Chapter 26
It had become unbearable to breathe, and Finn knew it wasn’t due to his earlier blood loss. The shock made it impossible to function. In front of him, for the first time in more centuries than he was able to remember, stood his long-lost brother. He still remembered how he’d looked that night they were taken out of prison and separated.
The pain and sorrow he remembered was vivid, and when he thought of him, he always believed they’d be reunited in the other world if vampires had such a privilege.
Was he dead? Was this what he had hoped for? “How is this possible?”
Finn still looked at his brother inside the circle, but soon reality started to set in again. Once his eyes settled, he noticed how restless Layla was, and how Brennan switched focus between him and Violet.
“Why did he appear during the summoning? We were trying to reach Romus. I didn’t even know Brennan was alive.”
His question was directed at Layla, but at Romus’ name, Brennan seemed to shake himself too. “Romus departed this world years ago now. There was no way you could’ve summoned him.”
Layla ignored him and turned to Finn. “If what he says is true, the summoning should’ve failed.”
Violet started walking around the circle, and Finn became uncomfortable at how Brennan fixated on her. “We didn’t try to summon Romus, but the one with knowledge about resuscitation within your bloodline.”
It was incomprehensible. Had he made a mistake along the way? Or did Violet make some sort of sense? Layla moved around too and as Soren went to his beloved, Finn focused on his brother. There were so many questions he needed to ask; it was difficult to know where to start.
“Brennan…”
At his name, his brother shifted focus and moved closer and nodded.
“You’re a vampire.”
“As are you, brother. Why so surprised? After discovering Romus was a vampire, didn’t you deduct that his companion who took me was also one?”
Finn couldn’t believe it. “I searched for you. Why didn’t you reach out? For centuries I thought you were dead.”
Darkness fell over the face he knew so well. “I didn’t have your fate. Where you found a master and companion, I found a captor. A monster who tortured me and controlled me in such a way it destroyed the man I had been. It took me an eternity to kill him, and even then, freedom had a bitter taste. I’ve watched you thrive for so long. This life suits you.”
Finn’s heart dropped. “You knew? Why didn’t you reach out to me? Come to me? I would’ve saved you. Helped you!”
“Are you that deluded, brother?” There was clear incredulity on his face. “Even with your power, I was kept so deep there wasn’t any chance of you finding me. And when I finally came out of the darkness, I saw you thriving and embracing this form and becoming a monster yourself. Just like the others, and I didn’t want any part in that. Never.”
“I’m sorry for what happened to you, but don’t you see? We were offered another chance at life! We were about to die in that prison, either killed or starved to death like the others.”
“Life?” Brennan exploded in his face, so unlike the calm and joyful man Finn remembered. “This is against everything we knew! Our parents taught us to respect life, did you forget that? Honor and truth, did you forget that as well?”
“What choice did we have? If you would have rather died, why didn’t you kill yourself?”
“In that degenerate form? There’s no way. I was born a man, and I will die as such. I made myself that promise the moment I was turned until I broke free. It was my only goal while you killed and conquered through time and lands. I couldn’t ask for your help because the brother I knew died that fateful night. What would father say about what you became?”
It was the most pain Finn had ever felt in his life. His parents, especially his father, had always been a very dedicated and honorable clansman, and Finn may not have been perfect but had tried to do his best in an imperfect situation, but doubts always remained.
“Enough!” Violet stepped forward, anger twisting her beautiful face. Fearless, she faced Brennan with everything she had. “How dare you say that when you don’t know the man. You’re the one standing here, and from what you just said, I suspect you’re the one we’re looking for, not Romus.”
Brennan looked around. “All this was to call Romus? Your maker? Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but again, Romus is no longer.”
“Are you certain?”
“I can’t be more certain. I was the one who relieved him of his head, the same as I did to my maker.”
His reaction was purely visceral when Finn rushed forward at preternatural speed to hit the protective barrier, as if to attack his brother, but it was Brennan who grabbed him by the throat and dragged him inside. In the back of his head, he heard Violet scream, and his friends shout, but anger was too powerful to be denied. “Romus was a good man!”
Brennan wheezed his answer through his compressed windpipe. “He was a monster, the same as we are.”
Unable to kill him or understand him, Finn flung him hard, his body hitting the invisible barrier with a sickening thud, but still, the vampire rose.
“You know I’m right, otherwise you wouldn’t have considered ending yourself. You didn’t have enough guts to do it alone, so you linked yourself to a condemned witch so her demise would do the dirty work for you.”
Finn lost every bit of common sense when he started bashing his own brother, only able to express himself through his fists. Brennan let him do it and spit blood.
Disgusted, Finn let him drop on the ground.
Brennan rolled away. “I see you can’t admit it to yourself yet.”
“Enough! You know nothing of what I think! And I won’t let you talk about
