Chapter 45
brYLEE
The heavy oak door to my brother's chamber creaks beneath my hand as I push it open.
My knuckles are white, my pulse hammering against my ribs. I'd left my mates in the hallway, their concerned faces blurred through my rage-filled vision. Their soft calls of my name had faded as I'd stormed down the castle corridor, each footfall a thunderous beat in the symphony of my fury.
This confrontation is mine alone.
The room smells of sickness—sour and thick, clinging to the heavy velvet curtains—mingling with the sweet scent of lavender from candles Caran sometimes burns.
He claims that their aroma has “healing properties”—at least according to the New Age website he bought them off of.
It's a dissonant perfume of decay and denial.
My eyes adjust to the dim light filtering through the heavy fabric, and it’s only then that I see him, curled up on his four-poster bed.
Teddie.
He looks worse than the last time I saw him, so much worse it's a physical blow.
His skin is pale as parchment against the dark sheets, so translucent I can see the faint blue veins mapping a fragile network beneath.
His golden hair, once as vibrant as a crown of sunlight, is now limp and dull against the pillow.
My chest tightens painfully, a vise squeezing the air from my lungs.
This is my brother, the crown prince, the boy who once built a treehouse in the castle gardens and then tried to see if he could flip to the ground without hurting himself, reduced to a fragile shell by the disease coursing through his veins.
Each shallow breath he takes is a victory, a tiny flicker of life in the encroaching darkness.
Caran sits at Teddie's bedside, his hand resting possessively on my brother's arm. The omega's gentle expression transforms to shock as he registers my presence, his blue eyes widening.
“Brylee,” he whispers. “Thank fuck. I tried to call you, but…” He swallows erratically and flicks his gaze back toward Teddie. “I couldn’t get a hold of you. Teddie is… Fuck, he’s getting worse. But I’m so goddamn happy to see you. We’ve been worried.”
My fury returns, hot and sharp, at his words.
Worried.
How worried was he when the Noths kidnapped and tortured me?
Did he know where I was the entire time they had me?
I pull the crumpled note from my pocket, the paper still bearing the faint scent of Sam's cologne—something clean and woodsy, now forever tainted in my memory. I throw it at Caran and watch as it flutters onto the bedspread between them.
“What is this?” My voice trembles with rage, each word a shard of ice.
Teddie's brow furrows in confusion, his eyes struggling to focus on the paper. “Brylee? What's wrong? You look…”
A fit of coughing steals his words.
Maybe I should have this confrontation away from Teddie, but I know my brother will never forgive me if I leave him in the dark. This involves him, even though I wish it didn’t.
But if Caran truly is a spy for the Noths…
Caran's face drains of color, turning ashen, as he quickly skims the content of the note. He knows exactly what I discovered, what I pieced together. I see it in the sudden rigidity of his spine, the way his fingers clench in the blanket, the glossy sheen that materializes in his eyes.
Fuck, I thought of Caran as my brother.
How could he have done this to me? To Teddie?
“Sam,” I say, the name tasting like poison on my tongue. “The beta who betrayed me. Who led those Noth alphas right to me. He's your brother, isn't he?”
Caran doesn't even deny it. He seems to shrink in on himself with every word I speak, his shoulders curling inward as if trying to disappear into his own skin. A shiver reverberates through him, and he blinks rapidly, tears dangling from his lashes.
Pain—an acute type of agony, the likes of which I’ve never felt before—claws at me, sinking its talons in deep. It leaves behind long, jagged scratches that feel as if they’ll never heal.
Sam… Sam was my friend, and his betrayal stung.
But Caran? He’s family. How am I supposed to get past this?
Is it because of me? Is there something inherently wrong with me that would cause the people in my life to want me dead?
First the triplets, then Sam, and now Caran. My mother, too, if you want to count her betrayal.
Am I the problem?
Wretched self-loathing unfurls in my stomach like black roots slithering out and curling around my bones, threatening to crack them open.
No! You can’t think like that. This is not your fault.
“What's going on?” Teddie asks again, his voice weak but filled with growing alarm.
He pushes himself up slightly. His gaze darts between me and Caran, a furrow manifesting between his brows. He shakily wipes at a bead of sweat with the back of his hand before it can drip down his face.
“Sam is Caran's brother,” I repeat, my gaze fixed on the omega, who has begun to cry, silent tears that crystallize on his cheeks. “The same Sam who handed me over to our enemies.”
