His whole body flinched. He knew exactly who I was talking about.
He removed his hand, but he didn’t shift from his crouched position in front of me. Instead, he rested an arm on his bent knee and dropped his gaze to the split and rutted earth separating us, tension entering his clenched jawline.
“Evvie?” Caidan asked, worried, coming up to stand right behind us.
I snapped my spine straight. Panic flooded my chest.
Where is she? Is she alright?
I need to find her!
Rising swiftly, I wobbled a little on the stupid heels my mother put me in. Graysen unfolded his tall body, rising, and reached towards me, perhaps hoping to steady my balance.
I scowled, shirking aside.
And his hand dropped away.
I gathered the layers of my skirt between my fingers and held it up as I stepped over freshly broken branches with sap oozing from their wounds and messy clumps of tussock and ferns which had torn from the earth in my wrath.
“Where are you going?” Graysen gritted out .
“To find Evvie.”
“She’s with Corné—”
“You left her alone with Corné?!” I gasped, rounding on him, terrified.
Caidan reached my side, agitated. “Why did she even go back to him?”
Though it was Caidan who asked, Graysen spoke to me. “She’s fine. I was with her when she confronted Corné and put him in his place.”
“Six feet under?” Caidan snarled.
“As much as I’d have liked to dig the burial mound for his corpse, no.” Admiration burned in Graysen’s gaze as he tipped his chin at me. “But she gave him some of your fire.”
My brows nudged together, not quite understanding.
“She reminded him who he was—a dog beneath her,” he said.
I wanted to smile, but I had nothing left in me to even curl my mouth up.
“He got the message,” Graysen added. “He won’t be messing with your sister anymore.”
An icy feeling rippled down my spine as I considered his words. “She’s not calling off the engagement?”
Graysen slowly shook his head. Silky locks of hair slid along his forehead.
Caidan grunted, turning away, muttering a few curses.
My heart sank. Of course she wouldn’t. And perhaps now I’d made things far worse for her with Corné. Someone like him would bide his time. He’d make someone pay for what I’d done, and that person would be my older sister.
Godsdammit, why do I never think things through?!
I sighed wearily, kneading my forehead. “Go away. Leave me alone.”
Graysen didn’t move.
So I did, concentrating on my steps as I ducked under low-hanging branches and navigated unearthed roots and moss-crusted rocks.
“So…? You’re going to walk back home?”
Inside, I still radiated with too much power. I could swift to the edge of the woodland, burn a bit of that restless energy off. But I needed to untangle all my messy thoughts and frustration regarding my sister’s choice to remain with Corné. A physical walk would give me time to piece myself back together and get myself under control.
Not bothering to reply to Graysen, I simply let my actions speak for themselves. Ignoring him, I walked on.
The trees formed a thick, intertwined mass, with creepers entangling their leafy branches like intricate lace. The only way out of the copse was a slender gap, blocked by a tree I’d snapped in half with my fury.
I climbed up on the broken tree trunk with bark studded with lichen and moss and cringed when a gauzy layer of my skirt caught on a twig and ripped.
Graysen was still following me. I could feel him close behind, that incessant thrumming in the air, the sparking awareness caressing my skin. Sucking in a breath, I whirled to him with a fierce look. Standing beside the tree trunk I was balanced on, he and I were almost the same height.
My commanding voice grew stronger, threaded with steel. “I’m telling you as a Wychthorn. Go. Away.”
He stared back with deep, fathomless eyes. “Wychthorn—”
Whatever he was going to say, I didn’t want to hear. Anger ignited. Fire weaved through my veins. My tone sounded cold and foreign, even to my own ears. “Consider your pretty little toy back in her box.”
With the swiftness of a heartbeat, some pained feeling ravaged his face. There and gone. Leaving me wondering if I’d seen it.
A moment later, a storm brewed in his midnight eyes.
He was on top of the fallen tree before I registered he’d moved.
