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ChapterEighteen
ALEK
“Iknew I’d find you here.” My brother’s voice rolled over me, catching me off guard and tearing me from my lost thoughts.
This wasn’t like me. I was always alert, aware of my surroundings, but lately my mind drifted, searching for... something.
For the last week, there’d been an inexplicable gnawing at the fringes of my awareness. As if I’d lost something important but had absolutely no idea what. It was irritating, to say the least. An itch I could not scratch, even if I wanted to.
“What are you doing here?”
“Looking for you, obviously.”
“Well, you found me. Bravo. Now fuck off.”
“One would think you don’t like me, brother.”
“One would be smart.”
Tor didn’t leave, though. The cocky arsehole laughed and sat down next to me on the bench I’d claimed. “This has always been your thinking spot. Ever since we were old enough to be trusted to go out alone.”
“Even before. Mother was always so angry with me when I’d go missing.”
“You’ve always had a fondness for wandering off where you shouldn’t. They used to think you’d grow out of it, but then you proved them wrong when you snuck off to Ravenscroft, didn’t you?”
“Still pissed about that, are you?”
“Seeing as some girl set off your berserker while you were there, definitely. I’m itching for a fight.”
Girl? What girl?A flash of memory—demons, brimstone, and blood—sent rage tickling the edges of my mind. “Well, it wasn’t technically stealing your spot when Cora was the reason I went in your stead.”
Tor’s expression tightened. The shift wouldn’t have been noticeable to anyone else, but he was my twin; I recognized the frustration as well as if it was bubbling up in my gut. “Ah yes. Technicalities. Your favorite.”
“Don’t make me turn you into an otter again.”
“You wouldn’t dare. Not after the last time.”
I smirked. “Try me. You were so cute. Especially when that female found you and decided you were her mate.”
“Oh, piss off. I swear you grow even more annoying the older we get.”
“Perhaps that stick you like to keep implanted firmly up your arse has simply gotten bigger.”
We exchanged glares and then grinned in mirror images. These barbed exchanges have been going on since we were children. We communicated best when we were taking the piss out of each other, but if anyone else ever dared fuck with my brother the way I did, I’d be the first to stand up for him. Likely by throwing my fist in the offender’s face. You didn’t fuck with one twin without calling down the wrath of the other.
Tor let out a hearty chuckle. “Perhaps. But in all seriousness, you seem haunted by something. Not like yourself.”
I shrugged, annoyance scratching beneath my skin. “Ever since returning, things have felt... off. I can’t put my finger on it. Maybe it’s simply the presence of the berserker.”
Tor frowned at the mention of my new gift. Jealousy always had been his downfall. “Do you like it now that you have it under control?”
“The berserker?”
He nodded jerkily.
I looked out at the harbor, watching a few fishing vessels come back in from their morning expeditions. “Hard to say. It’s intense. Unsettling. A complete loss of control combined with absolute focus. I’ve never really experienced anything like it.”
“I’d think it would be quite handy to have a superpower hiding inside you that you can pull out whenever you need.”
