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A sharp laugh fell from his lips. “Found your confidence, Zayan? Do you think those fine clothes make you my equal? You are nothing, just my shadow. Shadows die when the lights fade.”
“Which one of us is behind bars? Which of us is caught?” I crouched and met his glare at the same level. We were brothers, it was true, and outwardly it seemed as though our roles had been reversed. I was the free prince, and he the pauper in chains. He’d never looked so unassuming, so pathetic as he did in filthy prisoner clothes. But he was right; despite appearances, nothing had changed between us.
His smile grew again. “Indeed, which one of usiscaught?”
I nodded toward his wrist and turned mine upward. “No chains.”
“I don’t need steel to chain you, brother. I’m in your head, in your blood, in your body. You’re mine in every way. I click my fingers and you dance.” He snapped his fingers, and like a fool, I flinched. He was right. I was chained in my mind, but I’d be free of him soon.
“Are you so deluded to think me still owned?” I asked.
“I’m right.”
“I’m never dancing for you again.”
From inside this cell, he couldn’t do anything except bark and snarl. He’d been here weeks, languishing in the dark. For all his bluster and scheming, Queen Soleil would punish him. Justice’s esteemed members of the jury would find him guilty. He’d hang.
I straightened, done with him, and turned to leave. “I’m going to watch you swing on the end of a noose—”
“Why do you think Soleil allows you to walk freely in her court?”
In a few more steps, he’d be out of my life forever. I just had to walk from the cell. But why had Justice allowed me inside, as a Prince of Pain, knowing I’d brought down Arin’s court and accompanied my brother to bring down the Court of War? The question had unsettled me since we’d passed over Justice’s long, unnerving bridge. Surely Razak couldn’t be behind the queen’s leniency. His reach couldn’t extend beyond these bars to the queen.
“Our mutual friend saw to it,” he added, so damn pleased with himself.
We didn’t share any friends. He couldn’t have orchestrated my freedom here, it wasn’t possible. He was lying.
“Turn around.” His chains rattled and clanged, and when I turned my head, he’d risen to his feet. The ragged clothes hung off him; he’d rarely looked so pathetic, but his presence still spiked my heart with fear. “You believe you’re free? You’ll never be free. After what I’m about to reveal, you’ll get on your knees and beg to suck me off—”
I lunged and when I squeezed his throat, he choked under my grip, and climactic pleasure rippled through me. The rage came so fast, burning so brightly, I had no control over it. Ineededhim to hurt. Gods yes, to kill him, now that would be true freedom.
He clawed at my grip, mouth gaping, and wheezed,“Arin.”
Arin’s name on his lips jolted through me like a static shock. I let go and stumbled away. “What of Arin?”
He coughed and hacked, braced against the wall, and it was all I could do not to dive back in and slam his head against the bricks, end him right there. But he’d said Arin’s name, he knew something. “What have you done? Where’s Arin?” I knew, didn’t I, somewhere inside. I’d known all along. Razak had cards left to play, and Arin was my obvious weakness.
He grinned, enjoying his moment, his win. “He’s here.”
Not possible. “He’s not—”
Razak slumped against the wall; his smile turned into a dark chuckle. “He was arrested for treason against his court and attempted treason against the Court of War.”
No, I’d sent Arin away, to keep him safe. Nobody knew where he was. “You’re lying.”
“Oh no, brother, this is all real. Our mutual friend saw to it, and he saw that all charges againstyouwere dropped. You’re my victim, a pawn, used and discarded. Poor Zayan, so weak, he danced for me because I fucked him over and over again, like the willing little victim you are.”
No. The room spun, my thoughts untethered. I grabbed the doorframe to keep my legs from buckling. Arin had been arrested? Arin was here? “No, you’re lying! I sent him away, I saw to it. You couldn’t have gotten to him—”
“He’s here,” Razak snapped. “And unless you find me Pain’s crown, I’ll see to it he dies, found guilty of his many crimes. Those are your choices. So fuckin’ dance for me. I own you. You will obey, you will kneel, and you will do everything I say to save your precious Prince of Love!”
I fled the cell, running blind as my brother’s laugh chased me down.
“You’ll be back!” he yelled. “You always come back!”
Sonya saw my approach. “Zayan? Are you all right—”
“Arin.” I grabbed her shoulders and dug my fingers in, reeling inside, so damn afraid for Arin. “Is it true? Arin’s here?”