His hand ensnared my throat, gripping too hard, and I winced, gasping.
“Gray!” Caidan roared.
Graysen pointed a finger at his brother in warning.
Brutal fingers angled my chin until my neck arched painfully. “Get your shit together, Wychthorn.” His words were delivered in an icy, cruel tone. “I don’t know what the hells is going on in that head of yours, but get your temper under control. Having a tantrum like a toddler—”
“A toddler?” I rasped. That fire within me flared hotter and a chilly wind stirred his hair.
His mouth tightened. “There you go again. I can feel you, do you know that?” He stabbed two fingers at his chest right above his heart. “Your fury. It burns inside of me, too.”
My eyes startled wide. What did that mean? But before I could ask, he growled, “You’re being reckless, irresponsible…stupid. The Houses are here. All of them. The Horned Gods are on their way.” He paused. “Understand?”
As much as it infuriated me, as much as it terrified me, I did.
“You let yourself fall into rage and strike out—you’ll reveal yourself. They will take you, and they will butcher every single Wychthorn that haunts the earth.”
He waited for my reply.
And I gave it to him .
Anger hissed through my blood. Power raked along my bones and danced upon my palms. With a punch of might, I shoved hard enough to yank myself free from Graysen’s grip.
He rocked back, caught off-balance, almost tumbling from the tree.
“Don’t you think I understand?!” The silver layers of my dress blustered with the unnatural wind coiling about my body. “Don’t you think I’ve lived with this my entire life? I understand. I fucking understand!”
He glared at me with flinty eyes.
I poked my chest with a forefinger. “It’s all I live with, every single day. Keep hidden—keep us safe! One misstep and my sisters will die. My mother. My father. Every single cousin and aunt and uncle—all our servants. Every single person connected to Great House Wychthorn will swing by the noose, or perhaps you Crowthers will behead us. Just because I was born different, just because I’m other . And I don’t even know what I am! ”
My anger faltered as those words I’d uttered spiraled through me.
“I don’t even know…” My voice broke with anguish, spoken more for me than him.
Graysen stared down the length of his nose at me, the shadows of the forest rippling around his formidable figure. “Then get your shit together, Wychthorn. We’re going back in there, and you’ll have to deal with seeing your sister with Corné, and you’ll have to sit your pretty little ass right next to mine the entire night!”
He lunged fast, grabbed hold of a fistful of my hair at the nape of my neck, and craned my head back. I bared my teeth at him, bracing my hands against his forearms to keep my balance.
Fury sparked in his dark eyes as he bowed his head, close enough that his breath kissed my lips. His voice was soft but deadly. “I get why you tripped me up. Set me on fire. And only Zrenyth knows what you were going to do to me outside that marquee—maybe choke the life out of me, incinerate me, bury me beneath the earth. But you’ve got to stop trying to blast me to Nine Hells. You’ve been lucky so far no one’s caught you out, but that luck will run out. So you keep your godsdamned temper under control. Do you understand?”
My nostrils flared.
“I need to hear you say it.” His fingers tightened their hold. My scalp stung with pain. “Do. You. Understand?!”
“Yes,” I hissed through clenched teeth.
His grip around my hair relaxed, and a moment later he let go, jumping down from the fallen tree. His shoes made a heavy thud as he struck moss.
Sawing my jaw, I massaged my scalp with a hand and gingerly rolled my neck and shoulders. Readjusting my skirt, I swiped away the dirt and tiny hooks of grass that had embedded themselves in my dress to give me something to do. A way to avoid his stony gaze.
I could do this. I had to, for my family’s sake. I’d keep myself on a tight leash and keep my temper under control.
Drawing in a deep cool breath, infused with the smell of mildew and stale woodland air, I brushed my palm down my torso, the same way I’d seen Evvie do to compose herself.
I meant nothing to him.
He meant nothing to me.
Liar —the creature hissed.