Teddie turns to Caran, his face a mask of disbelief and dawning horror. “Is it true? It can’t be true. This is just a joke, right? If it is…it’s not fucking funny. Please tell me it’s not true. Fuck, Caran. Is. It. True?”
Caran's voice is barely a whisper. “Yes.”
The single word hangs in the air, heavy as a death sentence, sucking all the oxygen from the room.
And I see the exact moment my brother’s heart breaks. Shatters. The sight will forever be indelibly tattooed on my soul. He simply…crumbles. Anguish splays across his haggard face as his shoulders slump, curling in on themselves.
“Sam befriended some Noth alphas when he was in high school,” Caran rushes to explain, his words tumbling out in a desperate cascade.
“I don’t know how they met, but my brother…
Well…he was always a huge people-pleaser.
I suppose that’s the one drawback of being a beta.
These Noths had connections, access to medicine—medicine that could help you, Teddie.
The doctors here… They were doing nothing. You were getting worse every day.”
His voice cracks on the last words. “Sam told his friends, and they agreed to provide him the medication. All they wanted in exchange was information on your parents. Nothing damning, I swear. Just schedules, routines, security details…”
As he speaks, his face shatters, the handsome lines dissolving into a portrait of despair.
“But then they demanded more. Sam said they were getting desperate. He never told me… He never told me they would…” His voice breaks completely, and he finally peels his eyes off of my twin to stare at me directly. “He never told me he planned to trade you for the medicine.”
“You knew?” Teddie's voice is a choked sob, a sound of pure betrayal. “You knew Sam was a spy for the Noths, and you still allowed him to go through with it? You fucking allowed him to take my sister—”
“No!” Caran cries, tears streaming down his face.
“I never would have agreed to that. Never! I fought with Sam when I found out what he'd done, but he said he was doing it for me, for our family. Maybe it’s because I’m an omega, and he has an innate need to look after me…
I don’t fucking know. But I swear to you, I had no idea what he’d planned to do with Brylee.
I never would’ve… I would’ve stopped him…
I would’ve… I haven't seen him since that day.
He wouldn't even look at me when I confronted him.”
I watch him, my anger warring with something else—something uncomfortably like understanding.
I remember the desperation in my own heart when Teddie first fell ill, my willingness to do anything, sacrifice anything, to save him.
The memory of watching him fade, his laughter turning to weak coughs, his strength ebbing away…
What would I have done if the situations were reversed? If I had the resources to procure a cure?
What if it were one of my mates? I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that Teddie would go to hell and back if I asked him to, and vice versa. I suppose it’s not any different from Sam and Caran.
“Sam's dead,” I croak. My heart hammers somewhere in the vicinity of my throat. “He killed himself a few days earlier. I’m…I’m sorry.”
A sob escapes Caran's lips, raw and broken. He looks as if I've physically struck him, his body trembling with the force of his grief.
“No…” he whispers, shaking his head. Then again, louder, as if he can will the word into reality, “No!”
The acid in my stomach sluices around. Despite everything, I want to go to him, comfort him. I still love him, and seeing him like this destroys me.
And maybe he’s telling the truth.
Maybe he never knew the lengths Sam was willing to go.
He seemed sincere when he claimed that he didn’t know Sam had planned to hand me over. Was that just an act?
Right now, all I see is a broken man, a shell of someone I love, and it stabs at my brain like a flaming blade.
“I promise you, I never meant for this to happen.” Caran barely opens his mouth to speak those words.
His pain pries apart a piece of my soul, and I find myself taking an instinctive step forward before stopping myself.
I’m so, so angry.
And I’m so, so hurt.
I honestly don’t know how to feel.
“You need to go,” Teddie whispers, his gaze fixed on the blanket pooling around his waist.
He’s not wearing a shirt, so I can see how thin he has become, how prominent his ribs look beneath his papery skin.
Caran sucks in a startled breath. “Teddie, please—”
“Get out!” Teddie screams, his voice cracking with fury and pain. Anger hammers off of him in a palpable wave. “Leave me alone!”
Caran turns to first me and then Teddie, his face a mess of tears and desperation. “Please…forgive me. I never meant…”
“You should be in prison!” Teddie shrieks, his weak body shaking with the force of his anger. Incandescent. Blinding. Consuming. “You're as guilty as he was! You let them do that to Brylee! For what? For a few vials of medicine that barely worked!”
