Page 118 of The Last Storm
“I was out and it occurred to me that you’ve never flown with me. Awake, at least.” He paused. “I just wanted to show you.”
I glanced up at him and my eyes snagged on the stars behind him. I had never been this high, yes, but that also meant I had never been this close to the sky before, and I suddenly had the urge to feel a cloud.
My heart skipped a beat at the prospect.
Looking past him, I imagined soft clouds. As we flew, they started to form, thick but light, blocking our view of anything else. Rogue slowed, releasing a stunned laugh.
“Did you do this?” He glanced around in wonder.
“Yes,” I whispered. Reaching my hand out, it ran through the cool, pale mist as we moved forward, and the haze swirled at my fingertips.
“Incredible,” he breathed.
My heart fluttered and the clouds dissipated as my cheeks tinted pink. We flew in silence for a while, admiring the view. I could see everything, including the border mountains on the edge of the horizon.
Sighing at the reminder of what was to come, I turned my eyes to Draig Hearth. In the darkness, the firelight flowed from the open windows, deepening the shadows of the dark vines that crawled along the castle’s side. It was eerie but beautiful.
“I need to tell you something,” he said. The lightness was gone from his voice and it snapped me from my thoughts. “I received a letter from Delphia last night. That’s why I didn’t return to your chambers.”
I tensed in his grasp.
“They’re alive and they found the prisoners. They plan to get them out tonight,” he declared. “That’s not it, though.”
He paused and the anxiety in my chest doubled.
“What is it, Rogue?”
“She saw King Adon and… He is my brother. A soldier I spoke to last night confirmed it. He said he knew my brother 20-odd years ago and his name was Adonis.”
My mouth fell open as the gravity set in. I hadn’t seen the similarities between the two at first, but now that we knew, it was glaringly obvious. The same dark hair, red-brown eyes hidden under glamour, the height. It was all similar.
My heart broke for Rogue. Every attack. Every murder. Every innocent soul taken too soon. Ordered by his own brother.
With the help of Evander. The realization weighed on my chest along with every other horrendous deed he had ever committed.
My eyes closed against the tears of guilt as I tightened my hold on him.
“I am so sorry,” was all I could manage.
“I just don’t know why.” His voice shook and I forced myself not to look up at him. “His own people. Why would he order the death of his own people?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
“I… If he is doing this because… I will not be able to live with myself if he is doing this because of me. If he’s… jealous in some twisted, sick way that our father kept me and not him. I cannot bear every cruel, merciless, pointless murder being my fault.”
I turned my face to him. “Don’t say that. This is not your fault.”
He continued to stare forward, but his throat bobbed as he swallowed. “I…” He tightened his grip around me.
I reached up, placing a palm on his cheek to turn his face to me. “Just like you told me, you cannot blame yourself for simply existing. You have donenothingto him to warrant such brutality. There is nothing youcould’vedone to warrant this. This war is rooted in his own lacking character. Not yours.”
He blinked rapidly, inhaling a shaky breath.
“I hope you’re right,” he sighed, landing on the ledge outside the castle. He set me on my feet and paused, staring at me.
“Wha—”
He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug with his cheek pressed to the top of my head. I wound my arms around his waist and held him just as tightly, wishing I could take away his pain. All of it. Every traumatic moment he didn’t deserve.
