Page 47 of Claimed By Brothers

21

Amber

“Izzo, what are you doing?” I croak as Simy and Shay grab me.

Fear washes over me in icy waves despite the scorching heat. I’m thrown into the cage next to Binzen’s while Izzo shakes his head in dismay. “I’m doing something I should’ve done days ago after we brought you back from your foolish expedition.”

“By the suns, brother, don’t go down this path!” Binzen pleads with him. “You can’t put us all in cages. You need every hand and heart that’s willing to stand with you against the Sky Tribe.”

“What I need is people I know I can rely on,” Izzo shoots back.

Simy snaps the lock on my cage with a sour look on his face. I know he agrees with Binzen on everything, but I also know he understands that Izzo is in charge for the time being. The wrong decisions have led us to this point. My wrong decisions. Nausea unfurls in the back of my throat, but I try my best to keep it down despite the cold sweat blooming through every pore of my skin. I can barely stand, yet it is not the right moment for my unborn baby to make its presence known. They’re dealing with enough as it is. The knowledge of my pregnancy could make things infinitely worse.

“I will meet with the clan leaders in a few hours,” Izzo adds. “We will work out a plan to lure Umok out with our son without sacrificing our women.” He pauses to look at me. “I will not let you go, Amber. I will burn this whole planet down if that’s what it takes for the four of us to stay together. Someday, perhaps you will understand. Until then, all I can do is ask that you forgive me. I’m at peace with every decision I make from now on.”

“Izzo, wait!” I call out as he’s about to leave. “I have a proposal.”

He stops in his tracks, flanked by Simy and Shay, then slowly turns around.

“Let the girls and me leave the Sun River Plateau altogether. Let us escape. Or let Umok think we somehow escaped again. If we did it once, he shouldn’t be too suspicious if we manage to do it again.”

“I’m not sure you understand how perplexing it is for me to hear these things, especially after everything that happened,” Izzo mutters, his jaw clenched.

“No, no, listen and hear me out,” I reply. “If the human women are gone and out of your reach, then Umok has no reason to hold onto Valen, does he? He may be ruthless, but all the Sunnaites are protective of the children because the children are the future. You and your people have been telling us this from the moment we got here. Life is precious. The children are priceless, no matter whose they are. Isn’t that right?”

“That would be true, but I don’t think the circumstances allow for such reasoning,” Izzo says. “This is my son’s life we’re talking about. Umok might hurt him or worse just to get back at us for letting you go.”

“You wouldn’t be letting us go,” I say. “Think about it. We escape. We get as far away from you as possible. He’ll have to give Valen back to you. An innocent child, Izzo. Even he isn’t that cruel.”

“I cannot trust Umok to see it that way. Besides, if you ‘escape’ again, he’ll know it’s a ploy. You have a saying on Earth, don’t you? Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me? Do I strike you as the kind of man who would let you fool me twice, Amber?”

He has a point. Umok isn’t dumb. If Izzo and Binzen let me go even under the guise of another successful escape, it will stink to high heaven. And if Umok thinks they’re trying to play him, he could hurt the child. I could never forgive myself if something happened to Valen. Oh, God, it hurts to look around and realize how limited my options truly are. It hurts to admit that I am at the mercy of fate.

I broke up two brothers who were as tight as two rivers blending. I brought chaos and misery to the midst of an otherwise tranquil community. They were only just rebuilding their lives. After so much death and violence, the people of the Sun River Plateau had found a measure of peace here. They were coming to terms with a simpler way of life, with the hope that if they would learn to commune with this realm’s so-called inner fire, then maybe their species might survive.

Then, my friends and I crashed into their laps.

We betrayed them. I betrayed the men I love. Why would Izzo trust me again? He’s alone against the incoming storm. Alone and scared for his son’s life.

“There’s no use in trying this tactic again, Amber,” Izzo concludes as he turns to walk away again. “I love you too much to let you go, I love my brother too much to let him make the same mistake twice, and I love our son too much to put his life at risk. We’re doing things my way from now on, and we are going to protect our way of life.”

Or die trying. He doesn’t say it, but it is implied.

That’s what it all boils down to in the end. Dying to protect the ones we love. I only hope Izzo doesn’t throw my friends in jail, too. Kai and Maur may be able to hold onto Cynthia, but Alicia and Jewel are still a flight risk. They wouldn’t leave the two of us behind, though. I need them free and able to move, even if they do have guards watching them. My head is a fucking mess as I watch Izzo leave, followed by Simy and Shay. Binzen doesn’t say a word as he sits on the ground, legs crossed and his tail lashing at the iron bars in frustration.

The girls and I had a plan, and I’m worried it won’t work. It can’t possibly work with me stuck in here. It’s a risky play, but it’s worth a shot. I’ll need to figure a way out of this cage if I’m even to try. I have to make this right, one way or another. None of us asked to be here, but we are here, and we still have the power to do something, to shift the balance ever so slightly.

Should this end with all of us standing alive and free, I know I will do better by Izzo, by Binzen, and by Valen. I will do better by the two men I’ve come to love more than anything else. Suddenly, Earth feels like nothing more than a distant memory. A sweet dream I once had. Perhaps it should stay that way…

22

Binzen

As terrible as it might sound, time would’ve gone by much slower if Amber wasn’t stuck here with me. The hours pass differently when you’re with the one you love. I only wish Izzo could have joined us. Outside these cages, ideally. In a peaceful setting. With our son back in our arms. I learned a long time ago that while I may not be able to control what happens around me, what happens, and what is said to me, I can certainly control my reaction to it. The rage and the sense of helplessness have passed. I’ve accepted my role in all of this. And yes, I could’ve made wiser choices, but I cannot change the past. It’s already behind me.

What I can change is the future.

And the future should belong to Valen and the other children. We swore we’d always protect the children, yet now I see they are in the truest danger. The plague and the civil war took so much from us. How much more will we lose to violence and bloodshed before we learn to live peacefully again?

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