Page 126 of Echoes of War

While I was born at night, it wasn’t last dang night. Ronan Moore wasn’t the kind of man to stop short on a path he’d already started down, not unless he was offered something better. If he was willing to halt a war he’d already triggered, then that meant the price of his peace would be high.

My eyes narrowed. Yanking my hand free, I glared at him. “Yeah right. Just go, Seth, you’ve done enough, taken enough. You’re free.” I gestured to the world of chaos around us. “Father could think you’re dead. We’ll claim it if anyone asks, say we burned the body. Go anywhere but here. You don’t have to do whateveritis that made you hesitate back there.”

He winced, my read on him and preposition on his options slowly working their way through his mind. “Reina, you don’t know dad anymore. He’s not who he used to be. He’s notdadanymore. It’s not that easy to just … get away. It’s a fair offer, one life in order to spare everyone here, Amaia included.”

“Who’s life?” I questioned. Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst deal in the world to consider.

I didn’t like it, but there were a lot of things I didn’t like doing that were necessary now. If it was between one or possibly thousands, maybe it was something to consider.

“You’ll get a name once Amaia agrees to the deal,” he said, avoiding the question. “I’m sorry, but we can’t risk word getting out if she doesn’t. They’ll know we’re coming.”

“I doubt she’ll agree to do whatever dirty, behind-the-scenes work you and father are up to.” I inched back, trying to put more space between us so I was out of his wingspan.

“She has no choice,” Seth growled.

That appeared to be a trigger for him. His face reddened, eyes swirling in anger.

“Of course she has a choice,” I pressed. “There’s always a choice for her whether her opponent knows it or not. What happens when she makes her choice and the answer is no?”

“Then I kill her and Riley and the mission here is complete,” he said, the unspoken obvious from the pain radiating off him.And you and Moe, too, was what he couldn’t bring himself to say.

“I can’t let you do that. You want to get to her, you go through me first.”

“If it’s not me, then it will be someone else, and we’re all dead either way. At least the death I bring will be swift,” he mumbled, trying to move around me. “Reina, get the fuck out of my way.”

I stood firm, making myself an immovable mountain blocking his path. “No.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.” Seth’s free hand shifted to his pocket. My eyes followed, the sense of unease from his body making its way toward me.

“No, Seth, I don’t wanna hurt you,” I said, my magic taking a hold on him. “You will always be my brother, and I will never stop loving you. But I think it’s time I live my life without you around.”

I worked to pull the water from his body. Tears came streaming down his face as he cried out, falling to his knees, chest shakingwith grief. He deserved to know exactly what I had felt for months. My brother, the man who took and took until there was nothing left to take. He’d taken my brother from me, James, then he’d taken Jax, my trust and love. His latest was Prescott, and still, that wasn’t good enough for him. Seth had to have more.

Stalking toward him, I stared down my nose, enjoying the sight of my brother kneeling beneath me, on the ground where he belonged. I released that hold, sliding calmly into the mix, letting my brother develop a false sense of hope. That’s what I had felt too, for a brief moment.

He looked up at me, words forming, ready to beg for me to stop, but I wasn’t done. “Silence,” I said, making water flow from his mouth next.

Seth clutched at his throat, water sputtering as he choked. Betrayal stared back at me in his cold, callous eyes.Good. Now we were even.

I wasn’t my brother. I hated him, but I would never call for his death. If he had learned even a fraction of anything from his time with our father, I hoped it had been to steady his temper. All he needed to do was turn around or stay down. Either option was better than what awaited him or Amaia if he continued on. Only one of them would walk away from that fight.

Amaia winning meant my life, Riley’s life, Moe’s life. Subsequently Abel’s and Alexiares’ too, as they would surely try to avenge our deaths. But that also meant the loss of the only brother I had left.

At the end of it all, he would always be my brother, no matter how much pain he’d caused me. It was hard, throwing away twenty-five years of memories over the last few months. The constant battle of it all had left me fractured on the inside.

Seth gasped for air in relief at the pull back on my magic. We locked eyes. As he scrambled to his feet, a reflection of myself stared back at me. I searched them, desperate to find the man I’dspent my entire life with. The one who’d protected me, molded me, had confidence in me, over the years and in our time on the road alone. I thought he’d walk away. He took a step back, turned like he was going to do so.

“I’m sorry, this is for your best interest,” he said, lunging toward me.

Years of having to fend him off as a kid gave him away. The small hop he does on his toes when he’s about to fake me out. I was ready for him, meeting him halfway with a right jab to clock him in the jaw.

He dodged it, ducking low. Light on my feet, I stepped back, throwing a kick, ready for my foot to meet his ribs. Seth sprang up, reading my next move. He grabbed my leg, lifting me over his shoulder and tossing me down on my back.

My head spun. I pushed myself up, wheezing, as all the air left my lungs. White stars filled my vision, the world in my peripheral a solid black. I panicked, the ability to feel my limbs to protect myself nonexistent. None of them responded to the call I sent out, begging them to listen. Seth’s body covered mine. He hovered over me and the last thing I saw was the needle in his hand, now piercing the cusp of my neck.

Riley

This is so fucking bad, man.

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