I refused the hand Graysen offered, glaring at it as if he were offering a handful of snakes instead of assistance, and clambered down from my perch on the tree trunk to stalk past him. Bending my waist, I slipped through the gap between trees, their branches hovering low. Cobwebs caught in my braided crown and I swiped the sticky threads free of my wind-blustered hair.
Behind me, I heard Caidan’s footfall making a rustling noise on the thick carpet of wild garlic as he followed, while Graysen walked by my side. He infuriated me by continually ignoring my desire to be left alone and pissed me off when he held spindly branches out of my way. I was quite capable of doing it myself. I practically lived in these woods.
My gaze slid sideways, and I finally noticed Graysen was wearing a slim-fitting black tuxedo that hugged his body in all the right places. “How many godsdamn tuxedos did you bring with you?” I asked spitefully.
“If you don’t mind.” He arched a brow, running a palm across the satin lapel of his jacket. “I’m rather partial to this one. It matches my—”
“Cold black heart particularly well?” I cut him off, stepping over a cluster of red-capped toadstools.
He shot me an offended look. “I was going to say my eyes.”
Behind him, Caidan snort-laughed. Graysen swung around, taking in Caidan’s appearance, and frowned. “Where the hells is your shirt?”
“Getting washed, dumbass,” he snapped back. “After I got blood all over it, no thanks to you.”
Graysen came to a sudden halt, grabbing hold of my arm to stop me too. My traitorous nerve endings burst into life at that innocent touch. His thick brows had risen almost to his hairline. “You were in the laundry with him, like that?”
Caidan’s laugh was bitterly soft. “Yeah, just like this, big brother.” Then I suppose he remembered Evvie and the bruises encircling her wrist because his eyes darkened with anger.
Graysen’s gaze sharpened on me.
“Go away.” I shook my arm free, cursing my body for the heat strumming in my blood. I felt as cruel as an asp and I wanted to strike hard—vicious. “Go back to Corné’s mistress. Go back to your brothers and have a good laugh at me.” My glance sliced to Caidan, who had his hands braced against a birch, his head hanging low. He breathed deep, ragged breaths. He looked torn, as if he wanted to reassure himself and find Evvie or tear down the entire woodland with his bare hands.
But I didn’t care. All that churned through my mind was that damned bet the brothers all had with each other. The fun they’d all had at my expense. My gaze whipped to Graysen. “What did he win, by the way? How much was I worth?”
Caidan pushed off the tree. “I’m out of here. I need to find Evvie.” He took a few more paces, came to an abrupt halt, then spun around to face me. His head angled to the side and the unruly locks of hair swept across his forehead. “Huh?”
In the corner of my eye, I noticed Graysen swallowing hard.
“What did you say?” Caidan asked, frowning.
I lifted my chin in challenge. “I know all about that bet you all had. Your brother found great delight in telling me all about it.”
“A bet?” he drawled, retreating a step. “What bet?” His gaze darted to Graysen, to me, and back again, and I could see his mind spinning fast. He slowly blinked. Once. Twice. And right then—
Understanding lit his eyes. His jaw slackened and he whirled to me. “Holy hellsgate, you two…”
I felt heat creeping up my chest, over my neck, threatening to stain my cheeks a guilty shade of red. But I kept my chin up, along with an imperious expression.
Caidan faced Graysen, furiously scanning his face.
Graysen’s hands were white-knuckled fists at his sides, and every single inch of him vibrated with tension.
“A bet…” The corner of Caidan’s mouth curled into a silent snarl as he stabbed a finger at his brother. “This is what you did, you fucker.”
“You know nothing,” he gritted out.
“Oh, I’m starting to get an idea exactly what happened.” Caidan stalked closer to Graysen. “And then what? You couldn’t handle it, pushed her away the only way you know how, by lashing out—so you told her about that goddamn stupid bet!” He kicked out at a gathering of debris, scattering leaves, broken branches, and stones. “ Fuck !”
