Page 41 of Claimed By Brothers

“At least here we’d be able to help keep the Sky Tribe out of the fucking sky,” I let a thought slip past my lips without realizing it.

I have considered the scenario more than once. It is with a heavy heart that I’m still here, working with my best friends for an exit strategy. But the look Jewel and Alicia give me says enough—they’re not ready to accept the possibility that Cynthia just enunciated. In lieu of arguing for it, however, I choose to offer a reassuring smile and tell the girls we’ll go ahead with our plan, mindful of the others while also covering our backs if everything goes tits up.

Once we’re done with our chat, I leave my friends to their own devices. Cynthia jumps on a barge back to the Hadana twins with Jewel and four guards in tow while Alicia and I head back up the carved steps leading to the Mal town.

It’s still early, and Valen should be waking from his slumber soon. I think I’ll take him to the obsidian caves for a bubble bath while the place is still safe and clear. Who knows how much of this land will remain the same once the Sky Tribe ships come flying in, their weapons locked and loaded and trained on us?

“I’ll see you at dinner tonight,” I tell Alicia, then head back to the house, walking past dozens of people with deep frowns etched on their sullen faces.

I keep my gaze to myself, however, not wanting to engage anyone. They’re still mad at me, and I get it. We brought the Sky Tribe’s attention to this place. My heart feels heavy as I walk into the house, thankful for the shade of the front room first. A breeze blows through the glassless windows, and I smile as I imagine myself back on Earth for a moment, in my living room with my dog yapping delightedly beside me.

But the silence of Binzen and Izzo’s house unsettles me. “Valen?” I call out, knowing the little one would immediately hear me and call out in his cheerful manner.

No answer.

That’s not right.

The blood rushes to my head as I run into the bedroom, only to find Valen’s bed empty and his guard gone. My heart stops for a moment. I look under the bed. I check every single room, turn back all the covers, and open all the closets, praying and hoping I might find him. But I don’t. He’s not in the house anymore. Shaking like a leaf, I go out and look around, sweat bursting through every pore.

I ask the neighbors if anybody went in while I was down by the river. They all say no. Soon enough, the whole town is in turmoil as the inevitable conclusion rises in a collective scream. Valen is missing. Someone took him.

Under my watch.

17

Binzen

The meeting spot is clear.

Under the night sky, the solitary red cliff stands proudly above the river plateau’s lip. We’re far enough from my tribe not to see any accidental wanderers stumbling upon us. I’ve got two dozen men with me, armed and ready down below, ready to jump in at a moment’s notice. The moons are full as they slowly rise over the dark horizon, drowning out the stars.

To the west, the Cloud Mountains pierce the evening heaven with their sharp stone ridges, city lights glimmering in the distance. My stomach tightens with each hour that passes. Umok is nowhere to be found, and there’s no Sky Tribe activity anywhere in sight. My ears prick as the nocturnal wind rises, brushing through the scattered trees and rustling their leaves. Yet I remain alone before the red cliff, waiting.

Waiting.

For nothing.

It’s almost midnight, and Umok isn’t here.

“He’s not coming,” I mutter, realizing that he may have changed his mind.

I take another look around and then another, almost obsessively, hoping he might still show up. But the silence and the darkness I encounter tell me I’m not getting what I want tonight. The problem is, what am I getting instead?

Determined to retrace my steps and figure out what’s going on, I head back down to the plateau’s edge, where my men await. “We need to go back,” I tell them. “He’s not coming.”

“Where is he, then?” Simy asks. He’s my second in command, particularly when Izzo isn’t around, and he’s one of the few people I trust to keep his boys in line with their tongues tied so my brother doesn’t find out what I tried to accomplish out here. I hate putting them under such pressure, but the situation called for it. “He can’t have just stood you up.”

“That’s what I’m thinking,” I reply. “He’s doing something else, and not in our favor.”

We rush down the rugged steps and jump back onto the barge, each of us taking turns rowing as we cross the river in the still of the night. Once we’re back on the eastern shore, we pick up speed and start running. The closer we get to the town, the more uneasy I begin to feel. I can’t put my finger on it, but my instinct is screaming, my entrails are twisting and turning, and my heartbeat goes on a rampage.

“It doesn’t feel right,” Simy says. “Should we alert Izzo?”

“No. This stays between us, like I asked you,” I tell him. “There’s no harm done up to this point. Umok just wasted my time, most probably.”

“He could be headed for our town as we speak.”

Our boots thud along the riverbank as we get closer to home. I can see our lights twinkling up there, like stars against the pitch-black sky. The moons continue their ascension, silent goddesses rising and glowering at me with their pearlescent facets.

---