21. Malrec #2
I think about those dreams. Waking up aching with loneliness I couldn't explain. Seeing Lenna in the stables and feeling like something vital was missing. "And when you realized the binding was failing, you tried to convince me to send her away."
"Of course I did." He straightens, recovering some of his usual composure.
"I was trying to prevent exactly this situation.
If you'd removed her from the estate when I suggested it, maintained distance, the binding might have stabilized.
But you wouldn't do it. You kept finding excuses to keep her close. And then—" He stops abruptly.
"Then what?"
His jaw works for a moment before he continues.
"Then you started to fall for her again.
I'm not sure why, but it shattered the remaining bindings completely.
The sorcerer mentioned that extreme emotional events could destabilize the spell, but I didn't think...
I underestimated how deeply you felt about her. "
So I was right. My willingness to die for Lenna broke whatever chains Damiros had wrapped around our minds. The magic couldn't contain that kind of bond. "You should have let us be happy."
"I should have protected my brother from destroying his future over a human." He says it with absolute conviction. "And I'd do it again if I thought it would work."
The admission lands like a blow. He's not sorry. Won't apologize. Still believes he was right to tear us apart. "I should kill you for this."
Damiros tenses but doesn't flee. "You could try."
"I could succeed." I let him see the violence in my expression, the barely restrained urge to make him hurt the way he made us hurt.
"You used illegal magic to manipulate my mind.
That alone would justify execution by law.
And personally? Personally, I want to tear you apart for what you did to her.
For the confusion and fear you caused. For making her think she was losing her mind when those memories started surfacing. "
"But you won't." He says it with infuriating certainty. "Because I'm your brother. Because despite everything, you still care what happens to me."
He's right, which makes it worse. Underneath the rage and betrayal, there's still the memory of growing up together. Training together. Building our respective reputations within House Virex. He's wrong about everything that matters, but he's still my brother.
Was my brother.
"No. I won't kill you." I step back, putting deliberate distance between us. "But you're leaving Ikoth. Tonight. I don't care where you go—Glebe, Shozuh, Marinae, somewhere off this fucking planet entirely. Just go."
His eyes widen fractionally. "You're exiling me?"
"I'm giving you the mercy you didn't give us.
" My voice could freeze stone. "You get to keep your life.
But you don't get to keep your position here.
You don't get to stay in your comfortable home, maintaining your reputation and influence while pretending you didn't destroy something precious.
You're gone. As of right now, you are dead to me. "
"Malrec—"
"If you ever come back." I let him hear the promise in my words.
"If I ever see your face in my household or near Lenna again, I will kill you.
Slowly. And I won't feel guilty about it.
" I turn toward the door, done with this conversation, done with him.
"You have until sunrise. After that, if you're still in my territory, you're forfeit. "
I don't wait for his response. Don't look back to see if my words landed. Just walk out of his home and don't stop until I'm back in open air, breathing hard like I've been fighting instead of talking.
But maybe it was a fight. Maybe it's been a fight for months—my mind and heart battling against artificial constraints, trying to find their way back to what mattered.
And we won. Despite everything Damiros did, despite the illegal magic and manipulation and intentional cruelty disguised as protection—we found each other again.
I head directly to the estate, finding Varek in the upper corridors reviewing supply inventories. He looks up when I approach, automatically straightening. "Sir?"
"Damiros is leaving Ikoth tonight." I keep my voice level, professional, giving nothing away. "I want you to verify his departure personally. Watch him pack. Watch him leave. Make sure he understands that if he returns to this territory, he will not leave alive."
Varek's eyes widen slightly, but he doesn't question the order. Doesn't ask for explanation or clarification. Just nods sharply. "Understood. I'll handle it immediately."
"Good." I pause, then add, "And Varek? If anyone asks about this in the future, the official story is that Damiros chose to pursue opportunities elsewhere. Nothing more specific than that."
"Of course." He inclines his head respectfully before heading toward the exit.
I watch him go, then turn toward the rear corridors that lead to the pasture access. My feet carry me automatically now, drawn to where I know she'll be. Where she always is when she's not directly working with the stable beasts. The one place she feels most at peace.
The feeding pasture spreads out before me as I emerge into evening light.
The volcanic ridge casts long shadows across the dark grass, and the air carries that particular warmth that comes from residual heat in the stone.
Azhrael's massive form dominates the center of the space, and even from this distance I can see Lenna standing beside him.
She's talking to him—I can see her lips moving, though I can't hear the words from here.
One hand rests against the beast's side, completely comfortable with proximity that would terrify most demons.
Azhrael's luminous eyes track her movements with focused attention, occasionally lowering his head when she gestures, responding to cues I'm not sure she even realizes she's giving.
They're beautiful together. Dangerous and gentle all at once.
I start across the pasture, boots crunching against volcanic rock.
Lenna looks up at the sound, face brightening immediately when she sees me.
That expression—pure joy at my presence—still hits me with physical force every single time.
For so long I lived without it. I forgot what it felt like to be looked at like I mattered more than anything else in the world.
Never again.
"Hey." She moves away from Azhrael, meeting me halfway. "I didn't expect you back so soon. How did things go with—" She stops abruptly, reading something in my face. "What happened?"
"I confronted Damiros." I reach for her automatically, needing contact, needing the reassurance that she's real and here and mine. "He admitted everything. He hired a kal'galan sorcerer to bind our memories. He thinks he was protecting me from making a mistake."
Her expression shifts through several emotions rapidly—shock, anger, hurt, something harder that might be hatred. "He admitted it? Just like that?"
"Eventually. After I threatened to tear his home apart." I pull her closer, wrapping my arms around her properly. She fits against me perfectly, head tucked beneath my chin, body warm and solid against mine. "He's leaving Ikoth. Tonight. I told him if he ever comes back, I'll kill him."
She's quiet for a moment, hands fisted in my shirt. "Do you think he'll actually leave?"
"Varek is making sure of it personally." I press a kiss to the top of her head. "He's gone, Len. He can't hurt us anymore."
"Good." The word is fierce. "Because if I saw him right now, I'd—" She takes a shaky breath. "I'd probably do something violent. Which is alarming because I'm not usually a violent person, but he—he stole us. He stole so much of our lives and made us suffer and—"
"I know." I tighten my hold. "I know. But it's over now. We remember. We're together. And nothing is going to separate us again."
She pulls back slightly, looking up at me with those warm brown eyes that I forgot and remembered and will never forget again. "Promise?"
"Promise." I cup her face in both hands, letting her see the absolute certainty in my expression. "Lenna, I need to ask you something."
Her brows draw together slightly. "What?"
"Six months ago, we were planning to complete a mate bond. We were going to do it the day after—" I stop, pushing past the memory of waking up that morning with nothing but emptiness where she should have been. "Do you still want that? A mate bond with me?"
Her eyes widen, lips parting slightly in surprise. For half a second I worry that maybe she's changed her mind, that maybe recovering our memories isn't the same as wanting to continue what we started, that maybe—
Then she kisses me. Hard and desperate and full of everything we almost lost. When she finally pulls back, she's smiling through tears. "I want nothing more."