The sun is long set before I’m finally rapping my knuckles against Kitt’s study door.
“This night is never-ending,” Paedyn huffs.
She spins the ring on her thumb incessantly, gaze far from the grooved door before us. Her mind is likely where mine has drifted off to after everything we discovered. But I’ve forced myself to wander back to my brother, as promised. Just as I always have over the years.
I swallow. “I’m taking a page out of your book, Little Psychic.”
Paedyn’s mouth opens, but before she can answer—
“Come in.”
Kitt’s voice is muffled behind the slab of wood I now push open. He sits at his desk, lamplight flooding the room in a flickering glow. Parchment sprawls the span of chipped wood in front of him, and I am consistently astonished how every sheet is marred with hasty handwriting. But what captures my attention is the ceremonial sword leaning against the fireplace. Gone is the blood of Paedyn’s father, replaced with a silver shine.
The king ushers me in with a wave of his inky hand. His skin is pale, stark against the indigo veins that crawl from his temple. My eyes narrow at the striking sickness crowding his features. Bloodshot eyes and gaunt cheeks meet my scrutiny. I’ve never seen him like this, never noticed how unwell he truly looked.
The maids.
They have been concealing his illness as best they could.
I stride into the glowing room, and comfortingly, Kitt smiles at my company. But the shadow stepping behind me makes Kitt falter slightly. “Paedyn. I didn’t expect to see you tonight.”
I force a deep breath into my lungs.
It is their wedding night.
If it weren’t for recent discoveries, together is precisely what they would have been. The thought has something sinister awakening within me, but I stamp it down, right alongside the jealousy that festers there.
“I didn’t either,” Paedyn states truthfully. “But Kai…”
“Wanted your wife here when we finally discuss what happened today.”
The words surprise even me, mostly because they weren’t meant to be biting. I can feel Paedyn’s gaze crash into me as Kitt’s does the same. Slowly, the king gathers his stack of scribbled parchment and shoves it into the drawer beside him. “I’d rather not speak of it. You of all people should understand that, Brother.”
The words are honed masterfully. They cut deep enough to make me momentarily rethink this approaching conversation. I stare at my brother, seeing once again that sliver of cunningness he holds so close. There was once a time when I would have considered myself to be the calculated brother and he the caring one. But it feels as though a lifetime has been wedged between those characteristics, and I’m no longer sure who is deserving of them.
“Kitt,” I say slowly. “You killed someone today.”
He leans back in his chair. “I did what I needed to.”
“That was your first kill.”
“It was?” Paedyn steps forward, shaking her head. “Of course it was.”
“I’m fine, Kai,” the king murmurs. “It was a necessity. Now, can we please stop—”
I brace my palms on his desk. “The brother I know would be in shambles after driving a sword through a man’s chest.”
“Well, he grew up,” Kitt fires back. He shoves the bite in his voice aside. “I am a king now, and everything I do is for the greatness of this kingdom.”
I study the tight paleness of his features. “Tell me what is going on, Kitt. There is something you’re not telling me.”
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 was born, 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 envy of her. 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.”
