Page 173 of Fearless

Paedyn clears her throat. “I should let you two work this out—”

“No,” I order. My eyes don’t stray from the king. “You’re an Azer now. This is exactly where you should be.”

Kitt rubs a hand behind his neck, just as he has always done since we were boys. It tells of his anxiety. “Brother, you know what happened. Paedyn discovered the truth of Calum’s role and how he has been manipulating me to do his bidding. He was a threat that I put an end to.”

I shake my head, a twinge of disappointment trickling through me. I think back to that panicked moment I walked into—Calum dead on the steps and Paedyn spewing her theories. “Don’t you think I would have known if he was a Dual?”

Kitt is quick to nod toward Paedyn. “You’ve been wrong before about one’s abilities. Besides, how do you know he wasn’t controlling you to ignore the true extent of his power?”

It’s a well-rehearsed rebuttal. And if I didn’t know my brother better, I might have believed him. “So Calum’s death had nothing to do with those letters in Iris’s jewelry box?”

Kitt says nothing.

Paedyn pounces on the familiar speculation. “You’d already read those notes, hadn’t you? You recognized Calum’s handwriting and were worried that you might be a bastard.” She takes a breath, realization crashing over her like a wave. “That is why you asked if he said anything about you.”

My brother tenses. “I meant to dispose of those before giving you the jewelry box, but I got… distracted.”

A sad sort of understanding seeps onto my features. “If he was a loose end that needed to be taken care of, I would have done that for you. That is why I am here—to save you from brutality.”

“And what if I don’t want to be saved?” Kitt counters. There is a certain intensity in his eyes that startles me. “What if I want to save you for once? Save us.”

My head tilts. “Kitt, I—”

“If you were there,” he begins slowly, “and Calum stepped between me and your beloved Paedyn with that dagger, who would you have protected?”

Something shifts between us at those words. The tension grows taut. I glance over at Paedyn. She scrutinizes the situation. I fight against the understanding that begins to dawn.

“You would choose her,” Kitt whispers. “You’ve already chosen her, over and over again.”

“This is ridiculous, Kitt—”

The king stands, nearly toppling the chair in such haste. “It should only ever be us. You and me, always.” His gaze grows wild. “You remember that, don’t you? Before she came into our lives and left it in shambles.”

Paedyn’s voice is small. “What are you talking about, Kitt?”

But he doesn’t speak to her. No, his words are directed only at me. “She ruined us, Kai! Everything went wrong in our lives the second she stepped into it. Hell”—his laugh is ragged—“even the second she wasborn, Paedyn managed to begin destroying this family.”

My chest tightens painfully. The crazed look Kitt wears is one I recognize. Father—the king—would wear the same one when speaking of Ordinaries. It was what he wished to destroy more than anything. I know now that his hatred stemmed from the death of his wife, and the birth of an Ordinary girl.

But Kitt’s aversion for Paedyn does not resemble his father’s. Edric sought out power—Kitt aches for companionship. Brotherhood. Me alone.

“Don’t you see, Brother?” His exasperation hangs in the air between us. “She killed our father—my mother. She is the wedge that will drive us apart.”

I can see the shadow of jealousy on his face, the same darkness that falls over him when Paedyn is near. But I realize now that it is not envy for the Silver Savior on display, but envyofher. She has me, and Kitt hates it.

I step away from his desk, my head shaking. “She killed your father, not mine.” Kitt’s face falls before I even land the final blow. “Paedyn is more your family than I am.”

CHAPTER 66Paedyn

Kai escorts me through the halls, ignoring every wandering eye.

After he walked from the gardens to meet me outside my chamber door, we set a quick pace between the Imperial-lined walls. The urgency in his steps has me biting back every question pelting my weary mind. But the Enforcer is on another one of his missions, and I am simply relieved to not be on the other side of it again. So, I let him lead me past each tall window and the fading sun beyond.

We turn down a corridor I don’t recognize before stopping at the threshold of a seemingly unsuspecting door.

I glance skeptically at my guide. “This is it?”

He turns the handle, stepping almost cautiously into the space. “Odd, how it’s just a regular room after all those years of wondering what was inside.”

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