I watched Caidan warily, wondering what was going on. It was a long moment before he released a pent-up breath. One hand landed on his hip. “Godsdammit, Gray.” He wiped a palm down his face, staring down at his feet. Slowly, his body relaxed, and he brought his gaze back to mine. His soft and apologetic eyes surprised me. “No wonder you’re pissed. The death-glares you shot us down with.” He shifted his weight, a foot crunching upon a blanket of leaves. “That bet was Jett being his usual dick-head-self, messing with Gray. We couldn’t help ourselves. Getting a rise out of Gray is the best thing ever. It was stupid and crass, and none of us took it seriously.”
I slowly blinked, taking an involuntary step forward. “He did. He took it seriously.” I wanted it to come out harsh, instead, it came out weak, wobbling from my mouth.
Caidan’s nostrils flared. “He never instigated that bet. He wasn’t even part of that bet. It was only between Jett, Kenton, and myself. We did it to wind him up.”
“Get out of here! This has nothing to do with you!” Graysen barked at his brother.
“No, you stay right where you are,” I ordered Caidan, before twisting to Graysen, my skirt flowing with the movement. “And you—you keep your godsdamned mouth shut. I want to hear this!”
Graysen flinched.
And I almost did too, when I realized he seemed ashen, the few freckles now stark against his skin. He stared at me, wide-eyed, and I’d never seen him look so unnerved. But when his eyes shot to his brother, rage ignited in their endless inky depth. He looked as if he wanted to shatter every single bone in Caidan’s body.
Caidan ignored him, focusing on me. “He was livid when Jett tossed the idea about. He lost the plot and almost knocked out Jett for even suggesting it.”
My head swam and for a long, drawn-out moment, I could only stare at him, astounded. His brothers had taunted Graysen with that bet, and he’d… he’d what?
I pointed a shaking finger at Graysen, still trying to make sense of it all. “You made out you’d been part of the bet— “
But Graysen was glaring at Caidan, full of fury. “I said, shut your godsdamned mouth!”
“What are you going to do brother, break my nose again ? ”
“I’ll do more than that!” Graysen threatened, lunging forward—
Power erupted, flooding through me with the quickness of wildfire. I stamped my foot—
The ground exploded with a powerful quake—
The undulating earth rocked Graysen, and he landed on his ass, flinging an arm across his face as dirt and moldy leaves sprayed in a wide dirty arc.
I advanced on him. He scrambled to his feet, shock washing over his features. I glared at him. Though I was five foot nothing, right at this moment, I seemed to tower over his tall, intimidating figure. Bitterness tainted my words. “You don’t want me. I mean nothing to you, just someone to toy with, right?” He hadn’t denied that he’d slept with the sleek brunette either. “My kisses were dull and insipid, so why not find release with someone else, why not fuck Corné’s mistress—”
“Laila?” I heard behind me. “You fucked Laila?”
And panic…utter raw panic swamped those dark eyes of Graysen’s.
I flinched at the abrupt sound of laughter. So much joyful laughter that it had me swinging around to discover Caidan, buckled forward, his broad hands resting on his thighs, laughing hard. A laugh that went on so long it unsettled me.
Was it really that funny?
“Hells, no,” he rasped in between chuckles, now beginning to die down. He straightened, his eyes crinkling as a grin swept over his mouth. “Laila,” he snickered, shaking his head at Graysen. “Gods, you’re a dumbass. You’ve never been very good at thinking on your feet.”
I remembered one important thing about Graysen. I turned back to face him. “You hate the Pellans.”
But Graysen fixed his attention on his brother. “Caidan.”
Caidan took no notice, taking several long strides to stand flush with me. “Of course, that idiot would have said something like that. Gray always takes things too far. Always has, always will.”
“Don’t do this,” Graysen warned Caidan.
Caidan sounded bone-weary when he replied quietly, “I’m doing it for you. It doesn’t have to be this way, brother.”
