The river's roar filled Selene's ears as she stared at Cyrus...or what wore Cyrus's face. His left eye still bled from whatever beating Orric's wolves had given him, but the right...
The right glowed that unnatural blue, pulsing like a slow heartbeat.
"Cyrus?" Her voice cracked.
Her brother's mouth twisted into a smile too wide for his face. "Not anymore." The words slithered out in that same layered voice...part human, part something far older.
Selene's shadows lashed out instinctively, forming a barrier between them. "Get out of him."
Cyrus's body jerked forward, movements stiff like a marionette. "He fought hard. Screamed your name at the end." A grotesque chuckle. "Pity you weren't there."
The words hit like a physical blow. She'd left him behind. Again.
Her magic surged, darkness coiling around her fists. "I'll tear you out of him."
"Try." Cyrus's head tilted at an impossible angle. "But you'll kill what's left of him."
The truth of it froze her. She couldn't...wouldn't...be the one to end him. Not after everything.
A twig snapped in the woods behind them.
Cyrus's head snapped toward the sound. "Too slow, little shadow. The hunters are here."
Then he collapsed.
Selene lunged forward, catching him before he hit the rocks. His skin burned with fever, his breath coming in shallow gasps. The blue glow in his eye had faded to a dull flicker.
"Cyrus?" She pressed a hand to his cheek. "Can you hear me?"
His eyelashes fluttered. When he spoke, it was his own voice...weak but unmistakable. "S-Selene... un..."
Another snap of branches. Closer this time.
Selene hauled Cyrus up, his arm slung over her shoulders. He was dead weight, barely conscious, but she'd be damned if she left him again.
The tether in her chest tugged sharply...Kael's panic flooding through the bond. Something was wrong.
She dragged Cyrus into the river, the icy water swallowing them whole.
Blood Moon Keep
Kael's chains bit into his wrists, the iron cuffs lined with wolfsbane to keep him weak. The dungeon stank of mold and old blood, the torchlight doing little to chase away the shadows.
Orric paced before him, his boots kicking up straw. "You'll kneel before the pack. Renounce her. Or I'll have Roran carve the truth from your flesh."
Kael bared his teeth. "Roran's dead."
A slow smile spread across Orric's face. "Is he?"
The cell door creaked open.
Kael's blood turned to ice.
Roran stood in the doorway...whole, unharmed, his scarred face twisted in a grin. But his eyes...
His eyes were pure, glowing blue.
"Miss me, Alpha?"