“Things change.”
“You’re going to trust him?” the dark fae demanded.
Brokk thought he looked familiar, but he couldn’t quite place him.
“Not at all,” Orin said with a chuckle. “But I know something that will keep him a good boy for a while.”
When Del stepped toward Orin, Brokk stepped in front of him to keep him from killing his arrogant prick of a brother.
“What are you doing with your brother?” the other lycan demanded. “He was on the Lord’s side too.”
“Don’t worry, fellas. I have a plan,” Orin assured them as he clapped the lycan on the shoulder. “Things are looking up for our side.”
It was a testament to how loyal these men were to Orin when the lycan didn’t rip off his arm. Italmostmade Brokk respect his brother a little more, but the days of respecting Orin were gone.
“Where’s Varo?” Orin asked.
“The last I saw him, he was at the lookout,” the dark fae replied.
“Let’s go,” Orin said and jerked his head to the right.
Brokk scowled at him, and Orin grinned back as he started down the hall again. They took a left, and Orin’s men vanished.
“We have many guards from all over the realms,” Orin said with a wave back at his men.
“I know,” Del growled.
Orin had the nerve to chuckle.
“Remember Lexi,” Brokk cautioned Del.
“That’s the only reason he’s still alive,” Del said.
“Do you think you could take me, vamp? You were the one inmycell after all,” Orin taunted.
“I was knocked out and half dead when you took me,” Del retorted.
“Exactly. You were weak enough to get captured,” Orin said.
Right then, Brokk knew Orin was itching for a fight. He didn’t know why; maybe it was because Orin enjoyed the fight, or maybe it was guilt for what he’d done to Del and Lexi.
Orin was not one for guilt and wouldn’t know how to handle it. This could be his way of reacting to it.
The more Brokk considered it, the more likelythatwas the reason for Orin’s abrasiveness. His brother was always unlikeable, but this was a bit much, even for him.
Del seemed to realize this too as, instead of going for Orin, he relaxed and started to laugh. Orin shot a look over his shoulder, but Del wasn’t paying attention to him as he examined the prison walls.
When they got to the end of the hall, Orin opened another steel door to reveal a set of stairs stretching into the darkness above. The thick, gray walls enclosed around them, and their steps were silent on the rocky steps. The airflow became stifled as they climbed and climbed until sweat beaded Brokk’s brow, his lungs burned, and his legs ached.
He wiped away his sweat with the back of his forearm as he cursed this place and his brother. Then the scent of fresh air finally drifted to him. A cooling breeze carried it; he relished it as it dried the sweat coating him.
He had no idea how far they’d climbed until they stepped onto a balcony overlooking the rocky, barren, outer realm. They towered over the world below, and he imagined this was what it was like to look into the Grand Canyon.
He’d enjoyed the breeze in the hallway, but he loathed this howling wind whipping around him as it drowned out any other sounds, blew back his hair, and plastered his clothes to him. He glanced behind him at the open doorway, but it remained empty.
The balcony towered over the craggy, black rocks and deep, gray canyons of the outer realm. And at the far end of the balcony stood his brother Varo.
Chapter Forty-One
