“Youare my concern, Cael. Your doings in this world are my concern.”
Cael huffed an unamused laugh. “Don’t get me excitedthinking you actually care about your little brother after all these centuries.” Cael’s sarcastic sentiment nudged at a sleeping corner of his soul. The man rubbed a hand over his face, leveled his gaze on Thaddeus and stared for an uncomfortable moment. His brows furrowed. “Wait. You askedwhowhile trying to choke the ever-living breath from my lungs. Who did what?”
Thaddeus stared back, unyielding to the turmoil in his mind. He had lost control, control he had always possessed under any and all duress. He’d involuntarily showed a hand he had not wanted to show. A break in his willpower.
Cael raised a brow. “Now you don’t want to talk. I see.” The way those silver eyes tried to pick him apart, scrutinize him like a specimen of interest, kept Thaddeus on high alert. “How badly was she hurt when she got here, Thad?”
Thaddeus’s emotionless mask faltered for a split second, and bloody hell if Cael didn’t catch the falter.
“Rori never deserved what she’s suffered.” Cael sighed, a frown tugging his mouth. His gaze pierced through Thaddeus. “You healed her. For that alone, I can forgive your feral attack.”
It took more strength than he cared to hold his brother’s gaze. The strange flutter in his chest made the room fade briefly.
“I don’t care for such unnecessary imperfections. ’Twas foul, the wound on her lip.”
“You’ve always had a talent with your tongue and dancing around direct statements. I see you still have that talent, even now. Why would you care if you have no interest in her? Her lips would come nowhere near you, right?” Cael tapped his chin, his eyes taking on a mischievous glow. “Not like you’ve any plans tokissher.”
“Cael,” Thaddeus growled.
“I finished healing her lip, so you can keep your ego intact. She won’t realize you’re the one responsible for leaving her wound-free.” The light in his eyes dimmed. “Were there other injuries? Or just her lip?”
Thaddeus sucked in a slow, deep breath. The vision of the rings around her neck threatened to send him over the edge again. Without speaking, he drew a line with his finger across his neck.
Cael slammed his hands on the arms of the chair, bringing himself to the edge of the seat in a heartbeat. “He fucking cut her neck?!”
“Nay. Discoloration. ’Twas the markings of strangulation.” Thaddeus forced back the darkness that unfurled along the underside of his skin. “Tell me, Cael. Who is responsible for those injuries?” He projected the images of the pictures as he had to Rori a short time ago. “’Tis the same mortal who is responsible for these?”
Cael tilted his head. “You were in her apartment.”
“Investigating.”
“What were you searching for in Rori’s bedroom? Isn’t your concern me and my relationship with Cassy?”
“Who’s responsible for the wounds, Cael?”
After a few moments, Cael settled back in the chair, his expression melting from one of worry to one of danger. “You’ve no right to know anything about her because of your poor behavior, but since I wasn’t here when she arrived to hide the wounds and ended up at the mercy of your fury, I’ll give you this much. Her ex, Rich. So, if you’re bloodthirsty, spill his blood. He’s a true monster who deserves to become intimate with the edge of your blade.”
The corner of his mouth twitched as he fought to temper his rising fury. Anex, someone who had no right to the woman. “Don’t tease me with a good time, Cael.”
Cael lifted his chin and pinned him with an unblinking, dead-serious glower. “There’s no teasing to be had.”
“If you care so much for the human, why haven’t you delivered this ex to a bloody demise? Or do you fear finding yourself at the mercy of Dagda and his Court?”
“Protecting innocents from evil would never have me stand trial. My actions would be deemed justified,” Cael growled. “I’ve come close but wasn’t going to bring that complication into our backyard. I could simply destroy his mind with magic, take away his free will, but it wouldn’t quench the desire to see him suffer a hundred times over for what he’s done to Rori. She is not my mate. My actions may be misconstrued. You, on the other hand, are Goddess-given to her, and vice versa. You’d be protecting she whom the Goddess entrusted you with.”
Thaddeus’s lips curled upward. “I have no interest in protecting unworthy mortals. Nor do I have anyinterestin...the…” Thaddeus cleared his throat, the words he wished to speak refusing to form.Goddess, nay.“Should you wish to do away with the nuisance, ’tis all for you. I care not for sullying my blade on something so inferior as a bottom-feeder.”
“Mm. Have you ever gone off your rocker like you did for Rori because of Daeanna?”
Thaddeus cocked his head, his brows furrowing. “’Off my rocker?’ ’Tis mortal slang?”
“It’s a saying for when you completely lose your shit over something and act out, yes.” Cael waved his hand toward the floor where he’d been pinned. “Kinda like what happened when I returned. You were lookingthroughme, Thad. Notatme. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you consumed by such rage.”
Thaddeus pressed his lips together, held his brother’s gaze for a second longer, then broke it off with a sharp exhale.Magic fluttered from his fingertips before extinguishing. His body, coiled with tension beneath the darkness, began to relax, leaving him feeling weak and tired. A faint ache pulsed in his chest. He pressed a fist to the dull pain, residual effects from those cursed arrows. His heart performed an awkward beat as he squeezed his eyes shut.
What the bloody hell…?
“Let me see, brother.”
