45. Brothers to the Bitter End #2
Subconsciously, she reached her hands out, her fingers dancing on invisible strings that she could almost feel.
There were two strings for Mamma and Pappa, a string for Larissa, for Darien, and Anara.
To her surprise, Halla even found a string for Masai.
And there, just at her fingertips, was a string for Kai that twanged uncomfortably under her touch.
Whether it was Aagen’s words that had revealed the strings or Halla’s own imagination, she knew she would never again be able to ignore them.
She felt the binding like it was an intrinsic part of who she was.
Just before she opened her eyes, Halla felt the presence of a last string, but she couldn’t identify whom it stretched toward. The end was hidden in a cloud of mist in her mind. She opened her eyes, frowning against the unknown, then licked her dry lips. Maybe she’d had enough sun for one day.
“I should go check on Kai.”
Aagen glanced at the watch on his wrist. “Let’s take these buckets inside. Darien was always a better baker than I was, but perhaps you could help me make a pie out of these. Maybe that’ll pull the boy out of his mood.”
Halla felt her steps lighten at the thought. “I can do that.”
Aagen glanced down at her. “Just don’t tell Darien I told you that. It’ll just go to his head.”
“Never,” she giggled. “It’s our secret.”
Aagen led Halla inside, plopping his bucket beside hers on the rickety kitchen table.
Removing his gun and setting it on the small table beside the front door, Aagen walked to the sink.
The sound of running water followed Halla as she roamed down the hallway, peeking her head into Darien’s bedroom and then Aagen’s, yet Kai was not in either of the rooms. The door on the back side of the house hung open.
Had Kai gone back to the orchards to find them?
Her eyebrows pinched in worry as she walked back into the kitchen.
Aagen dumped the apples into the sink, letting them bob in the water. He dried his hands and looked at his watch. “It’s time for another dose—what’s wrong?”
“I can’t find Kai.”
“I’m sure he’s around here somewhere.” Footsteps drew Aagen’s attention toward the front door. “There he is now.”
But the footsteps were too heavy and loud to be Kai’s.
“You said we could leave!” Kai’s frantic voice cut through the open windows.
Fear seized Halla just as Aagen dropped the cloth in his hands.
He lunged for the knife on the counter, shoving Halla behind him as the front door flung open.
Calder stood in the door frame, his bindings and blindfold gone.
Aagen raised his knife to throw it, but Calder spoke before he could. “Stop.”
One word was enough. Aagen’s hand froze in the air, the knife still in his grasp; the rest of his body had become uncomfortably stiff.
Halla peered around him. Calder leaned against the doorframe with a self-satisfied smirk on his lips.
Though he appeared more tired than usual, he bore no other signs of weakness.
The effects of the drug had clearly worn off.
Even so, his galdr wouldn’t have helped him escape his binds or open the barred cellar door.
Behind Calder, Kai stumbled to a stop, stark horror written across his face as he took in the scene. Halla wanted to scream at him to run, to find help, but Kai looked at Calder not as though he feared him , but rather feared what Calder might do.
“Leave them alone. You said we could go,” Kai said again, but this time his words clicked.
Calder’s smile grew at the sound of Halla’s soft gasp. “Figured it out, did you?”
“You let him out?” Disbelief coursed through Halla’s voice.
Kai couldn’t meet her gaze.
“But why—?”
“It’s not his fault, really.” Calder shrugged. “He cared about me long before he met you.”
Halla’s mouth formed a silent o . Kai had told her there was only one person in the world he had cared about.
“I couldn’t let him be handed off the Vienám. They would’ve killed him.” Even as he stared at the ground, Kai’s voice begged for Halla to understand.
Halla shook her head. “ He’s your brother? But how? That doesn’t make any sense!”
“He’s as much my brother as Larissa is your sister.” Kai looked up at Calder, this time grabbing onto his arm. “Please, let’s just go.”
Calder pushed off from the doorway, taking note of the gun that rested on the end table. He clicked his tongue at Aagen, who still stood frozen though his eyes showed awareness, held under control by Calder’s galdr . “It’s sloppy to leave guns laying around. Someone could get hurt.”
Halla’s skin prickled. She rushed in front of Aagen, though her small body couldn’t shield much, and threw her hands out. “Leave him alone.”
