“Follow in the footsteps of a murderous new movement only to put a target on my back for King Dagda?” Another deep, cold laugh from his fearless brother. “I think not. I enjoy my life, thank you. And a long life I shall live.”
Thaddeus tilted his chin up, pinning Cael with a steady stare down the slope of his nose. “You crossed a line, one that may not be reversable. She has seen your true self. Whether by me or another, you and youranam carahave a target?—”
“My anam cara?” Cael snorted, stepping back as he covered his mouth with his hand. The lines at the corners of his eyes strained, the shadows that had haunted his gaze a moment before shattering into a glitter of humor. He shook his head and lowered his hand, the corners of his mouth twitching against what Thaddeus suspected to be a laugh-induced smile. It raked his nerves, his brother acting like a foolish child. “Okay. I’m going to lay it out to you as clear as I can, since you obviously don’t get it. Rori? That adorable little redhead with a whip for a tongue?” Cael pointed to the front door. “She isyour anam cara. She isyourmate. I’ve been hanging with her and Cassy for over a year now and let me tell you something—she’d never once seen through my glamour until you popped up for a surprise reunion in all your murderous Fae glory tonight.”
Each word was a vicious punch to his mind, one after another until his vision pulsed in time with the throb in his cock and the flashing visions of the petite woman with those bright red curls and imperfect freckles…
Blinding white fled his fingers as he swung his arm forward in his momentary blackness. Cael was flung from his feet but twisted before he slammed into the counter, using a burst of magic to buffer his collision. Thaddeus stalked over to him, throwing weak shots, trying to bring his brother to his knees, to stop this foolishness. To remind Caelwhohe was,whathe was,whyhe was here.
A powerful Fae capable of anything.
Cael dodged each blow until, in a smooth offensive motion, he spun low and shot out at Thaddeus. The bolt of magic felt as if it tore through his abdomen, throwing him through the air until he landed hard on his back in the center of the room. Cael lunged, another attack forming on his palms. Thaddeus threw up a defensive shockwave that rocked the building.
Or so he’d thought.
Their magic collided halfway between them in a wide sphere that singed the ceiling and the carpet as it rotated in a white and blue swirl. The air thrummed, whipped around them, knocking pictures from the walls, rattling the furniture, and flickering lights until they snuffed out.
“Yield, Cael!” Thaddeus barked over the thrum of magic. One of the windows exploded outward, spraying glass in a furious burst.
“You first!”
Thaddeus’s lips peeled back from his teeth. He maneuvered to his knees, holding his magic, working against the strength behind Cael’s challenging assault until he rose to his feet. With one final pulse, he shot out a burst of power that split through Cael’s, knocking his brother back a few feet as he extinguished his own attack with a sharp shake of his arms.
Cael snarled, his silver eyes filled with resentment as theystared at each other, breathing heavily, nostrils flared. Thaddeus fisted his fingers in his palms, his nails biting into his skin as he contained the swelling storm burning inside him. He dared not entertain Cael’s revelation, regardless of the bloody evidence.
As Cael’s breathing slowed, he straightened up and pointed a finger straight at him. “You are undeserving of her. Undeserving of anyone, Thad, but most definitely undeserving of Rori. That woman is special in so many ways, and you don’t deserve what she can offer you. I’m beginning to think you don’t deserve a chance. You don’t deserve redemption.”
A sharp breath fled Cael’s lips as his arm dropped to his side. Thaddeus reinforced the emotionless expression over his face as his mind reeled from Cael’s pronouncement.
“I’m fucking wasting my breath on you, but I feel I must because you’re my brother. You’re my blood kin, and all I have left. But I’ll say this, Thad, and I hope you listen. Get. Over. Daeanna. She played you like a fucking fiddle. She played you, brother, and you’re so bloody blinded by what you think love is to realize it. Do you really think she was thinking of you when you fucked her? Do you really think she was thinking of you when she crooned and preened and stroked your ego like a bloody dog?” Cael hissed and shook his head. “Look at yourself. Hell-bent on this pureblood escapade in the name of a dead woman who bloodylovedahalf-breedFae!” Cael’s anger rose to flash in his eyes and turned his cheeks red as Thaddeus bit back the urge to knock his brother unconscious before he spewed his next insult. An insult he already knew formed on the tip of his tongue. “A half-breed Fae who had been your closest friend! Whose father and ours were loyal to each other for centuries! You could and wouldnevercompare to Shaye in her eyes, and yetyou kowtowed to her every whim like a bloody fucking love-sickfool!”
“Cael.” Thaddeus drew out his brother’s name in a low, rage-infused breath. “I warn you?—”
A strand of purple shot from Cael’s hand. A thin ribbon that speared to the dagger embedded in the wall, wrapped around the hilt and yanked it free. Thaddeus’s dagger flew toward him but stopped a few inches from his head and dangled in the air. Thaddeus cast his enraged brother a closed glance.
“Go ahead, Thad.” Cael jutted his chin toward the dagger. “If you think nothing more of me than a nuisance, a threat to the Seelie and the pureblooded race, a threat to your new puppet master, a waste of your time and our parents’ rearing, then go ahead.” He spread his arms wide, the purple string vanishing. The dagger dropped to the floor with a clunk. Thaddeus watched his brother, the tic at the corner of his mouth, the fury in his eyes, but the resolve in his choice more than clear. “Kill me.”
For the first time in decades, Thaddeus swallowed what he could only describe as shame. He’d known the feeling before, when he was a child. The faint tingle of that ancient sensation teased his skin and heated the back of his throat.
This was his chance. His opportunity to show his loyalty to Daeanna’s ultimate goal.
To show loyalty to Grison, not Daeanna.
He started to tear his gaze from Cael’s, but caught himself before submitting. He did not submit. Ever.
Slowly, he opened his fist. The dagger flew to his palm, the familiar weight warming his skin. Cael stiffened, but didn’t recoil.
“One thing, Thaddeus. Everyone knows Dae wanted Shaye more than anything in all these realms. He was herobsession, her unobtainable prize. Not you. Not any other man who warmed her bed.Shaye. Tonight, the Goddess deemed you worthy of youranam carain a wonderful mortal woman. I never knew you to be a hypocrite, but should you wish to carry out your orders to kill me, you do so in the name of a hypocritical princess. Bear that in mind.” His chest puffed out a little more as Thaddeus’s fingers tightened around the hilt of his favored weapon. “You can deny it to me all you want, brother, but I know the man you used to be. The man you still are…somewhere inside there. If you believe, even the slightest, that all I’ve said is true and all the evidence is present, Iknowyou’ll never harm Rori. Because if you do, Iwillkill you without regret, knowing my brother is long since gone.”
Thaddeus held his brother’s gaze, unwavering and unblinking. The dagger grew heavy in his hand as Cael’s stinging words whittled away at the thick barriers erected around his soul. A fortress strong enough to withstand anything began to crumble beneath his mortal-loving little brother’s words.
All because of that bloody redhead. Had she not come here, he could’ve completed his mission and proven his loyalty to Daeanna’s cause…
An unseen force squeezed at his throat before his thoughts completed.
Daeanna wanted a pureblooded Seelie. ’Twas her vision for the future. And yet, all Cael says is true.
This is Grison’s vision. His means to achieve his vision under the pretense of Daeanna. And he’s trying to play me for a fool.
