Chapter 16 Sai #3
“I never thought this would be possible, Sai. After everything I’ve done, everything we’ve done, who would have thought we’d be given a bond? Nevermind one like her?”
“Hey now, don’t go all ‘woe is me’ Kane speciality.”
From the corner of my eye, I see Zeek’s lip twitch. Then he sighs. “Part of me thinks the Goddesses are playing a trick on us. That any second, she’ll be ripped away.”
“Well, it’s a good job I don’t believe in that shit,” I toss out.
Zeek huffs a laugh, but he’s sinking. I see it.
He hasn’t been himself these past few weeks. Sharper, meaner, snapping at shit he’d usually let slide. He puts on the good little Lord act for our girl, but the rest of us? We see right through it.
“Mate, you’ve got to remember, we’ve spent more time with her than you. Those first few days at the club, after we met her?” I let out a sharp whistle. “Hell.”
He finally glances away from the screen, and I nod to drive that point home.
“You know Julien made us chain him in the Pit for days, yeah? Kane and me took turns with him, and you were here. So sometimes… it was just me, alone, and… fuck, I was a wreck, man.”
I told Kane I’d be fine, that I was fine, but I lied.
I hate being alone.
I shake my head, hating how pathetic it all sounds, knowing what I’m going to say next is worse… “I nearly went to the Fae Realm, just to—”
“What?” His gaze blinds me, literally, making me wince. “Without us? Are you joking? Sai, what the fuck, man?”
I stare at the screen again, watching Red as she tucks her hair behind her ears.
“I didn’t. Nearly did, but I stayed.” My teeth drag over my bottom lip. “She actually called to me that night, just as I was about to go. She’s the reason I didn’t.”
I roll my neck, then force out the rest. “So yeah, I get the restless thing. And I know I shouldn’t have fucking touched her, man.
Believe me, I know.” I shake my head, hair falling over my face and covering an eye.
“But fuck, I’ve just never felt anything like her.
Never wanted someone so bad. And she feels so… ”
How the hell do I put it into words?
I’m not an eloquent man, I don’t spout poetry like Julien. I like my words sharp, flippant, better suited for insults than confessions. But Zeek’s staring, waiting for me to finish.
I drag my gaze to him. “She makes me feel calm and still... safe.” Fuck. That last one… like a jagged ball of razors to spit that out.
Zeek studies me, then his expression hardens. “Don’t ever go back there without us.” His eyes darken, black eating into silver. “Don’t even think about it.” I look away. “I mean it, Sai. If the others knew, if Julien knew. Fuck, he’d be so—”
“I know,” I murmur. “I know.”
“That realm is a fucking abomination, and you know it,” he snarls, pinning me with his darkened stare.
Most idiots dream about the Fae Realm. I’m sure they’ve been spoon-fed the same shiny tale their whole lives—how the courageous and noble faes fought so valiantly to save the fractured Light Realm during the Dark War.
How they bravely preserved artifacts of the light by taking refuge on its outer edge, the hardest parts to reach, while the rest of the realm fell into ruin.
What a load of shit.
Faes are conceited, lying, manipulative fucks who’d sell you poison and swear it’s water just to watch you choke. I grew up hearing their fairytale, but never lived it.
Never once saw the ‘light’ they supposedly carried.
After they stitched together their own realm from fragments of stolen light, no one questioned why dark faes started showing up.
Anyone with half a brain could’ve figured it out.
That place isn’t light. It’s patched together shit, forged from broken pieces, cracked through with shadows.
Unbalanced and incompatible.
For a realm that always claimed to be closest to the light, it was the darkest I’d ever known.
“Sai, remember what we said.” Zeek’s rage is gone now. I lost myself for a bit, always did when I thought about that fucking place. “Remember what we vowed.”
Ah, fuck. Not this. He’s making my chest ache, and I fucking hate when it does that.
“When we go back to that forsaken realm, we go together. And together, we’ll turn it to ash.” He waits, holds the silence, lets those words sink into me. “You were the only good thing that fake realm ever made.”
The words tear right through me, all the way down to the piece of me still caged in that place. I’m not built for heart-to-heart crap. But fuck, that’s why I love these bastards.
I shove at his shoulder. “Hey, don’t go all soft on me, man. We’ve been fighting for weeks.” I try for a smirk, but it sticks halfway, Zeek’s words still digging under my skin.
He grimaces. “Yeah, I know. Sorry.”
He pauses for a second, gaze locking on mine like he really wants to hammer his next words in. “You’re my brother, Sai. My family. Don’t ever doubt that.”
Big fucking softy.
I smirk. “Yeah, yeah. I get it, big bro. You love me. Tragic, really.”
He huffs a laugh, I match it, then he turns back to his monitors. “I’ve just been on edge lately. Restless, like I said.”
“I hear you.” I give his shoulder another quick pat, then glance at the screen he can’t look away from. “But you’ve got us, and we’ve got you.”
But it seems the universe really is testing us today, because a sudden spike of dread rushes through the bond, knotting in my gut. I stand, staring at the shadows as my darkness pulses with an urgency I can’t place—until Kane’s voice snaps into our heads.
“Pit. Now.”
The room shutters into grey, but when Zeek starts to rise, I shove him back down.
“No, you stay. We’re not leaving her again.” My eyes flick over the screens, locking onto her one last time. “And if big man comes for her, you don’t hold back. Got it? You get him down and you keep him down. Big bastard wouldn’t want it any other way. Understood?”
With those reassuring words, and one half-nod from Zeek, I flit—straight into chaos.
Kane’s shadows keep Julien slammed to the ground, the big bastard barely contained as Kane drags a chain over his neck to secure him.
“Hey, big guy!” I shout over his snarls and the clash of chains.
Julien’s eyes are nothing but black, top to bottom, and lucky me, they’re glued right on my face.
Oh, fuck.
I crack my neck, roll my sleeves up, feel the hum of my power as it crackles around me in vibrant vines.
This is going to be one hell of a night.