Page 141 of Blood So Brutal

Why didn’t he see that?

Grief didn’t come like I expected it to.

“Wolf is dead.” Jessiah’s words cascaded over the gathering group of survivors.

A few gasps rang through the air, a few screams, cries.

Not from me, though. I was too empty, too hollow to feel a single damn thing.

The sun wasn’t far from breaching the horizon. I sat on the blood-soaked ground of Scarlata, surrounded by furious males, wounded females, and crying children.

“You should see the healers,” Voiler said, forcing my eyes into focus.

Jessiah’s footsteps approached behind me, and Voiler looked up at him with a warning glare, but her features immediately softened.

She moved aside, making room for Jessiah to kneel in front of me. His sunken, tired eyes were rimmed with tears. A deep gash sliced his face, nearly missing his eye. He reached out and grabbed both of my hands. “We’re going to get through this, Huntyr.”

His voice sounded like he actually believed that, and that was fucking heartbreaking.

“I can’t do this without him,” I repeated. “He was the one who was supposed to survive this.”

Jessiah’s jaw tightened, and he took a long breath while his eyes fluttered closed. When he looked at me again, something like determination lingered in his features. “He wanted you to end this fight, and you did. He wanted you to become the blood queen, and you did. Now, he wants you to step up and raise Scarlata Empire from the ashes. You need to do this for him, Huntyr. You have to finish what he started.”

No, no, no. This all felt too wrong. This was a nightmare, and I was going to wake up any fucking minute now.

“I have to go see him.” I used Jessiah’s body as a brace to keep me standing. He stood with me, holding his hands out like I was going to crumble at any second.

Wolf was my everything, but he was Jessiah’s brother. I couldn’t even look at him, knowingIwas the reason his brother was dead.

I set my sights on the woods. I needed to see him one more time, needed to touch his lifeless body and confirm in the pits of my soul that he was never coming back.

My feet moved beneath me, though I wasn’t sure how. Jessiah flanked my left, and Rummy quickly stepped to my right, tucking her arm around mine in solidarity.

She said nothing. She didn’t need to.

We walked through the forest. The others cleared our path like I was going to erupt in flames any second.

Maybe I was.

We walked and walked and walked. I knew exactly where we were headed.

Which was why, when we arrived at the spot where Wolf died, when we arrived at that clearing in the forest surrounded by bodies and blood, we all stopped.

“He was right here,” Jessiah said.

Then, the scariest fucking thing of all happened. I felthope.

“Wolf!” Rummy let go of me and spun around.

The numbness faded as hope took over like an infectious disease.

Wolf. Wolf. Wolf.

I turned to Jessiah, eyes wide. Rummy called after Wolf in the distance, running around like he could have crawled somewhere.

I didn’t dare say the words, and neither did Jessiah. We stood there, staring at each other, hearts fucking pounding so hard, I could literally hear his beating with mine.

And then we heard shouts.

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