My anger has cooled slightly, replaced by a heavy weariness that settles into my bones.
And pain.
Mostly pain.
“Go to my room, Caran,” I say, my voice soft but firm. “We'll talk more later.”
I’m not sure if I forgive him—not yet—but I also know he’s Teddie’s entire world.
Currently, my twin is glaring at Caran as if he wants to cut his head off his neck.
But later…
Later, once we’ve all had a chance to calm down, Teddie will want to speak to Caran. Work through everything.
And maybe, just maybe, forgive him.
Caran hesitates for a moment, looking from Teddie's furious face to my unreadable expression, then nods slowly. As he leaves, the door closes with a soft click that echoes like a gunshot in the tense silence.
And then Teddie begins to cough.
At first it's just a dry rasp, but quickly it deepens into something wet and painful. His body convulses, and I rush to his side as blood trickles from the corner of his mouth, a bright, terrifying crimson against his pale skin.
“I have a cure,” I whisper, my voice urgent as I pull the small vial from my pocket. “I met with the Noth princes. And… Don’t look at me like that. It’s a long story. They gave me this.”
I quickly recap my meeting, carefully omitting the disturbing details about the virus our mother released. I don’t want to burden him with that knowledge until he’s better.
Please get better.
Please. Please. Please.
I help him sit up and support his frail body as he swallows the medication. His eyes meet mine, a flicker of hope in their depths that nearly breaks my heart.
I watch him, waiting for any sign of improvement, any indication that the medicine is working. But there's nothing. His breathing remains shallow, his skin still pale as death.
Fear coils in my stomach. What if the princes lied? What if this is just another cruel trick?
Fuck, what if this “cure” actually kills Teddie?
I can’t think like that. I’ll go insane if I allow “what-ifs” to run rampant through my head.
It will take time, I tell myself, but the words feel hollow, like echoes in an empty cavern.
Teddie continues to cough, his body trembling with weakness. I help him lie back against the pillows, and I can’t help but notice how little he weighs. Less than even Harper, I imagine.
I press a kiss to his forehead. His skin is cool and clammy beneath my lips.
“I don't know what to do about Caran,” he whispers, tears welling in his eyes. “I'm so sorry, Brylee. So sorry for what he did to you. It’s my fault. Sam did it for Caran, and Caran did it for me. If I weren’t sick—”
“It's not your fault,” I assure him vehemently, my voice thick with emotion. “I don’t even know if it’s Caran’s fault. He’s desperate to save you, and…I understand. I’m desperate to save you too. I made a deal with the Noth princes, for fuck’s sake. Is that really different from what Caran did?”
“I can’t believe you’re defending him.” Teddie’s voice is weak and shaky but still thrums with an undercurrent of rage.
“I’m not,” I tell him honestly. “I don’t know if I can ever forgive him or Sam. But I do understand what it’s like to be desperate. I would do anything to save you, Teddie. Anything. How can I fault him for doing the same? How can I hate him for loving you as much as he does?”
Teddie doesn’t reply to that, and silence saturates the air between us. It’s not the uncomfortable kind but one rife with shared pain and grim understanding.
We hold each other for a moment. I allow myself to take comfort in the pounding of his heart and the shallow spurts of air escaping his lips.
He’s here.
He’s alive.
He’ll be okay.
Please let him be okay.
Then I gently untangle myself from his embrace.
There’s one more thing I need to do while I’m here, one more person I need to confront. And this one…
This one might actually destroy me.
“I'll be back,” I promise. “But I have to talk to Mother.”
“Why?” Teddie’s voice is thick with sleep.
He’s already fading, his lashes fluttering against his cheeks, his breath rattling…
“To make things right,” I whisper, but I’m not sure if he hears me.
He seems to have already drifted to sleep.
Was it wrong of me to put my faith in the princes?
Maybe I should’ve waited until the doctor studied the so-called cure.
Maybe I should’ve done my due diligence.
Maybe I should’ve—
But no.
I made my choice, and now I have to live with it.
The princes weren’t lying. You know that. You could see the sincerity in their eyes when they spoke of the virus. They want peace just as badly as you do.
I wipe away my tears with the back of my hand, straighten my spine, and prepare myself for war.
The time for grieving is over—now we fight.
I just never thought the battle would be against my own mother.