“To save others.”
“That may beyourgoal, but it’s not Orin’s. I haven’t talked to my brother in years, but I can assure you that he doesn’t put anyone else ahead of himself.”
“It’s good to know how highly you think of me, little brother,” Orin said.
“My opinion changed when you decided to become the enemy, and over the years, you’ve done nothing to change it.”
Cole swore a flicker of distress crossed Orin’s face before he hid it. “It’s okay, little brother. I’ve always known you were going to follow blindly behind Cole, no matter what. You’re a good little puppy that way.”
“And you’re a gigantic piece of shit.”
“Then why keep me alive?”
“Because you could prove useful against the Lord, and we need all the help we can get to bring him down,” Cole said. “And it’s what Father would have wanted us to do.”
“Father wasn’t always right,” Brokk muttered.
“Do you think you can get the harrow stone?” Cole asked Sahira.
“I’m not sure if the crone will give it to me, but it’s worth a shot,” she said.
“It might be the only one we have,” Brokk said.
“The Lord is a warlock; won’t he see that the harrow stone has created another Orin? We’ll also need to duplicate Varo,” Cole said.
“That’s the beauty of the harrow stone;noone can see through its magic. And I can do that, but he’ll have to be present for it to happen.”
Orin clapped his hands together. “Well then, it sounds like we have a plan. Let’s do this!”
“I hate him,” Brokk said.
Cole couldn’t help but agree. But then, Orin had always been an asshole. Cole enjoyed that assholishness a lot more when it amused instead of irritated him. And when he was sure his brother wasn’t screwing the woman he loved.
However, as he continued to watch their interaction, he began to doubt they were sleeping together. That didn’t eliminate the jealousy burrowing into his gut or completely appease the irritated lycan.
Orin clearly irritated Lexi, and he suspected she didn’t like him very much, but they’d shared something down here, and she’d still kept this from him. He paced over to stare down one of the tunnels as the lycan demanded his brother’s blood.
“No,” Lexi said. “The harrow stone isn’t an option if it’s going to be dangerous for her. I’m sorry, but it’s not.”
“Oh, come now, Kitten. What fun is life if it doesn’t have at least a little danger?” Orin asked.
“Stopcalling me that!” Lexi snapped.
Orin chuckled, but Cole’s words ended his laughter. “If you’d like to keep your tongue, I’d suggest not using your little nickname for her.”
“When did you stop being fun?” Orin asked.
“Around the time I watched a dragon eat our father.”
All Orin’s amusement vanished. His eyes darted away from Cole as a muscle in his jaw twitched.
“That never should have happened,” he muttered.
“But it did, and now we have to destroy the man who made it happen.”
“I will try to get the stone,” Sahira said. She held up her hand to silence Lexi before she could protest further. “Going to get the stone shouldn’t be dangerous. If I can convince the crone to give it to me, I’ll have to follow the rules afterward. As long as I do that, everything will be fine.”
“I don’t like it,” Lexi said.
