Chapter 32 AUGUSTUS
AUGUSTUS
Acacius
Acacius stood in the tree line of the wooded acres surrounding his brother’s cottage. Icicles glistened from the rooftop and frost carpeted the lawn, glimmering under the midday sunlight, like a meadow of small diamonds. Woodsmoke drifted from the chimney, filling his nose.
Because of you. Iliana’s words rang in his ears, unforgiving.
He’d come here in spite of his sister, out of anger, to drag Cassius back to the Council and shove him at their feet. There, happy now?
But as his gaze swept over the bones of a garden off to the side of the cottage, over the dog prints in the snow that led up the stairs of their porch, to the flashes of silhouettes traveling in front of the window to their living room, Acacius couldn’t bring his feet to move.
Small frames of the passing years surfaced in his thoughts—Cassius staring off into the nothingness when he thought no one was looking, or the private moments when Acacius found him loosening his tie, hair mussed from his hand, downing a glass of whiskey.
Cassius never truly held a light in his eyes until Finnian appeared.
He’d willingly handed over his title to Mavros to live the life he desired.
Acacius had no intention of sucking Cassius back into the endless hell of their duty.
But perhaps, Acacius could apologize.
He rubbed the tip of his index finger to his thumb, assessing the invisible boundary line around the cottage.
Knowing Finnian, he has spells set up around the perimeter.
It would be a hassle to get through them, and setting them off would most definitely create commotion that would only cause his older brother a headache.
You are set to destroy it, like you do everything else.
Iliana’s harsh truth branded down his middle like he’d swallowed a piece of hot metal.
Appearing on Cassius’s doorstep would only disrupt the peace that he had created for himself.
Acacius let out a stale breath and looked up at the sky. The evergreen treetops swayed in the light breeze, rustling the snow from their weighted branches.
He couldn’t take the constricting knot in his gut any longer, allowing time to pass without fixing things between him and Cassius.
You are not too much. Marina’s words came back to him.
He peered out at the cottage again. He might not have believed Marina’s statement, but he could tell she believed it. That was enough to convince him to move forward.
Even if it was just to come face-to-face with his brother and apologize, he could immediately leave after—
“Acacius.”
He froze, his boots buried beneath winter’s soft blanket. The blood drained from his face at the sound of Marina’s resonant, beautiful voice breaking around his name.
“Come to me.”
White-hot frenzy burned through his system. She would never call for him, not unless something had gone wrong with Soren.
His heart pounded, blood swimming in his ears as his divine power wrapped its jaws around him, leaving behind Augustus without a second thought.