“Don’t…”
My heart stumbled—I didn’t think I’d ever heard Graysen sound so desperate.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Caidan rubbing his mouth with a flat palm. I felt the heaviness of his attention as he regarded me thoughtfully. And it was almost as if he was speaking to himself, rather than me, when he said, “Out of all the women in the world to taunt you with, he picks one he wouldn’t even touch with someone else’s dick.”
It was as if the world paused.
As if the woodland itself drew in a deep breath, leaning in, waiting to hear what Caidan was going to say.
“My brother would never, ever , go near anyone remotely connected to the Pellans.”
I wasn’t sure I was breathing.
He hadn’t slept with Laila?
He’d never considered sleeping with her?
I didn’t even know what I felt. So many emotions barreled into me. Confusion and outrage and elation and relief—overwhelming relief —that melded a small splinter of my broken heart back together again, a tentative promise it could be reforged.
But then my heart faltered, as I remembered—
He’d intentionally said those things to hurt me, to push me away!
“Why did you do it? Why say those things to me?”
Fury etched itself over Graysen’s face. He let out a bellow of rage, hurtling into his brother with a lowered shoulder. The force knocked Caidan flying backward—
He tumbled through the dim woods, rolling and flipping over, finding his feet.
I cried out in shock, stumbling back, slamming into the scratchy embrace of a hawthorn tree.
Graysen was on Caidan a moment later. His fist smashed into his brother’s jaw, a second punch to his nose, and went to strike again—
Caidan lunged, grabbed hold of Graysen, and head-butted him. The sound cracked through the small clearing. He stumbled, cursing, shaking his dazed head.
Caidan spat blood and phlegm and lowered his stance. Glee shone brightly in his eyes. He grinned, his teeth stained red. Darted forward—
Graysen met him—
They were gone in a blur of black momentum—
Fearful, I threw myself into short bursts of swifts , tracking their destruction. The bellows and curses roared.
They rumbled through the woodland. It was a clash of strength and speed, of rage and flesh, almost impossible to keep track of. Both ducked and weaved, landing blows and kicks, blocking strikes. But Graysen flowed like the wind. He was fast, much faster than his brother .
Caidan surged forward—
Graysen pivoted low, swooping around, and savagely punched Caidan right in the kidneys.
Caidan staggered, curling over, letting loose a string of gasping curses. He swore again as Graysen slammed a boot into his back, sending him sprawling into a blanket of creeping ivy. He rolled, swiftly flipping to his feet, barking a crazed laugh. Blood dripped from his chin, splattering all over his bruised chest. “That all you got, brother?!”
Graysen roared—
And then they locked in renewed fervor—
Trading blows, slamming into trees, smashing them in their wake. Leaves shook free, raining down like falling snow.
I stumbled after them, shouting, “Stop! Stop fighting!”
They came to a halt. Not because of me yelling at them to stop, but because Graysen had hold of his younger brother.
“Gray,” rasped Caidan. One of his brother’s hands was pincered around his throat, squeezing hard.
“Graysen, don’t!” I shrieked, terrified.
But neither of them were listening. Graysen was too far gone. Too lost to rage. “You just had to open your big mouth! You don’t know what you’re messing with!”
His fist drew back to smash Caidan—
Caidan’s entire body slackened, both of his hands fell limply to his sides, and he tipped his bloodied chin up as if saying— Go on, do it.
Graysen hesitated, and his drawn-back fist shook with leashed tension.
Caidan said quietly, “I know you, brother. I know what you’re facing. What you’re trying to protect yourself from.”
“Then you know why I can’t.” It wasn’t spoken with anger, it was laced with pain.
“Ferne may feel whatever it is between you and Nelle. But I see it.”
My brows shot up, and my breath caught in my throat.
My gaze sliced to Graysen. His open expression, raw and anguished, stunned me. It was him I watched, while I heard Caidan’s words spilling through the gloomy woods. “When you forget yourself, I’ve seen how you look at her when you think no one is watching. As if she’s everything.”