With a yelp, she spun about. Across the terrace, standing in the breeze. . was her twin. And the instant she laid eyes upon Vishous, she knew something had changed within him. Yes, his face was already healing up from the damage he’d inflicted upon it with the mirror — but that was not what had altered. The inside of him was different: Gone were the tension and the anger and the frightening coldness.
As the wind whipped her hair around, she quickly tried to compose herself, swiping clear the tears that had glossed over her eyes. «How did you know. . I was. .»
With his gloved hand, he pointed upward. «I have a place here. On the top of the building. Jane and I were just leaving when I sensed you were down here.»
She should have known. Just as she could sense his mhis. . he could feel and find hers.
And how she wished he had just kept going. The last thing she needed was another round of a male figure of «authority» telling her what she had to do. Besides, the king had already laid down the law. It wasn’t as if Wrath’s decree needed buttressing from the likes of her brother.
She put her hand up to stop him before he said one word about Manuel. «I am not interested in your telling me what our king already has. And I was just leaving.»
«Is he scrubbed.»
She kicked up her chin. «No, he is not. He took me out and there was an. . incident—»
The snarl her brother released was louder than the wind. «What did he do to—»
«Not him. Fates, will you just. . stop hating him.» As she rubbed her temples, she wondered if anyone’s head had actually ever exploded — or whether everybody on earth just felt that way from time to time. «We were attacked by a human and in the process of disarming him—»
«The human?»
«Yes — in the process of that, I hurt the man and the police were called—»
«You disarmed a human?»
Payne glared at her twin. «When you remove a gun from someone, that is what it is called, is it not.»
Vishous’s eyes narrowed. «Yeah. It is.»
«I could not scrub Manuel’s memories because he would not have been able to field the questions put to him from the police. And I am here. . because I wanted to see him home safely.»
In the silence that followed, she realized she had just backed herself into a corner. By having to protect Manuel, she had just proven her twin’s point that the male she wanted could not take care of her. Oh, but what did it matter. Given that she was prepared to obey the king, there was no future for her and Manuel anyway.
When Vishous went to open his mouth, she moaned and put her hands to her ears. «If you have any compassion at all, you will leave me to mourn here alone. I cannot listen to all the reasons I must needs separate myself from him — I know them all. Please. Just go.»
Closing her eyes, she turned away and prayed to their mother above that he would do as she asked—
The hand on her shoulder was weighty and warm. «Payne. Payne, look at me.»
With no energy left to fight, she dropped her arms and met his grim eyes.
«Answer me one thing,» her twin said.
«What.»
«Do you love the bas — him. Do you love him?»
Payne looked back through the glass at the human on the bed. «Yes. I am in love with him. And if you try to dissuade me by the fact that I have not lived yet enough to judge, I say unto you. . fuck off. I need not know the world to realize my heart’s desire.»
There was a long silence. «What did Wrath say?»
«The same thing you would. That I must erase myself from his memory and never, ever see him again.»
When her brother did not say anything further, she shook her head. «Why are you still here, Vishous. Are you trying to think of what to say to get me to go home? Let me save you the effort — when dawn comes, I shall go — and I shall abide by the rules, but not because it is good for you or the king or myself. It is because it’s safest for him — he does not need enemies such as yourself and the Brotherhood to torture him just because I feel as I do. So it will be done just as you wish. Except»—at this, she glared at him—«I will not scrub him. His mind is too valuable to waste — and it cannot withstand another episode. I shall keep him safe by ne’er coming here again, but I will not condemn him to a life of dementia. That is not going to happen — he has done nothing but help me. He deserves better than to be used and discarded.»
Payne returned her eyes to the glass.
And after a long while of silence, she assumed that her twin had left. So she nearly screamed when he stepped in front of her and blocked the view of Manuel.
«Are you still here,» she snapped.
«I’ll take care of it for you.»
Payne recoiled and then growled, «Do not you dare think of killing him—»
«With Wrath. I’ll take care of it. I’ll. .» Vishous scrubbed his hair. «I’ll work something out so you can keep him.»
Payne blinked. And then felt her mouth drop open. «What. . what did you say?»
«I’ve known Wrath for a lot of years. And technically, according to the Old Laws, I’m the head of our little happy family down here. I’ll go to him and tell him that I approve of this. . match and that I think you should be able to see the bas — guy. Man. Manello.» He cleared his throat. «Wrath is very security-conscious, but with the mhis around the compound. . Manello couldn’t find us if he wanted to. Besides, it’s hypocritical to deny you what other Brothers have done from time to time. Fuck it, Darius had a kid with a human woman — and Wrath’s now married to that young. Matter of fact — if you had tried to separate our king from his Beth when he’d met her? He’d have killed anyone who even made the suggestion. Rhage’s Mary? Same diff. And it should. . be likewise for you. I’ll even talk to Mahmen, if I have to.»
Payne put her palm up to her pounding heart. «I. . don’t understand why you would. . do this?»
He glanced over his shoulder, staring at the human she loved. «You’re my sister. And he’s what you want.» He shrugged. «And. . well, I fell in love with a human. I fell in love with my Jane within an hour of meeting her — and. . yeah. I’ve got nothing without her. If what you feel for Manello is even half what I have for my shellan, your life is never going to be complete without him—»
Payne tackled her brother in an embrace. Nearly knocked him right off his feet. «Oh. . brother mine. .!»
His arms came around her and held her. «I’m sorry I was such an asshole.»
«You were. .» She searched for another word. «Yes, you were such an asshole.»
He laughed, the sound rumbling up through his chest. «See? We can agree on something.»
As she held on to him, she said, «Thank you. . thank you. .»
After a moment, he pulled back. «Let me talk to Wrath first before you go to Manello, okay? I want to work it all out beforehand — and yes, I’m going home right now. Jane’s doing rounds and the Brotherhood is off tonight, so I should get right in with the king.» There was a pause. «I only want one thing from you in return.»
«What. Anything. Name it.»
«If you’re going to hang around until dawn, go inside. It’s fucking freezing as shit out here, true.» He stepped back. «Go on. . go hang with your. . male. . » He rubbed his eyes and she had a feeling he was remembering what he’d walked in on when she’d been in the shower with her healer. «I’ll come back. . ah, call. . Do you have a phone? Here, take my — Fuck, I don’t have it.»
«It is okay, brother mine. I shall return at dawn.»
«Good, yeah — I should know by then.»
She stared at him. «I love you.»