And he’s on my back, just one wrist-flick away from snapping my neck.

My heart thuds in my ears.

“If she dies, they have no reason to come,” Damien says, his voice wet and raspy.

The heady scent of lavender overwhelms me.

“If she dies, so will you,” Bran answers.

I huff out as the pressure increases between my shoulder blades, squeezing my lungs.

“You would kill your own brother over a girl?” Damien sniffs. “I thought we were immune to chivalry, brother.”

“Immune to chivalry, perhaps,” Bran answers, “but not MacMahon sisters. Remember? Remember the lengths you went to, to protect Kelly? Kelly is the reason you can’t think straight now. Because you wanted to protect her.”

Damien’s grip on me shifts.

Bran comes closer. “What do you think Kelly will say when she finds out you killed her little sister?”

Would I survive my neck being snapped? I race through all of the facts I know about the fae, their anatomy, and their immortality. They can live practically forever, heal easily, but survive a snapped neck? Probably not.

Can Bran reach Damien in time?

How far away is he?

“I can smell her fear,” Damien says.

“Do you blame her?”

“Please, Da—”

He shifts his grip, putting the palm of his hand over my mouth.

“How do you trust a girl who can command you with her voice?”

When Bran speaks, he’s just a few feet away from us now, getting closer by the second. “You always taught me that trust was fickle and fickle things hold no value. It was always loyalty we wanted.”

Some of the weight of Damien’s knee lifts. “You must think yourself clever, using my own lessons against me.”

“Let her go, Damien.”

“Where is Kelly?” he asks.

“In the room across the hall,” Bran answers. “I haven’t checked on her yet today, but we can go over there together if you’d like.”

“Very well. Perhaps you’ve won after—”

Damien gasps out, his chest rattling, and then he grunts and tilts to the side, slipping off of me.

Even though I’m lying on the floor, my head swims. I’m lightheaded, my vision tunneling.

Bran is suddenly between us.

“Something is wrong,” I say. Pins and needles run up my arms and legs. I try to sit up now that I’m free, but my vision sways.

“Do you feel it too?” Damien asks. He’s on all fours beside me, looking directly at me, his eyes burning bright blue in the murky light.

“Feel what?”