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My brother. That was fucking weird to think. I had two brothers, not just Wane.
I should have hated him after everything he did to us, and a part of me did. But I also knew everything Cassander Locke was capable of. He and his vile brother inflicted so many nightmares on Wane and I, and we'd been locked underground for the entire time he'd kept us, only forced to endure them for a few hours each time. What was Wynvail's life like above the basement, in the monsters’ company twenty-four-seven?
I couldn't hate him entirely. Not when I knew he'd been through the same things I had, whether he'd been the perfect brother paraded around the glittering halls or kept in the basement. Cassander Locke was evil, and there was no chance he'd spared Wynvail. There was a kinship between Wynvail and I, whether he realised it or not—the bond of those who'd suffered unspeakable horrors and lived.
Still, I didn't know if I'd step in to stop my family murdering him if he was leading us from one trap into another. The Labyrinth … we'd escaped, but it followed us like a ghost. A ravenous ghost with teeth, snapping at our heels.
Locke's voice had been in my head since I got separated from my family in the maze. The Furies' taunts had made it louder, clearer than it had been in years. Even locked in the tunnels under Alphaven, his voice had been duller, quieter. Now, there was no erasing it. It had carved out a home in my head, and burrowed deep.
My gut cramped, tension throughout my whole body as we walked. We followed Wynvail with blind faith as he drew on his memory of visiting Cronus's house, but at least Haley's sense of Wane in the bond pointed in this direction too.
I tried not to envy her that bond; Haley telling me she could feel him, that he was alive, had to be enough. Fuck, I just wanted to see him. I wanted to hug him more than anything else, to grab him and never let go. But I mentally prepared myself for him to be covered in blood, for … for parts to be cut off, maimed, forever altered.
We'd been tortured in one way under the Lockes’ watch, but there were other tortures. Knives, scalpels, water, clamps, blowtorches, pliers—every possibility ran through my head, and my body locked tighter.
The Wane we found might not be one we recognised. But he was ours. He was my brother. And I wouldn't stop looking until we found him.
"Where the fuck are you leading us, Wynvail?" Haley demanded, her voice cutting the silence and making me jump.
A warm hand spread across my back, and some of the tightness left my body. I avoided Emlyn's worried stare, his silentare you okay?
No, I was not okay, and I wouldn't be until I found my twin.
No wonder I'd been agitated and on edge the entire last century; there was a part of me missing, a part of me always with Wane. I knew I was missing something, the lack gnawing at me until I couldn't help but snarl and lash out, but when Haley saved us I thought the missing part was my mate. It was Wane, all this time.
"Stop fussing," I muttered to Emlyn, and almost walked into Kai when he ground to a stop.
"This is the Damned Realm," he said, his voice both flat and breathy. "What are we doing here?"
I saw the gate that had given Kai pause and sucked in a breath, cold dripping down my spine.
Wynvail paused and glanced between all of us, missing the significance. "This is where Cronus brought me before. I told you that. The house where I heard people talk about his shadows is here."
"You never said it was the Damned Realm," Haley bit out, brushing her fingers over the pink handles of her daggers for comfort. "This is where we died."
Wynvail's shock was genuine, widening eyes so similar to mine and Wane’s, parting his mouth; he didn't know.
"If this is some sick, twisted game—" Kai snarled, jerking forward a threatening step.
"It isn't," I cut in, my heart heavy and the rest of me no better. "Look at him, Kai; he's not lying."
Malakai hissed, his forked tongue lashing the air, but he restrained himself.
"I presumed you died in Hell," Wynvail told us, his mouth in a flat line that spoke of anger. "Now I'm wondering if the titan made his home here just to spite you."
"To unsettle us," Haley countered, turning to look at all of us. I didn't know what expression I wore, but she took one look at me and held her hand out. I sped forward to clasp it in mine, a part of my soul settling at the contact. The rest of me screamed in protest at going back into this realm, and howled to be back with my brother.
"It's working," Emlyn murmured, casting a look over all of us, assessing whether we could handle this. He blew out a hard breath, seeming reluctant.
"If we do this," Kai muttered, his arms crossed over his chest, blood still coating him from the Labyrinth, "we go in with shields up. Haley, power up your daggers, Harvey, go in beast form, Em, go as your eagle, and Dickhead, do your moonbeam shit."
"It's moonlightnot moonbeam," Wynvail muttered, bronze hands flexing at his sides.
"Sure it is," Kai agreed tightly, the end of his crimson tail slashing the air. "Show of hands, who thinks we should run home?"
No one put their hands up.
"And who thinks we kill every fucker in this place until we get Wane back?"
