I expected Nik to be here, but seeing him with his arms spread out along the back of the lounge like this is a frickin’ picnic brings my anger undone in a way that only my brother can. With the heat of that fury flushing my blood, I hurdle the couch to stop him moving before he has time to lay his sleazy eyes on Mae. Bastard doesn’t even see me coming as I barely miss his head with my boot.
He jumps up out of his seat a second after my feet hit the table his are resting on, an expression on his face like I just materialized in front of him. The devil inside me loves that I surprised the ever-loving shit out of him.
I slam a foot into his gut before he has time to recover and he pitches back into the lounge, landing with an explosive ooofff. Our eyes lock and his narrow. He yells a warning, which confirms what we thought; she’s here. As I lash out to silence him, I see Mae in my peripheral vision dashing from the room. It’s damn hard not to follow her, but Manvyke can’t know she’s here. Nik scrambles to gain his footing, but I pin him with a boot to his chest and demand, “Where is it?”
He clenches his jaw and grabs hold of my ankle. Then somehow I’m flying through the air, my back smashing into the lounge. Nik peers down at me. “It’s not yours.”
He snatches a handful of coins off the coffee table.
“It’s not yours either.” And be damned if I’m letting our father keep that sort of power when he’s so insane. I arch my back and flip up off the lounge, landing squarely on my feet right in front of him.
“Where’s your girl?” A smile twists its way along the corner of Nik’s mouth. “At home with her boyfriend?”
Like hell I’m going to tell him anything. Instead, I swing my clarinium blade around aiming for his side. Nik pivots, turning a full three-sixty and spinning out of my aim. My swing lands on the couch, the tech metal slicing right through it without any force. A pulse throbs in his neck. I could take him right now, one slice of my blade right on that vein and father would be mourning the loss of his precious favorite. The thought pulses in time with my heart and I take aim.
Nik laughs. “Cuts to the bone, unrequited love, doesn’t it, little brother?”
Steady in my hand, my fingers tighten around the blade’s hilt.
The smirk he directs at me is so mocking, it snaps my attention. I’m better than this. I won’t kill someone out of hate, and not even Nik deserves to die just because he’s an ass. I draw in a long breath through my nose. Can’t afford to get angry or I’ll lose it. The problem is, he knows exactly how to bring out the worst in me; worst thoughts, worst behavior, worst fighting.
Gritting my molars so hard my jaw aches, I peer around the room, but can’t see the sword. Nik chuckles again, arrogant prat. “Quit looking. It’s not here and even if it were, you’d never find it.”
Mae’s scream shreds my concentration.
I sprint, my heart hammering against my ribs. That sounded like something went wrong and if it did . . . don’t think it. I bolt down the hall right to the end in only a few long strides. As I burst into the room my gaze darts over Manvkye, then Annie, and zeroes in on Mae. On the look of agony in the tension of her mouth. On the blood dripping from her fingertips.
She’s unarmed and my father towers over her, but she doesn’t seem to care. Her stare threatens more than her bare, bleeding hands can deliver.
The man is crazy; no knowing what he’ll do.
Before I’ve taken three steps, Nik growls a threat behind me and it takes every ounce of strength I have to spin around instead of running to Mae. He clasps the staff/sword in his hands like a baton, one fist around either end and he holds it out horizontally at chest height.
Shit.
I move toward my brother like I’m approaching an unpredictable animal, and the way he bares his teeth and jabs the staff forward then back makes him look exactly like a savage one.
That thing’s frickin’ dangerous. It could work in any way; I doubt he even knows how to use it properly. Hell, we don’t even know what its secondary power is. As much as launching myself at him in a violent attack appeals, accidentally turning myself to liquid or something even worse wouldn’t be the wisest move. Unease coils like venom inside my belly, and I take another step forward, eying it off for any possible triggers. The smile that twists Nik’s face is pure arrogance.
“Seems we have three things you want now, little brother.” He raises his brows and the challenge awakens my pulse. “Let’s see which one you value most.”
Bastard.
The sound that comes from Mae is twisted with pain, but I don’t turn around. She’s the most important in this room, but I’m not stupid enough to fall for Nik’s trick. If I go to her, he’ll use that thing against the both of us.
I rush him.
