Reid
Reid’s eyelids felt like boulders. He managed to open them a slit only to slam them shut against the light jabbing into his brain. He took a deep breath and slid his arm in the direction of Kerak’s side of the bed. He couldn’t remember what he’d done the night before…had he drank too much? Was he sick? There had to be a reason he felt so terrible.
When he’d stretched his arm out fully and only found an empty mattress, he frowned. It wasn’t normal for Kerak to leave him when he felt poorly. If anything, Kerak hovered. Ready to fetch anything Reid needed or just keep him company.
He licked his lips and tried to open his eyes again. “Kerak?” He cringed at the scratchy rasp of his voice. He must be sicker than he realized.
“He’s not here, I’m afraid.”
Reid’s heart lurched in his chest.
That voice.
Using every bit of energy his now pounding heart could muster, he turned his head in the voice’s direction and opened his eyes.
Selin.
Selin sat in the corner chair of his and Kerak’s bedroom in Deadwood.Deadwood? Hadn’t they been in Solston? Pieces of memory started to come back to him. He’d lost his appetite and energy. They’d been to so many doctors and specialists. No one could figure out what was happening. Kerak had been so worried. They’d returned to Solston and contacted the Saint coven. He barely remembered Calliope coming to see him. Looking up, he met Selin’s gaze. It must have been him all along.
His face was the same as Reid remembered, pale with a sharp nose and jawline, and the brightest turquoise eyes Reid had ever seen. Even all these years later.
“Imagine my surprise when I discovered my dear brother found a way to both keep you human and make you immortal.” Selin uncrossed his legs. He wore dark slacks and a button-down in a deep purple. The color was stunning on him, but the hate glaring out at Reid would never let Selin be beautiful.
“What do you want, Selin?” And more importantly, where was Kerak?
“Your dearly beloved is surely right now figuring out the trap I laid for him.”
“What did you do?” Reid placed his arms on the mattress beneath him and pressed up, arms struggling to hold his weight. He didn’t want to be lying down for this conversation.
Selin stood, and before Reid could protest, he slipped his hands beneath Reid’s armpits and lifted him until he was sitting with his back against the headboard.
When his hand twinged, Reid looked down and realized there was an IV port in his hand, but it wasn’t attached to anything. He must have been sicker than he’d realized. A sinking feeling pulled at his gut, and he looked at Selin again.
“What did you do?”He repeated with more force.
“What’s a little death spell between in-laws?” Selin smirked. “Obviously, you’re fine, and my little brother will rush in here anytime and save the day.”
Reid’s head hurt. “Then why? What’s the point of all this?”
“The point, human, is that he’s never belonged with you, and I will see his face when I remove you from this earth.”
Kerak
The IV-line dripped on the floor. Selin had removed it from Reid’s port but hadn’t bothered to clamp it off. In the other room, the mages were helping Calliope off the floor. Selin had stormed in, knocked her unconscious, and taken Reid.
Well, she’d put up a hell of a fight first. Kerak was surprised Selin had left her alive.
Selin was behind everything, and he’d waited for Kerak to open the door between this world and the Fae realm so he could sneak in right under their noses. He didn’t know why Selin was there,but it wasn’t hard to imagine their father banishing Selin back to the Fae world. Honestly, Selin probably aimed for that to make his return to the human realm easier, only to get there and find the door had been sealed.
As soon as Maren had told him Selin was the new Hunter, he’d turned and run back through the door. While the others dealt with the Hunt, he called the Seer’s Guild only to find Derek had already rallied them. He needed backup, not for himself, but to contain the damage he was surely going to do when he found his brother.
Atlas stepped into the doorway. “Is this yours? It was the only thing not in tatters.”
Kerak walked over to him and took the pamphlet from him. It was a brochure for tours of Historic Deadwood.
“Of course,” he said, more to himself than to Atlas.
“Kerak?”
