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I could never ask him to return to that kind of life.
It mattered little enough.
Crux’s time in power was coming to an end, and it didn’t take someone politically savvy to see that. Kaelum was not only the prince in name, but in fact now. And Kaelum would never accept Crux in the kind of power that Xyren had. As many reasons as Xyren had to despise Crux, his hatred had always been focused on me, the symbol of what Crux had done, not on the monster himself. Because Crux had convinced him, convinced everyone, that without him, we would all die.
I knew less of Kaelum than I would have liked, but I did know that Kaelum disliked Crux, and he would not put up with his behavior as Xyren had.
And now, the first Thorzi warrior in our lifetimes with a mage, Kaelum was not only the prince and our next king. He was the most powerful being on Thorzan.
Perhaps I would have to fall beside my father, and I would be sorry to leave Beau alone, but I did not think Kaelum would ignore Crux’s culpability the way King Xyren always had. And if my downfall meant the downfall of Crux, I could accept that. Smile at it, even, and perhaps less awkwardly than my attempts to smile at the human tailor.
Perhaps if Crux had followed through, had created a child for Beau and me, it would be allowed to be a part of Beau’s house, and have a fresh start among Thorzi. Not be born with the weight of Crux’s monstrosity on its shoulders and have to try to find a way to live with that.
If there were a way to do it, I would make certain that Beau and any child of his lived a charmed life, with everything they ever longed for. Even if the only way were for me to kill Crux myself and ask Kaelum to care for Beau and the child at the palace. Beau could learn to create beautiful clothing, to make the humans look like the jewel-toned scaly birds of the jungle, and he would want for nothing under my brother’s care.
Beau was standing in the open air of the balcony, his face lifted into the gentle jungle breeze, and I could have lived in that moment forever.
His sparkling green eyes were closed, golden lashes fanned across his cheeks, their tips glittering almost white-gold, they were so light. The tension in his jaw was almost gone, his muscles relaxed and expression serene as the bright red silk rustled over his skin. Silk on silk, the softest things I’d ever felt, all together.
Perfection.
So of course, that was when someone banged on the door—not the chime that indicated someone was waiting, or a soft tap, like Maria. No, this was a full-fist pounding on the stone and metal, and my hand ached just thinking about how hard those impacts must be on the outside, to be so loud on the inside.
The sweet serenity of the moment fell away as Beau wrapped his arms around himself, spinning to the door and folding inward, making his slight frame look even smaller, like a jungle herbivore trying to avoid the notice of a predator.
“Who is it?” he whispered, so quiet I wondered if he’d be heard. Wondered if he was hoping not to be heard.
“Kaelum,” came the sharp voice from beyond, and that was little enough of a surprise. Here to toss me off the side of the cliff face for trying to kill him, maybe.
There was little doubt he wouldn’t be happy to see me. Perhaps if I—
“I know you’re in there, Vorian. Disengage the lock.” His voice was still crisp, angry, every word sharp and short. A second later, there were quiet murmurings that had to be someone else.
Maybe the smiling ass, Jax, who was always at his side, counseling that Kaelum should feed me to his father’s pet aleri.
With a calm demeanor I didn’t feel, I stood and nodded to Beau. “Whatever he does, you mustn’t react. Your life, your future, is all that matters.”
Beau’s previous calm was entirely gone, the fine muscles in his jaw clenching, eyes flashing with anger he clearly wanted to brand me with.
The voice of my brother’s mate cut through the room. “We’re not here to fight. We have questions, is all.”
“I will show—” Kaelum started, loud and brash, and the words cut off in a muffled noise.
When Beau opened the door, manually, oddly enough, it was apparent what had stopped the tirade. Lucas had pulled Kaelum down to him, pressing their lips together to shut my brother up.
An effective way to quiet a warrior, if ever there had been such a thing.
When he pulled away, Lucas continued to look Kaelum in the eye and softly said, “We want to ask what Crux did to Jax and Wesley.”
I had never been a man who communicated well. Crux had not needed nor wanted me to talk, so I had never done much of it. Now, though, I was at even more of a loss than usual.
What Crux did to... I knew who Jax was. Wesley had been... one of the humans? And Crux had done something to them?
Finally, Kaelum pulled away from his mate’s embrace and steeled himself, eyes closed, taking a deep breath. Then, he turned to me, drawn up to his full height, eyes their strange human brown and white, but no less steady for that fact. He took another steadying breath and looked at me as he spoke. “I want to know what you and your father did to my best friend.”
This... was not going to go well. Not only did I have no answer for him, I had no idea what he was talking about. No one ever liked to hear that. “When? Where? I have not seen your friend, nor any of the most recent humans, since before you broke them out of the laboratory.”
His expression was a combination of confusion and annoyance, and so very human—eyebrows drawn together and lips pursed. I doubted he’d be thrilled with the observation, not that I would have made it aloud, but given the day, I thought perhaps his humanity was a sign of strength.
