Page 125 of Echoes of War

Vengeance fueled her movements. I sucked in a breath. Those fire-covered kicks and punches had one face imaginedon the end of them; mine. It wasn’t even a fracture of the power she possessed. Amaia was holding back.

The question was, for what?

My mind raced with the thoughts of the offer my father had made. Either he wanted me dead, or he stupidly believedIwould be the person to break through to her.

The acrid and sweet smell of gunpowder and death coated the air. Metallic, tangy blood pleased the taste buds of my tongue from the fights I faced to make it this far. Hopefully, the noise had spooked my horse far into Neverland. Don’t know what kind of sick operation Amaia was running here now, but I thought animals were off limits.

I slammed in a fresh magazine, clenching my semi-automatic tightly. Sweat and dirt streaked my face as I pushed forward, determined to reach Amaia before it was too late. What I had to offer was as close to an olive-branch as my father would ever extend.

Rehearsing what I had to say made little sense. It would take a few fists and punches to the gut to even get her to let me get a word out. That was if she didn’t incinerate me on sight, which was a big fucking if,to be frank.

Getting past Riley was something I’d prepared for. He was a decent enough guy that I’d been able to tolerate his presence in an almost pleasant way for years. Killing him was hardly an option for that reason alone, or the fact that Amaia would burn right through me if she knew I was responsible for his death.

Prescott was already an anchor weighing on the situation as is. They weren’t supposed to torture him based on the debrief I’d sat through. Lord knows my father had given additional orders when I was out of earshot as an extra blow to Reina for not coming with me.

I’d jab a sleeping agent into Riley’s neck, putting him down for about fifteen minutes, just long enough to say my piece. The blood and gore covering him would be a sure sign of him being deadto any of our soldiers who passed by. What I had not prepared for was him slinging a Shadowstep Blade that Amaia had toldmeshe’d ordered destroyed after it was created.

I sneered; even when I was trusted, I wasn’t trusted enough to be on the in. Riley, without a doubt, knew. The way he moved through the shadows, appearing behind the unsuspecting, was clear enough—he’d had practice. Extensive amount of it.

The new development meant I’d have to be wary of the other weapons that I’d assumed were destroyed. Amaia had claimed they were unethical, making it an uneven playing field in a world that had already crumbled under the development of advanced weaponry.

On fucking cue, a lean man with red-brown skin fought with veracity behind Riley. His attention was more on covering Riley than on his own ass. Two plasma blades in hand, plasma melting from the blood-covered steel, melting through the bodies of those who got too close. He was quick on his feet, legs reaching behind him, a blade strapped around his heel to slice through the idiots trying to close in behind him, not bothering to glance back as he did it.

This was going to be a problem. I needed a new game plan.

That was incredibly hard to do in the middle of a full-fledged battle while keeping my focus enough to stay alive. I dove behind a tree, slouching down, desperate to think through this, to find a solution, and fast. Minutes passed in what felt like seconds. Men fell at my side, reaching out for help with their final gasp for life. I would not be extending them a hand.

I know what I have to do.

Pressing to my feet, I slid from around the tree, checking to see if my path forward was clear. Dead, battered bodies sprawled around me. Some were pelted with arrows, others were clear victims of magic. Spiders crawled over a body to my right, the poor soldier’s face swollen, puss leaking from the array of bites.Bullet holes peppered a few unfortunate, but whoever had unleashed their wrath here, were clearly gone. A second glance at the corpses as I stepped over them let me know Riley and whoever the fuck that was covering him had been here. That little fact meant Amaia had been too, which also meant …

A soft thud hit the earth behind me, making me jump damn near out of my skin. An arrow poised to strike through my forehead. My eyes drifted to the figure behind it. Her face was concealed behind a green bandanna that matched the camo of her hunting gear. The long brown hair I’d known my entire life was gone, now pulled back in two short braids. It didn’t matter how different she looked, I’d recognize my sister from a mile away.

“I’ve been watching you since you ditched the horse, Seth. You may be blood, but if you take one more step toward my sister, you’re as good as dead.”

As familiar as her physical appearance was, I had no idea who stood before me now. Shame washed over as I realized that I was the cause. Since I’d left, most of my thoughts had been consumed by the fact that Reina was my sister. I was supposed to be her big brother. It was my responsibility to do the protecting. I could do that for her now. That had been the plan thus far.

The woman in front of me was living proof that I’d put on the blinders for far too long. Reina never needed protecting and never would. She had tried to protect me from myself before I’d realized that I needed it. I got it now, the same way I recognized the defiance in our shared blue eyes.

Reina

I’d spent twenty-five years by my brother’s side, and right now, he looked like the brother I’d seen time and time again doing something he didn’t want to. He stiffened, clenching his gun in his hand. I prayed at that moment that Seth would turn his back to Monterey and walk away. He did not.

“Reina …” my brother said, standing tall before my arrow, daring me to pull it.

I sneered at him, letting him know his dare was accepted. “Yes.”

His hands went up above his head, gun dropping on the ground. “Hear me out.” He kicked it away from his body.

“Hear you out? Seth, I’ve been waiting to hear you out for over two months. I thought you’d come back … but you never did.”

“I’m here now,” he said, stepping forward, hand pushing the arch of my bow toward the ground. “I came back, I’m here.”

Seth took my arrow from me, pulling me into a hug. I melted in his arms, not realizing how much I needed this moment, how much I’d dreamed of it happening again. Then anger took over. He’d betrayed me. My brother had set me up to lose my life, our friends’ lives too. He’d cost Prescott his. Seth had led our monstrous father on a path to destroy our home. No hug, no love could change that.

I shoved myself back, reaching down for my bow. The tip of my fingers brushed against it as my brother stepped down hard with his boot, grinding against my hand and flattening it.

“Reina, I need you to listen to me carefully. This can end with no blood shed,” Seth tried to explain.

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