Rubbing his nose, Orin looked as stunned as he stared at Cole. When his hand fell away, it revealed the red and swollen tip of it.
What. The. Fuck? Brokk wondered, but he had no answer for what just transpired.
Cole looked unphased by the interaction as he hugged Lexi closer. Brokk didn’t know what to say, and Orin remained silent as he eyed Cole not with anger but with the same uncertainty as Brokk.
Varo’s gaze was riveted on Cole as he edged away from the bookcases. On his face was an expression of hope and dread that reminded Brokk of a dog in a pound.
Before anyone could say anything, Varo spoke. “Cole.”
Chapter Fifty-Four
Cole had been aboutto pull Lexi’s hood back when Varo spoke. Twisting his head, he spotted his younger brother standing near the doorway to the library.
Seeing his youngest brother again was like a punch to the gut. For a second, Cole’s hands hovered in the air near Lexi’s hood before falling back to his side.
Orin had said that Varo survived the war, but until now, a part of Cole had feared it was another one of Orin’s games. He hadn’t dared let himself hope Varo had survived.
They’d never been the closest. With him being the oldest and Varo the youngest, nearly two hundred years separated them, but Cole had looked out for him. Being half light fae was not easy for Varo in the dark fae realm.
There was one time, when Varo was fifteen, Cole came across a group of dark fae kids beating him up after school. Cole broke it apart, kicked more than a few of them in the ass, and scared the shit out of them. They all ran screaming for the hills.
As he dusted Varo off and wiped away the blood under his nose, he assured his brother it wouldn’t happen again.
“Of course it will,” Varo replied. “I’m a target in this realm. I always have been and always will be.”
“What do you meanhavebeen?” Cole asked.
When Varo didn’t respond, Cole pressed. “This isn’t the first time this has happened, is it?”
“No, and it won’t be the last. The light fae are the opposites of the dark fae, and no one in this realm likes them.”
“Father obviously liked at least one of them,” Cole had pointed out. “And there are others here who like them too.Iliked your mother.”
“It wasn’t enough to keep her here.”
“No,” Cole agreed. But then, he had no idea why the woman left, only that she was here one day and gone the next.
“And most of the dark fae don’t like the light fae. They consider them weak.”
Cole did too, but he didn’t say that. “Why didn’t you tell Father ormeabout this?”
Varo had shrugged as he dug the toe of his boot into the sandy ground. “This is my battle to fight.”
“Five on one aren’t battles you fight.”
Varo shrugged again. Cole grasped his bony shoulder and led him away. After that, he followed Varo to and from his school, staying in the shadows and ensuring his little brother was never a target again.
That instance had created a soft spot in Cole’s heart for his youngest brother. He never saw anyone try to beat Varo up again, but though he watched him during those times, there were many times when he wasn’t there. And Varo never would have told him if someone went after him again.
He’d always been too kind, too gentle, and too fucking good for the rest of them, but he’d also been prideful. Out of all his brothers, Varo was the last one Cole expected to survive the war.
Yet here he was. Thinner and with shadows under his haunted eyes, but still standing andalive.Cole hadn’t expected him to choose any side in the war, let alone go against their father, but he had.
He’d never understood it, but he didn’t harbor the same resentment toward Varo as he did toward his other brothers who chose the other side. Whatever Varo’s reasons, he knew none of them involved pride, glory, or anger.
Varo did what he did because he believed it wasright.Not to prove something or to make his mark on the world.
“Varo,” he whispered.
