“No. That’s not possible—” Before Sie could finish, Dovelyn removed a small dagger that was strapped to her thigh. I could do nothing but watch as she dragged the blade over her skin, then let her blood drip onto the stone.
The word sister changed from blood-red to black until it was engraved along withloverandbrotherforever etched into the stone.
A faint click sounded, and the tomb lifted off the ground.
EIGHTEEN
SIE
I staredin disbelief as the tomb opened. No one said anything. But I couldn’t unsee it now. The resemblance between Tezya and me. We were about the same height, almost the same build. We shared the same straight nose. The same jawline. We both had my father’s—our father’s—thick brows. I wanted to vomit. The only difference between us was his Luxian coloring. His hair was bone-white while mine was jet black. And his eyes were a mix of crystal blue and silver, the disgusting color the same as his half siblings of Lux. While mine were so dark most days I couldn’t find my pupils in the mix of my irises.
We were brothers.
He was my fucking brother. The ocean was roaring angrily at my back, warning us we were running out of time, but I couldn’t get myself to move. Moments before, I would have done anything to speed up time, to uncover this stupid prophecy so I could get off this damn boulder-filled beach.
I still couldn’t believe Scotlind tackled me. My head throbbed, but not from hitting the stone and cracking it open. It was screaming at me that she chose him. She picked him. And now thathimwas my damn brother.
Kallon was the first to break the silence. “Let’s talk about this back at the camp,” she said, gently gripping her hand over Tezya’s elbow. He was staring at me in disbelief, and I at him, but neither of us moved. The wind was plastering my long hair over my eyes, but I couldn’t get myself to run my fingers through it. “The portal’s ready, we need to get whatever this prophecy is and go.”
Neither of us moved. We were frozen in time, caught in a staring contest where no one would win, but I saw Dovelyn nodding in the distance. She took a step toward her mother’s grave until she was standing in front of it. The tomb had lifted off the ground for a split second when all three words were etched into it, before it slammed right back into its original spot. I didn’t see anything useful other than the theatrics of it all. There was nothing that would give us a clue to the prophecy.
Dovelyn placed both her hands on the stone, a part of her touching all three words, before she screamed.
It released Tezya from his stupor as he rushed toward his sister. He tried to pry her hands off the stone, but she didn’t budge.
“Help me,” he shouted over her ear-piercing shrieks. Savannah, Kallon, and Scotlind all ran toward them, grabbing the princess and pulling at her desperately. I still didn’t move, I couldn’t. I barely knew what to think, so I just stood there watching the girl as she wailed in agony. Dovelyn’s eyes were wholly blue. There was no pupil, no iris, no whites to any of it. The milky color consumed her sight as her head tipped back and convulsing overtook her body.
Then, as quickly as it started, it stopped. Dovelyn blinked the silver back into her eyes and stepped away from the grave. Tezya steadied her as she collapsed into him. Tears were pouring down her face.
“I saw everything,” she said weakly to her brother. “My visions… the ones she took away, they all came back.”
Then she fainted.
Peter was sittingwith me in our shared tent. A week had passed since we returned and the Luxian Princess still hadn’t opened up about what she saw. She’d been unconscious for two days and then refused to talk after that. ‘Refused’ was generous, she’d beenunableto talk, at least, in a civilized manner. She turned full psycho, reciting lines here and there that made no sense, and couldn’t manage to stay conscious for more than a few hours at a time. Her eyes would shift from silver to milky blue during her manic rants and it looked downright terrifying.
“Want to fight?” Peter asked from the cot opposite me. It used to be my outlet for everything. Whenever I was angry or stressed, I would spar, kicking and punching the built up tension out of me, but ever since we got back from the trip, I didn’t want to do anything.
My father was bitter my entire life. I knew he never loved my mother, that all he cared about was power, about making the Noren name infamous, about making sure Tennebris was as strong as Lux. Did he only want power so he could change things? Was there more to him I didn’t know? He wasn’t a good man by any means. He was a complete asshole to everyone I knew. But ever since I lost Scotlind, I’d been just as bitter as he was.
No. I wasn’t going to go there.I was not my father.I refused to become him.
Maybe a good sparring match would help clear my head. Before I could answer Peter, the flaps to our tent opened. Tezya was standing at the entrance. “Mind if I come in? I’d like to talk.”
“You’re his family,” Peter beamed as he rose from his cot, then slapped me across the back, “of course you can come in.” Iwas going to fucking murder him. His dimpled-grin didn’t falter as I gave him a death stare.
When we first came back, I told Peter everything. He listened intently, making sure I was okay first. Then, once he realized I was fine—or as good as I could be with finding out I had a brother about a century older than me and it happened to be the one person I fucking hated—he’d been making fun of me relentlessly. He claimed it was karma for leaving him behind with Rainer while we went on the trip.
Peter walked out of the tent, still grinning, leaving me alone with Tezya. He remained at the entrance for a moment before coming inside.
“I’m sorry,” he said as he sat down on Peter’s cot across from me.
Sorry for what? Sorry we’re related? Sorry he stole my wife?
Before I could figure out how I wanted to respond, he continued, “I know this isn’t easy and it’s not what either of us wanted or expected, but I’m not going to stop loving her just because you’re my brother. I know you care about her—”
I cut him off. “If you only came in here to discuss Scotlind, then get out. I don’t want to talk to you about her.”
“Well somebody should. Look, neither of us want to have this conversation, but we need to. I came in here to tell you she went through hell because of you. If she ever finds it in herself to forgive you, I’ll accept it. If she chooses you, I’ll let her do it. We both hurt her in different ways, and she’s been hurt her entire life, so if she finds any means of happiness, we both need to suck it up and let her take it.”
