Page 50 of Kneel Before Me

“She says my name when she comes. She begs for me.”

“She may beg for you now,” Caspen said evenly, careful to enunciate each word. “But she begged for me first.”

Darkness passed over Apollo’s face. There was nothing more painful than the truth. Caspen was the older brother—Harmony might have slept with them both, but she had slept with him first.

“Fuck you, Caspenon,” he whispered. “You are always—”

But Caspen did not get to hear what he always was. Instead, a deep voice cut between them: “Fighting already, are we?”

Caspen turned to see Rowe and his brother Eros approaching. He crossed his arms, and Apollo did the same. Immediately, the Drakon brothers were united. Rowe and Eros were both Senecas, and they were a formidable pair.

“I would have thought you would be on your best behavior,” Rowe continued, “or are you allowed to play while your father is away?”

“We are allowed to do anything we please,” Caspen said.

“That is the attitude of a child.”

“Or the attitude of a leader.”

“And who will that leader be?” Rowe looked from Caspen to Apollo, sneering as he did so. “Only one of you can replace your father. Or perhaps neither of you will surpass him.”

“It does not matter if we surpass him,” Apollo said.

Technically, he was right. All that mattered was that the Drakons remained in power.

“Careful, Apollo,” Eros interjected smoothly. “You sound like you are making excuses for your ineptitude.”

“I am not making excuses,” Apollo snapped. “I am speaking the truth.”

“The truth is that you are weak.”

Apollo let out a low growl. He took a step closer to Eros.

“Say that again and you shall find out how wrong you are.”

Eros considered him calmly. His restraint surprised Caspen; Apollo and Eros had never gotten along. It was admittedly an odd match—Eros was the older brother, so it stood to reason that his rivalry would be with Caspen, who was also the eldest. But the set of brothers were reversed: younger feuding with older. Caspen wondered whether it was a way for them each to take out their aggression on someone who was not their blood. Whenever Caspen beat Rowe, he felt as if he were beating Apollo, with none of the same consequences. He wondered if Apollo felt the same with Eros.

Eros sneered at Apollo. “Words are a coward’s weapon.”

Apollo straightened. “Would you prefer I used my fists?”

“It would make no difference.”

“I assure you, it would.”

“Enough,” Caspen snapped. He could not supervise a fistfight right now. The last thing they needed was to antagonize the Senecas even further.

Rowe’s gaze fell to him. “Always the peacemaker,” he said softly. “Always willing to compromise. It is no wonder you must share your spoils with your brother.”

The insult cut Caspen to the core. Everyone knew the hold Harmony had over him and Apollo. It was common knowledge that she had deflowered the Drakon brothers—that she held each of them in the palms of her hands. Caspen hated the implication that she was in charge of him. It was infantilizing; it made him seem incapable. Perhaps he was.

“Our personal life is none of your concern.”

“It is everyone’s concern. If you cannot even beat each other, how can you beat anyone else?”

It was a question Caspen had asked himself many times before. There was no answer he could accept. He opted to change the subject. “Your energy would be better spent on the competition.”

Rowe snorted. “Why? It is not difficult to train a human woman.”