And it’s the last thing I can act on because Aurora means too much to me. She shouldn’t be mated to either of us. My brother, her abuser, or me, his twin, the walking reminder of all she suffered.
“You really think he’s in lycan territory?” Ajax asks as he quietly follows me.
“I wouldn’t put it past him to hide here. To try and throw us off.” We venture deeper into the territory, down one of the more secluded districts. This street is packed with industrial warehouses and a few hole-in-the-wall bars. We’ve searched this territory before, all the supernatural territories actually, but I won’t stop until I find him.
“I’m surprised Alek got you access to hunt here.” Ajax eyes me, almost like he’s asking if we’re here legally.
“He made the request himself at Conclave earlier,” I assure him. Though, he’s not wrong to be suspicious of me. There’s noline I won’t cross to bring Samuel to justice. He’s been allowed to live for too long after all he’s done.
The image of Aurora in chains, emaciated and terrified, flashes in my mind. Despite her being mostly healed and healthy now, I’ll never forget the moment I laid eyes on her. The pain that lashed through my heart. The way it felt like I was being starved all over again. I knew first-hand the lengths my brother went to during his torture sessions thanks to him imprisoning me when he tried to force a marriage to Avianna, the princess. And because of my abilities, I also knew exactly what he’d done to her.
She’d trusted me with her pain. He deserved worse than death.
“Good,” Ajax says, turning left down another block we’ve yet to clear. “I was just checking.”
“And if I’d said he hadn’t?”
“You know I’d be here either way.” Ajax flashes me another look. “I’m with you. We all are.”
I nod. I know they are. Dagon and Talon and Zachariah are exploring the witch lands, even though we’ve checked those extensively. We’ve checked everywhere. Every time we get a hint of Samuel’s scent, he disappears again. I hate it.
I hate him.
The pain of that irrefutable, ice-cold hatred slices into the twin bond still buried inside my soul. The one we were born with, the connection that should’ve allowed me to track him down. It’s failed me continuously, never offering a concrete location for where my brother is hiding.
He’s always been better at accessing and utilizing the bond more than me, but I believe it’s also because the brother I once knew and loved is wholly gone, not a trace of him left. He’s fully transitioned into a monster with no redemption. There aren’t many cases throughout our history of twins murdering eachother, but the few that are, all caution the act. Twin bonds are powerful. Killing him, severing that bond, will likely kill me too.
I’ll gladly forfeit my own life if it means stopping him.
Aurora’s face flashes behind my eyes. She’d be my only regret. Leaving her here to navigate the world on her own, and me never knowing what it’s like to kiss her, to hear her laugh, to watch her fall in love with the night.
“Anything?” Ajax asks me after we’ve cleared another block.
“Don’t smell anything other than lycan and beer.” Failure threatens to choke me.
“Fuck.”
“Yeah.”
Part of me wonders what would’ve happened if I had just chased after Samuel when he tossed Aurora off the roof. If I’d gone after him and trusted Dagon to save Aurora from the fall. Would this all be over? Would Aurora still bear our mark? Would she forgive me for not being the one to save her?
I’ll never know, because I would make the same choice again. There’s no world that exists where I don’t put her safety first.
Is that a mating bond sign? Or is it simply my ongoing affections for her? Because ever since we found her, she’s the only one who can distract me from my hunt for Samuel. My focus is split in two—one is on her and how much she needs to feed properly, now that the blood supply is tainted. The other is frothing at the mouth to stop Samuel and his role in the Sons of Honor war.
I hate that it’s clear which of those focuses will be easier to achieve.
“Want to call it?” Ajax asks after another couple hours of searching the lycan district with no luck.
I flick my blades closed, sliding them into their holsters on the harness I wear.
“Fucking guess so.”
“There are people who need you back at the residence anyway,” Ajax offers.
I snap my gaze to him.
He shrugs. “Okay, one vampire in particular really needs your attention.”
