I freeze, my world narrowing to her. She’s screaming something at me I can’t read, and I know if I even try to access her thoughts or reality right now, I’ll slip us into a tailspin. I’m that fucking angry.
So, I throw my power at Samuel. Constructing a reality where he’s drowning in a pile of dead bodies he’s responsible for.
“Enough!” he roars, jostling her so hard she winces. “Drop the vision or she dies.”
I do as I’m told. I know he’s not bluffing and there’s not a fucking thing I can do about it.
Aurora reaches for his hand at her throat again, this time with both of hers as she wiggles in his grasp.
“Fuck!” he growls, dropping her in a heap at his feet. She hits the stage with a thunk that I feel in my gut. He holds up his hand, and it’s shriveled black. “That’sgetting old.” He shakes out his hand, healing himself as she tries to scramble away. He kicks her in the stomach, sending hersoaringacross the stage.
A blink and I’m on top of him. We slam into the stage, the impact cracking the wood beneath us. The blades in my hands slip, clattering to the floor. Samuel shoves me off, gliding to his feet. He’s poised to run, and I can see the escape route in his eyes.
“You won’t get another chance!” I roar.
He pauses. It’s only for a moment, but it’s all I need. I lunge for him again, and he dodges, then swings at me, and I duck. We’re locked in a battle of hits and kicks and attacks that make it look like we’re dancing. I know his every move just as well as he knows mine.
He lands a hit, his knuckles connecting with my cheek. The punch is hard, but the power he puts behind it is what has me doubling over. My vision blacks out for a few moments, his power stealing my sight. My other senses fire, sound and smell propelling me forward.
I catch hold of his neck, gripping so hard he groans. My vision slams back into me, his power thrown by my attack.
“Get the girls out of here!” I yell as Ajax and Alek try to rush the stage, but stop at my warning. They nod, heading to help the others.
Samuel is dazed from my hit and from the way I’m digging my fingers into his throat.
Hawke has an unconscious Avianna over his shoulder as he eyes me. “Deliver on the promise you made me.” He fights a battle in his eyes, wanting to enact his own justice to Samuel for what he’d done to his mate verses getting his mate out of here quickly as possible.
“I will,” I vow.
He wends out of sight. The king and Ajax help Cassandra and Talon out. Dagon and Annika are the next to go. The witch has regained her strength and is helping Benedict capture any of the Sons that are still alive and hauling them from the opera house.
My head swarms, dizziness making me lose my grip on my brother. He wrenches away, fangs bared as he lunges at me. We slam to the ground, and he lands hit after hit to my face, only adding to the imbalance he’s delivering with his power.
I can barely connect with my limbs to block him. He’s rendered them useless.
“They’ve left you.” Samuel shakes his head as the opera house falls eerily quiet. Another hit sends white hot pain through my skull, my stomach rolling the more he touches me. “They never cared about you. Not in the way I did.” He looks down at me, a micro expression of grief in his eyes. “You…you’ve disappointed me brother.”
His power waivers, just a fraction.
“Samuel,” I bark his name, shoving at him with the little strength that slips though his broken power. The surprise hit hauls him off me, and I cling to the dregs of power I can feel beneath what he’s doing to me. I grip his reality, but it’s slippery, making him flash to a white room where there’s nothing but us. No escape. No Sons. No bloodmads. No hunters. Just him and me.
Samuel swipes at the blood dripping from his nose, eyes scanning the room. He shoves to his feet, eying the fresh blade I’ve drawn from my holster. “This is it, then?” he asks. “You’re really going to kill me?”
Pain slices into my soul, to the space I can feel our twin bond.
“We could rule together,” he says, hope filling his eyes. “You and me. We could drink ourselves sick and change things to how theyshouldbe. With vampires on top and everyone else bending to our will. We can remake the world, brother.” He tilts his head. “I’ll even let you keep Aurora.”
“You value nothing but death and torture and pain.” I glare at him. “You’re done.”
“I’m your brother,” he says, a plea to his voice. “You can’t kill me without dooming yourself too.” He takes a step closer, imploring. “We can stop this together. We can unite our two sides and start anew.”
Angry tears well in the backs of my eyes, memories betraying me the closer he gets. Flashes of the brother I once knew, the twin I once loved.
“Saint,” he drags my name out, stretching his arms open. “We shared a womb. We’ve shared an eternity together where nothing and no one could come between us. I never honestly thought you wouldn’t be with me on this. Even when I had you imprisoned, I was certain you’d come to your senses. That you’d see my vision, support me on it. I need you. I need my brother on my side. Come back to me.”
He sounds like the brother I once knew. The one who trained with me, laughed with me, and never let anyone underestimate the madness I walked. I lock up, my hand shaking around the knife I know I need to sink?—
He moves fast. Too fast to track.
