A Walk Amongst Shadows (Book 2)

I had heard all I needed to hear from the girl. If Aris had truly been injured enough to require healing, it could only mean it was done by father’s hand. It didn’t take me long to catch up. My brother was fast, but he was running aimlessly, while I had a much clearer target. I called out, trying to grab his attention. He ignored me at first. But I persisted. Eventually, it worked. He glanced over his shoulder and slowed just enough for me to close the remaining distance between us. I threw my shoulder into him with everything I had causing us both to barrel over one another and into a large tree. The force was enough to knock the wind out of us both. I expected him to shift back into a human form but was instead met with a counter blow. He drove his shoulder into my chest knocking me back off my feet. I yelled in pain but sprung back to my feet. I’d fought with Aris many times over the years both in this form and in mortal form. There was something different about the way he was fighting today. His typical strategic and well-placed blows were wild and misplaced. He was not himself. I used this against him, ducking a blow here and there and then feigning once or twice until I was able to wrap my hands around his neck and throw him against a tree. Unable to move, he finally relented and slumped back into his former self. I followed suit taking a seat beside him. Both of us out of breath. I sat silently beside him as he composed himself.

“I-I can’t do it Stellan,” he panted.

I turned to face him and was shocked to see tears in his eyes. He wasn’t out of breath, he was crying. Not even after his death had I seen such an emotional display from him before.

“What has he asked of you?” I inquired, ignoring the tears.

“Rose….” He dug his fingers into the dirt, “He wants Rose.”

I paused for a moment, confused. “Well, he did ask you to get her off the mountain, no?”

I watched him shake his head and drop his chin to his chest.

“He wants me to deliver her to him.”

“Ah, I see.” I sat back. I suppose I shouldn’t have been shocked. Leave it to father to play these sorts of games.

“He thinks I’ve become more devoted to her than him. He wants me to prove him wrong…” He picked up his hands and slammed them back down in clenched fists.

“Given the state you were returned to Rose in, I wager you told him no.”

He nodded solemnly.

“You gave her quite a fright you know.”

Again, he nodded. “I can’t look at her,” he confessed. “How can I?” He looked frantically at me, as if he expected an answer.

“Brother, are you really considering defying father’s orders?”

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. I am not used to seeing Aris this way, so conflicted and distraught. He looked desperate.

“I don’t want to defy father. But I can’t do it.”

“Listen, I know how much she means to you, but-”

“But nothing!” he shouted at me, “I’ve already hurt too many. I will not kill her.”

“Father’s already given you a taste of what will happen to you-”

“I know! And you know what? Perhaps I deserve it! Perhaps we deserve it! All the pain we’ve caused, the lives we’ve taken-”

I was up and in front of him before he could finish his thought. With his shirt balled in my fist I lifted him up to face me.

“Drop the masochism, brother. Weakness does not suit you,” I threatened, keeping my voice calm and even though I spoke through gritted teeth. “We’ve done what we’ve had to do to survive. Have you forgotten that this is bigger than you? This is for the good of us all, not just father.”

He wrenched himself free from my grip and took a step back.

“You know he’s not going to let her go. She’s way too important to him,” I attempted to lighten my tone to that of encouragement.

“He wants more than just her power,” he looked darkly at me. “He wants her.”

I wasn’t blind. Rose’s beauty was undeniable. To say I hadn’t imagined what it would be like to feel her beneath me in a passionate embrace would be a lie. I had been after a taste of her magic since the beginning. But surely, it was more than mere lust that had been driving father towards her.

“Father has become quite fixated on her,” I reflected. “Ever since you got her away from that village. At first, I thought it was just the same fascination we all felt with her power, but…”

“But what?” he looked intently at me.

“I don’t know, father wants nothing more than to be worshiped. Maybe seeing you fawning over her was enough to push him over the edge.”

“But why?” he sounded exhausted. “Father has never cared about our relations with mortals before.”

“If he is indeed after her affections, in addition to her power,” I thought aloud, “then that would mean you have something he desires. If you are correct, brother, you hold the key to his retribution as well as his heart’s desire ....” The more I talked, the more I found myself agreeing with him. “I can think of no other reason he would go as far as to hurt one his own like that.”

“Rose isn’t mine to give away.”

“I know that, but you know father…”

He sighed. “I can’t… Even if I wanted to. I don’t think-”

“So you honestly mean to tell me you’re content suffering at father’s hand rather than-”

“I’d rather suffer at his hand than have her suffer at mine!” he snapped.

“Consider the bigger picture then,” I quipped, feeling myself getting annoyed, “this is more than you and Rose, and even me.”

He made like he was about to say more, but I put a hand up to silence him.

“I was there when father fell and I have seen the destruction it has caused our kind over the millennia that have followed. If Rose truly is the key to our retribution, then I see no reason why you would want to stand in our way.”

“I love her,” he confessed weakly, hanging his head in defeat.

“Then for no other reason, do it so you can minimize her suffering. The choice to kill Rose has already been made. It matters not by whose hands it is done.”

I watched him take a deep, pained breath. Then I made one last ditch effort to save my brother, “Please,” I begged, “don’t make yourself a martyr. None of us want to see you hurt.” I gave him one last sympathetic look. “Think on my words while you compose yourself. I’m going back.”