AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I push back the anger that flashes through my core. “Come now, brother. You think I left a dead body in my house? Just enjoy the night. The vote is nearly upon us.”
Caspian leans forward in his chair. “You did kill her, didn’t you, Sebastian?”
“And what makes you think I didn’t?” I cock my head to the side, a small smile on my face.
“Because you’re being awfully glib for someone who found out the woman he was sharing a bed with betrayed him,” Caspian says with a sneer.
“I go through many, many women,” I say with a smile. “It’s not like I share a special bond with any of them.”
I hear the lie in my voice, and so does Caspian. I hadn’t realized it myself until the actual words came out of my mouth. Fuck.
Caspian pounces. “Tell me how you killed her.”
“I’m not playing your sick little games,” I say, making a casual gesture with my hand, resuming my unrufflable aura.
“Tell. Me. You. Finished. Her.” Caspian grinds out, his jaw clenched, trembling with sudden rage.
“I finished her all right.” My tone is cheerful. “You know, paranoia isn’t a good look on you.”
For a moment, I think my brother is going to try to kill me. His pale face has gone shockingly red, and he’s shaking so hard it seems he might actually implode.
But then, a sudden calm washes over him. The tendons in his neck relax. The veins quit popping out in his temple. “I think I’ll go check on my staff. Make sure Aza and Drazos haven’t killed them all yet.”
I nod. “Wise plan.”
I watch as he strides away, a knot forming in my stomach. I’ve never seen my brother pull himself back from the edge like that. Usually when he goes all rage-monster, he ends up going on a killing spree or blowing something up with his magic. I’ll give him that—he’s not as clever as Aza, nor as ruthless as Drazos, but he’s most certainly the scariest of all three because he’s completely unpredictable. He’d destroy the universe, himself and everyone else along with it, to get revenge on someone who angered him.
I’m almost certain he’s on to me, but what can he do about it? He can’t openly attack me in front of anyone without letting on that we’re fighting, and therefore, that I’m not loyal to him. Which won’t be viewed as a fault of mine. It will be viewed as him losing my loyalty.
There are now only three hours until midnight, and the raid. Caspian may be furious with me, but there’s nothing he can do about it right now without self-sabotaging. That’s probably why he walked away—his desire for power outweighed his need to punish me. He intends to make me pay later, undoubtedly.
Except he’ll be locked up in a Raven Society jail cell somewhere.
I allow myself to turn it over in my head from all angles—I’m finally breaking ties with my brother once and for all. I’m selling him out to the enemy. The ultimate betrayal.
No, not the ultimate betrayal. That occurred when he murdered our parents and a good number of our siblings centuries ago.
I’m just doing what I should have done a long time ago, demon society and rules be damned. I suppose I’ve always been too much of a lover to fit in with my bloodthirsty counterparts anyway.
Luciana has been the catalyst for all of this. She’d come along at just the right point in my life to tip my centuries of toxic rivalry with my brother over the edge. Something about her made me realize, quite abruptly, that I’m done with duty and loyalty to a family name that has caused me nothing but pain.
I’m not sure what that means for my future, and whether she’ll be in it. Whether she’ll want to be in it, after all of this goes down in a few hours. But I do know that everything changes after tonight.
Just a few more hours.
