Page 14 of Whispers of Ruin
After a few more minutes of internal debate, he finally asked. “Why did you retreat to the crone realm?”
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
Immediately,he regretted his decision as her face became cold and her gaze shifted away. He should have known better than to keep pushing.
“Because, sometimes, life has a way of making you prefer death,” she whispered.
His eyebrows rose at this; he couldn’t understand her statement. During his darkest days, when he was in the middle of a war, death surrounded him, his brothers were dying, and even after he lost his father, he’d never thought like that.
His heart was broken; Brokk was sure he’d be the next to fall and was terrified he’d lose more of his family, but heneverwould have welcomed death. Even now, haunted by memories of war and the love he’d lost, he far preferred life.
What did this vibrant, beautiful woman endure to make her say such a thing? How deep was her loss, and how many had it taken to break her?
She’d always been as strong as dark fae metal to him, but like those powerful weapons could do, something had cut her deeply.
He didn’t point out that even if she would have preferred death, she’d somehow survived whatever had propelled her into the crone realm. She hadn’t chosen to die; instead, she locked herself away and created a vibrant, magical place out of a barren rock.
For someone who claimed she would have preferred death, she sure weaved a lot of life into the realms.
“You’ve lost some of your brothers and your father,” she murmured.
“I have.”
“What of your mother?”
“As you may have guessed, my mother is a vampire.”
He wasn’t sure if his words or teasing tone were the right approach. The reminder of his half-vamp bloodline might shut her down completely, but when a small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, he knew he’d taken the right approach.
“Like your father, she sometimes came around when I was a child and often brought me presents when she did. She never really wanted to be a mother and didn’t hide it, but she wasn’t cruel. She was happy to leave me with my father while she lived a more childfree existence. That’s what she preferred, and it worked for all of us.”
“Did it ever bother you?”
Brokk pondered this. “Not that I can remember. It was simply always the way it was, and between my father and my brothers, I was surrounded by love, even when my brothers were being assholes.”
“That must have been often.”
He grinned at her. “It was, especially Orin.”
“That’s no surprise.”
No, it wasn’t. Brokk’s smile faded at the reminder of his older brother. He’d missed Orin, and he loved him, but he was a big part of the reason their father was dead.
He still hadn’t completely forgiven Orin or Varo for choosing to fight against their father, and he sometimes questioned if he ever would. Orin and Cole were the ones who bashed heads constantly, but Brokk would truly love to punch Orin in the face, far more so than Varo.
Hitting Varo would be like kicking a puppy. Hitting Orin would feel so fucking good.
“What became of your mom?” Kaylia asked.
“She’s still alive, or at least I’ve received no word of her death. She sent condolences when my father died and told me she’d like to see me when I have time, but I haven’t had much of that lately. I’m sure we’ll meet up again at some point. We always do.”
“I hope you get to see each other again.”
They didn’t speak again until she removed her blanket and a jar of cream from her pack. She smoothed the cream over her bug bites before offering him some. Brokk shook his head; he had an ointment he’d put on later.
Kaylia returned the cream to her bag and settled onto the starry sky. She used her pack as a pillow as she lay on her back with her hands on her belly while staring at the jungle above them.
After a little while, she whispered words he couldn’t hear and lifted her hands to weave a protective spell around them. So far, they hadn’t encountered anything else in the mirror realm, but he was glad she wasn’t willing to take the chance of something sneaking up on them while they slept because he sure wasn’t.