My hands snap around the sword that is a staff in the space between his to get control. Unprepared for my assault Nik loses ground; only a few steps. He pushes against the weapon trying to twist it down. I don’t let him. It’s a struggle, but I hold it steady. Nik’s lips pull back from his teeth and he shoves. Hard. This time I lose ground, my feet shuffling to hold purchase. Sometimes fighting him feels like fighting myself; I know exactly what he’s going to do, but I can’t block it. He’s too quick and strong. Getting this away from him isn’t easy, but the challenge fires my blood and, pulling strength from deep within, I shove, forcing Nik back. He pushes against the sword, against me, and I shove again, harder. Squinting against the light reflecting off the window behind him, I know if I can get him pinned, I’ve got this.
Mae screams again and her mother shouts. Something twangs in my chest. I have no clue what they said, it’s all noise and it’s damn hard not to let it distract me. But I know, instinctively, exactly where she is and that she’s in pain. I can almost feel it in the air.
“That’s it. Finish her off,” Nik growls, his eyes flicking over me.
What the hell? No way. I glance over my shoulder and Mae’s on the ground, kicking and thrashing under Manvyke’s hold, with blood streaked all over her and the white tiled floor. “Save Mom,” she yells.
Hell no, I’ll save her ass before her mother’s.
My back slams against the ground, leaving no air in my lungs. I wheeze, but nothing comes in. Pain radiates through my back and my head is spinning. I need to get up or they’ll kill her. I won’t let that happen. I need her like the earth needs the sun, but it’s not just about me. I drag a foot underneath myself and push, but my head spins so much the room blurs. Frickin’ Nik.
His fist slams into my jaw and knocks me back for six. A string of curses muddy my thoughts and this time I don’t care about the dizziness, I jump to my feet, head reeling and heart pounding for vengeance. But I’ve lost my blade. Panic should twist inside me, yet it doesn’t.
The staff jams against my chest and I’m pushed back, Nik’s face so close his nose almost touches mine. Then bam, my back smacks into a solid wall and every muscle in my body spasms in intense pain.
I collapse, tiny spasms wracking my body as the floor meets my face, my shoulder, my hip. The pain continues like it’s never going to stop and I can’t even see Mae; my vision is gone, swallowed by the color red. The breaths I drag in burn, but this pain can’t last. I need to help Mae before it’s too late. Something’s off inside of me though, my heart feels like it has taken up a brand new beat out of sync with the one it has always kept.
Inhaling so deep my lungs sear, I repeat the breath, then once again. Need to clear this damn head and stop my heart doing weird shit. But a boot drives into my gut and I can’t breathe. It hits me again. I can’t breathe. Then comes another kick.
If someone had yanked my lungs and my stomach out through my back it would hurt less. Not enough air in this room. I need goddamned air.
I crunch my screaming muscles, ready for a fourth blow that doesn’t come. A crash, and a thwack like the meaty thud of flesh hitting flesh comes instead. Blinking, my vision finally clears and thank Theras, Lilly’s beating the crap out of Nik. Will steps in and lands a solid punch on my brother’s jaw. Spit flies. Dragging in a painful breath, I haul myself to my feet. This is my problem, not Will’s. I won’t pull him into it. I snatch the sword off the floor where it just fell from Nik’s grip and stand right behind Will, my eyes level with his shoulders. “I got this,” I tell him, “help Mae.”
“I don’t think—”
“I said, I got this.”
And I do. Will steps back and Nik’s attention flicks to the staff/sword in my hand, the only warning before he snatches the end and yanks. I swing it around and Nik’s feet screech along the tiled floor as I push him back and don’t stop until he slams into the floor-to-ceiling window. Jamming the staff up under his chin, I effectively pin him to the glass. Nik’s chest heaves and I can feel the whoosh of my own breath. I could finish him right now, but I won’t be reduced to murder. My brother was a good person once.
His knuckles whiten with the strain of his hands gripping the sword. Our stares lock and for a brief moment he feels like my brother again. Sorrow, pain, protection reflects back into my gaze, but only for a moment, then it hardens into something worse than the nastiest sibling rivalry: challenging hatred. He reefs the staff away, but my grip holds.
The very end of it slams into the glass window.
Cold air rushes my cheeks and it’s like time slows.
The reflection vanished as if the glass just disappeared.
A look of sheer terror steals across Nik’s face, then his mouth opens wider than a black hole.
Someone reefs me back.
A scream of horror rips out of me.
Then my brother is gone.