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“Octavius—”
“I know you all want me dead. Shit, most of you hate me. I never tried to be one of you, I never fit in. That wasn’t me.”
“I tried to help you.”
“That’s why I’m calling. We had something.” He was going to have to say it, say the truth. He might not get another chance. “You were always there for me. The others never… they never understood. We had a bond, something… and I never wanted to hurt you.”
“Octavius, you’re not listening.I know.”
He knew… he loved him? Octavius sighed and rubbed his face. Perhaps it wasn’t so bad to admit he cared, that he’d always cared. “I should have told you sooner. Everything is all screwed up. I’m trying to fix it, but it means a lot to hear your voice. I’m so damn tired, Raiden.”
“I hear it in your voice. You know what else I know?”
This was it, he was going to say he loved him too, that they really did have something, that Octavius wasn’t alone and never had been. He needed to hear it, ached to hear it. Kazimir had Felix, Zaine had Eric. Why couldn’t Octavius have someone too? “Yeah?”
“You’re so fucked.”
“What?” His heart thumped in his ears, pounding like a drum. “I don’t… What do you mean?”
“We have the footage, Octavius, we saw you plant the virus that brought down Atlas. You sabotaged the comms during the Sebastien mission, and you deleted the camera footage when Kazi was taken. You’ve been working against Mikalis this whole time—”
His heart turned to ice in his chest. “No, no, that wasn’t me!”
“We trusted you. I trusted you!”
“Raiden, no. How can you believe those things? I would never betray any of you. The Brotherhood is my life, it’s all I have.”
“And now you don’t have us.” Raiden’s voice shook as he added softly, “You don’t have me.”
Octavius covered his mouth to hide the sob. “Please,” he whispered, begged.
“And you know what else I know, Octavius?”
He couldn’t speak. His heart blocked his throat, and thumped in his head. It hurt so much—so much that he might shatter at any moment. “Rai, I’m sorry…”
Raiden’s laugh cut down the line like a knife. “Even after all this time, you’re so self-centered you can’t see what’s right in front of your face.”
Tears wet Octavius’s cheeks. He should hang up, but he deserved this pain; he deserved everything Raiden could throw at him.
“You still there? You hear me?” Raiden asked, his tone twisting, turning dark. When he next spoke, the tremors and stutters had vanished. “Oh, Octavius. So smart, but so gullible too. I know you didn’t do those things because I did them, and when I’m finished with the Brotherhood there will be nothing left but ashes.”
The line died.
Octavius’s tumbling thoughts screeched to a halt. His heart stopped. He stared at the phone, reeling while sitting still. Raiden had…
Raiden was the traitor?
All this time…Raiden?!
His friend of a dozen lifetimes, the one they’d entrusted with the inner workings of the Brotherhood? Octavius shot to his feet, redialed Raiden’s number, but the phone screeched—disconnected.
His thoughts spun, taking the room with them. “Shit.”
Raiden was the science guy. He knew everything about all of them, had access to confidential files. They all trusted him. Even Mikalis.
His whole world turned on its head. Raiden had betrayed him! “Fuck!”
He paced. He had to do something, call somebody. He dialed Zaine’s number—the first number that came to him.
