Bramley yanked Theo up by the roots of his hair as he stood, forcing Theo onto his feet as well. “I wish your mother was here to watch you die. Don’t worry. I plan on taking my time. I want you to feel every moment of your miserable life seep away.”
He threw Theo against the bars.
“Theo!” Garrett’s voice shook with his tears.
Theo lifted his head. “It’s okay.” It wasn’t but Theo didn’t like seeing his friends sad.
“Lies! You lie like your mother did!” Bramley kicked Theo in the ribs. “And after I’m done with you, I will take care of your friends too.”
Theo absorbed the next kick.
“But first I want to see you bleed!” Bramley boomed.
He was lifted off his feet and forced to hover in the air in front of Bramley. Theo just had one more question for his evil brother. Hellcats! Theo had a brother. He’d wanted family his entire life but obviously he’d been lucky not to be raised with Bramley.
“How’d you find me?” Theo questioned.
Bramley paused, gathering his magic. “I knew you would show up one day. The oracle read your future while you were still in your mother’s womb. Our father had been certain that you were destined for greatness. The oracle confirmed, although they informed our father that you were destined to be a part of the chosen, not rule the unseelie.”
“Then why all this?” Theo waved his hands around. “I really was no threat to you! You said it yourself. I was never going to rule.”
“But our father wanted you to!” Bramley yelled.
There was no talking sense in his brother. “I’m chosen. I just want to be with my mates! You dragged me here.”
“Because you are part of the chosen,” Bramley told him. “And that was how I found you. I knew the fates would put you in the path of the Lenkov clan. You needed to be near whoever was this generation’s chosen. I watched them until I heard about a feline shifter in the area.”
Because his mom had been a feline shifter. A woman who had hidden him away from his evil creature.
“I sent the triplets to watch until I could verify it was you.”
Made sense. Theo needed to be around Alek and his family to fulfill his destiny. Which opened him up to being found by his brother. Too bad Theo was going to need therapy to get over this family reunion.
“And now you can join our father in the spirit realm.” Bramley pulled out a dark vial. “I’ll keep your soul close. Don’t you worry about that.”
He didn’t want his brother to have any part of him. All of this was over nothing! Parents that Theo had never met. Did the news about his parents make Theo want to mourn them? Yes. But there wasn’t time for that. There wasn’t time for anything.
Bramley pushed his palms in Theo’s direction, sending him flying once again. Theo couldn’t even blink when he was lifted up again. Three more times he was thrown against the wall and he was just done. Theo groaned before coughing up blood and spitting it onto the floor under his hands and knees.
“That’s what I am looking for.” Bramley cackled.
Hanging his head, Theo’s eyes landed on the amulet that hung from his neck. Theo had forgotten about it. Not that it had done him any good in the fae realm. Still, it was a connection to his mates.
His mates.
Wylder.
Aleksander.
Dario.
And Mitch.
Theo was part of the chosen for a reason.
Closing his hand around the amulet, Theo closed his eyes.
“Giving up already?” Bramley taunted.