It was then she realized that Calder wasn’t able to control her movements; he could only control Aagen’s. Maybe some of the nectar was still in his system, weakening his abilities.
“Halla—” Kai moved toward her, but Calder’s hand gripped the boy’s inner elbow with enough strength that Kai winced.
“Like Kai said, we don’t plan on staying long.” He picked up the gun, letting it settle in his grasp. “Darien thinks he can get Aeron back; I need to convince him otherwise.”
Aagen’s body shifted behind Halla, moving ever so slightly as he fought against Calder’s galdr . His mouth forced out the words: “Run, Halla.”
The cost of his effort was clear on his face. There was acceptance in his eyes even as he urged her to run. But even if she could get her feet to move, where could she run that Calder could not catch her?
The shot rang out. Halla flinched, screaming as the bullet tore through Aagen’s chest. Hot splatters of blood landed on her face and arms. The knife in Aagen’s hands fell to the ground, quickly followed by his body.
Released from Calder’s persuasion, Aagen moaned.
Halla fell to her knees, her small hands trying to staunch the blood that poured from the hole in Aagen’s chest.
He gasped and spluttered. “Halla . . . run . . .”
Kai’s shouts echoed behind her, but Halla couldn’t make out his words.
Any minute now, Calder was certain to turn the gun on her.
He had shot Aagen to punish Darien; no doubt he’d kill her to punish Larissa.
Halla wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of looking at him.
She wouldn’t let Aagen face the end alone.
She wouldn’t leave him like she’d left her parents.
She gnawed at her cheek until she tasted her own blood. “I won’t leave you, Aagen.”
He grasped Halla’s hands, though it was difficult between his shaking and the blood for her to hold on. “Tell Darien . . . I love him . . . it’s not his fault.”
Halla nodded, choking back her tears. Even though she knew she wouldn’t have the chance to pass on his message, Halla promised, “I will.”
Aagen’s breathing hitched, then stopped. Halla flinched at the abrupt change, then Aagen’s hands slid from her grasp. Her tears fell without restraint, falling and mixing in with Aagen’s blood. She bowed her head over Aagen’s body, not wanting to see her own end coming.
“What have you done?” Kai shouted, his words coming at Halla as though he’d shouted from the end of a long tunnel.
“Oh don’t act so innocent, Kai,” Calder drawled. “You knew what I would have to do. You knew what you would have to do.”
“What? No!”
It was the hysterics in Kai’s voice that crystalized Halla’s attention.
Still on her knees, she glanced back at him.
Kai backed away from the gun that Calder held out to him until his back slammed against the doorframe.
“Halla isn’t our enemy. She’s never hurt anyone! You told me no one would get hurt!”
Calder’s face hardened; his grip on the gun tightened. “She matters so much to you that you would turn your back on me?”
“I’m not turning my back on you, but killing Halla won’t gain you anything.”
“Do you still think you have a chance at her forgiveness?” Calder’s voice lowered, the silky tone that Halla associated with his galdr seeping into his words. “You let me out. Aagen’s death is on your hands as well as mine. Look at her. She hates you already.”
“That’s not true,” Halla’s voice shook; she didn’t know whether she was speaking the truth. “You didn’t mean for this to happen, Kai. I know you.”
Calder’s smile was overtly mocking. “Do you? Didn’t you ever wonder how I found you at Godafoss Falls? How I knew you were going to Smaragd? Who do you think tipped me off in the first place?”
Halla’s blood-coated fingers twisted into fists. “Kai?”
Guilt and regret plagued Kai’s eyes, the answer evident enough in his silence.
“See? She hates you,” Calder crooned. “She doesn’t understand the tough choices you’ve had to make all your life just to survive, but I do.
Let’s be done with this.” He lifted the gun as an offering in one hand while he squeezed Kai’s shoulder with the other.
“Kill her and prove you’re still loyal to me. ”
Kai’s fingers quivered as he reached for the gun. A black ring flashed on his fingers, but Halla’s eyes couldn’t look away from the barrel of the weapon pointed in her direction. She shook her head, not minding the tears that fell. “Kai, please . . .”
Calder grasped Kai’s shoulder, nodding in approval. At Calder’s touch, Kai’s face hardened. Though there were no genetic similarities, Halla thought they’d never look more alike than they did in that moment. Kai breathed out. “I’m sorry, Halla.”
He squeezed the trigger.
Then there was only pain.