13. Oh, Brother #2
I grabbed her face in my hands, forcing her to look at me, and pulled her into a kiss. There was an annoyed sound behind us, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was her, and how sweet she tasted, and the way the bond opened between us, clear and warm.
No hiding. No guilt. No shame.
Just her and me.
She didn’t get it yet. Even with our bond, the thought of trusting someone was so foreign to her that she didn’t understand the feeling. Seeing her family, I understood why. I understood the walls she’d built.
So some things just needed to be said aloud.
“It is a lot of money. But don’t you get it, Lucia? I’d do whatever you asked. I’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy, to make you smile. I’m not going anywhere.”
As the words left my mouth, the wind picked up and swirled around us, carrying crimson and ochre leaves with it. Our bond thrummed, and I felt our heartbeats sync as magic tugged between us. Magic that felt like being wrapped in a warm blanket on a chilly October night.
I pulled her to me, wrapping my wings around her protectively, but just as quickly as it had started, it was over.
I spun to punch Deimos right in the face for using magic to try to intimidate us, but he looked just as confused as I was.
“Fascinating…” He waved a hand, and all the ravens in the trees around us started squawking. “Yes, make sure we have that noted.” He shook his head. “My time is very valuable, so if you wouldn’t mind—”
“How about a counteroffer? You get back into your nice car. You take your offer with you and shove it up your ass.”
The silence that followed was magnificent.
Deimos looked me up and down again, lingering on the holes in my boots and the grease under my nails.
“You’d walk away from that much money? For her?”
“It’s not about money.” I smiled wide and vibrated my wings. “Some things can’t be bought, and what I have with her is real. More real than anything I think you’ll ever understand.”
“I’ll double it.”
I popped my wings open with a snap that made him take a step back. “I suggest you leave before you find out what really happened to that bridge.”
The ugliness that lived beneath his handsome mask emerged. “Get your cryptid slut on a leash, sister. You can’t seriously be considering walking away—”
Lucia drew her hand back to punch him, but I got there first. My knuckles collided with his perfect jaw and laid him out flat, despite the fact that I definitely could have hit him harder.
He sputtered, clutching his reddening cheek. “You’re done! I’ll ruin you! I’ll sue you, I’ll—”
He cut himself off, but I knew the truth. “What? Curse me? Just like you did her?”
The air went still, the only sound the distant, angry yowl of Mugen, who had caught one of Deimos’ ravens.
Deimos’s voice dropped to a whisper. “She couldn’t have told you that. I made sure—”
“She didn’t have to. A good brother would do everything in his power to protect his siblings. You’re a fucking disgrace. I could smell the rot in your words from a mile away. You cursed her because you were weak and afraid, and it was the only way you could control her.”
“Deimos, what is he talking about?” Lucia’s mother stepped forward, frowning.
“Nothing, Mother. She has him enchanted. It’s the bond—it’s corrupted his mind, made him spew her lies.”
Was this guy looking for me to lift him by his ankles and drop him into a power line?
Because I was about to.
But before I could move, Lucia put her hand on my shoulder.
I glanced back, and she was radiant. The fire within her was more alluring than any light I had ever seen before, and I never wanted to escape.
She’d stopped hiding.
She stepped around me and crouched to meet her brother at eye level.
“Deimos, I know you’re going to hear what I’m about to say because the curse couldn’t possibly twist it to be worse.
You were my brother, and I loved you more than anyone else.
I admired you. I idolized you. I wanted to be just like you.
“When you cursed me, it hurt so badly I didn’t think I would live through it.
Not the curse itself, but knowing that you had never loved me the same way.
I was a fool. I should have known. Your curse was so effective because even after everything, I still trusted you. I still loved you. My big brother.”
She stood, tears in her eyes, fists clenched.
But she stood.
Every plant in her garden turned its leaves and petals toward Deimos, and the man went paler than a full moon. Her vines crawled forward and licked at his shiny griffon-leather shoes until he scrambled back.
“But if you ever say a word against Hawk again, if you ever threaten him again, I promise I will make sure they are the last words you ever say. And I will make sure it’s permanent. I’m not a coward like you.”
Deimos screamed as a belladonna vine wrapped around his throat and a flower blossomed in front of his face, dropping its petals and revealing the succulent, aubergine berries beneath.
“Leave. Now.”
“You bitch. You’re nothing! This company is mine, I’ll—”
A weathered hand landed on his shoulder.
“Deimos Apollo Atropa, I think it’s time to go home.”
His mother stood tall, and Lucia rose to meet her. The older woman reached out and wiped a tear from Lucia’s cheek, giving her a sad smile. No words were exchanged, but Lucia leaned into the touch, and a little of that binding darkness disappeared from her heart.
Then she turned on her shiny stilettos and waved a hand. Invisible hands dragged Deimos across the gravel and tossed him into the car. She followed, and in the next heartbeat, the lawyer rushed in after them. The door shut with a thunk, and they were gone.
Lucia let out a long exhale, and the plants returned to their natural order, but I knew I would never be the same again.
No one had ever defended me before.
That had been my job. My responsibility.
I loved my brothers more than anything, but the weight of that responsibility had been like trying to fly in lead boots.
With her, I could soar.
That very first night, I’d ruined everything.
Get to the light.
She had always been the flame I was running toward, and I’d show her a devotion like this world had never seen.
She was my sun, and I was Icarus.
I’d let her burn me if it meant I could be that much closer to her.
I was falling, but there was no fear because she was there with me.