“You’re looking guilty,” Aiden remarks, dropping back beside me.
I flinch slightly, startled from my thoughts. “What?”
“Are you planning on running away?” Aiden asks. “Entertaining thoughts of betrayal?”
“Why would you say that?” My voice is high and nervous.
Aiden grins, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “I’m joking. You aren’t very good at taking jokes, are you?”
“I don’t know anyone who really jokes,” I say as I force myself to relax.
Aiden feigns shock. He gapes, hand over his chest, looking like a caricature. “That’s appalling.” A smile splits my lips at his overacting and I have to swallow the laugh bubbling in my throat. “You’re telling me, Kane has never told you one of his famous jokes?”
“Kane jokes?” I cock a brow.
“Oh, certainly.” Aiden leans in conspiratorially. “He has the best jokes of the whole family.”
“That can’t be too hard,” I say.
Aiden’s brows lift in surprise and he barks out a laugh. “You injure me, Briar.”
I smile, dropping my gaze. Aiden seems nice, the opposite of Kane. He’s forward, jovial, and kind where Kane is hard, quiet, and distrusting. But I haven’t forgotten when Kane accused him of bringing an army to kill him. I can’t quite reconcile these two versions of Aiden. He’s quiet now, watching me with his head tilted to the side. “What are you thinking about?” He asks.
I meet his gaze. “Whether or not you seem like you could truly kill your own brother.”
Aiden pauses, lifting his chin at my words. His eyes seem to grow even darker, and he leans closer. I stiffen, moving my head back imperceptibly to put distance between us. Aiden doesn't seem to notice or care. His hot breath wafts over me and my skin suddenly feels as if it's on fire. "Do you think you could do it? Kill Kane? Someone who is no more than a stranger?"
“Me?” I swallow hard.
“The potential for violence is in everyone, Briar,” Aiden says, pulling away. “One only has to look to find it.”
I stare openly at him, lips parted in surprise. Aiden stuffs his hands into his pockets and smiles as if we were only discussing the weather. “Aiden, you’re not terrorizing her, are you?” Kane’s voice floats back towards us, pulling me from my shock.
Aiden’s grin broadens. “Of course not, she’s too adorable for that. I couldn’t find it in my black heart.”
“We’re almost there,” Kane says, narrowing his eyes at Aiden suspiciously. “The Nephilim will be disguised as a mortal unless it’s hunting, so be cautious.”
“It can do that?” I ask. My voice sounds small. Memories of feeling hopeless, empty, and cold flood through me. I’ll never forget what it was like to be without my soul. It was as if I had ceased to exist. For a few moments, I was no one. I still have dreams about it; of red eyes glowing in the dark, a weight on my chest, and then suddenly ceasing to exist. My heart hammers in my chest as I think of it.
Suddenly, I feel a tendril of cold snake up my spine. My eyes widen, and I start reaching for my back, fear rushing through me. But then I catch Kane's gaze. His dark eyes are like pools of endless water. The cold wraps down my arm, traveling towards my hand where it coils around my fingers. I glance down at my hand to see a small shadow, barely noticeable, wrapped around my fingers like an invisible hand. The shadow squeezes my hand slightly, and I feel a rush of warmth in my chest. It feels like my heart will burst. My breath hitches in my throat, and I smile at Kane.
For an instant, I feel someone else’s pain. It doesn’t hurt, but it makes my heart clench and my brows furrow. It feels like guilt and sympathy, but it isn’t mine. Kane tears his eyes away from me and turns back towards the village as we reach the bottom of the hill. I press a hand to my chest, trying to calm myself. I stuff my hand with the shadow into my pocket, hiding it as we reach the outskirts of the village. The shadow feels like Kane’s touch, and it caresses my palm. I shiver and bite my lip, trying to resist the urge to rush forward and lean into him the way I so desperately want to.
It will be hard, I realize, harder than I thought to do what my father asked of me. It’s for your mother, he said, and I thought that would make it easy. But every time I feel the shadow squeeze my fingers, I doubt myself a little more. How can a man who responds to my unspoken needs deserve to die? I bite my lip, considering this.
Aiden leans close, dropping his voice to a whisper so only I will hear it. “I would be careful about how much of your heart you give away to Kane, I’m not sure he deserves it.”
Chapter 5
Kane
I don’t know what I’m doing.
Briar’s hand is warm and soft despite her years of physical training. With the shadow in her palm, it’s as if I’m holding her hand myself. And I relish the sensation. After offering my hand to her before I magicked us to the mortal realm, I haven’t been able to forget the bone-deep warmth I felt when she took my hand. I wanted it again, I wanted it desperately. And I don’t know why. I tell myself this can be part of the plan to break her, but I don’t know if I believe myself anymore.
Half of
