Page 26 of Shadows of Perl

“She knows what I tell her. And I tell her whatever I want.”

Anger licks my spine. “You backstabbing bastard.”

“Mad she ran off with me?” My brother throws his head back in laughter. “Of course she did. She wants to be around someone who’s not auditioning for Daddy’s approval.”

“I don’t give two shits about our father,” I spit.

“Who said anything about our father?”

“She’s smart. She’ll figure out that you’re lying to her.”

My brother flinches.

“She already has…” A smile tugs at my lips. “And she let you live?”

“You think she’s a killer.”

“Everyone is, under the right circumstances. She’s bound to poison. You’ve read the books. You know what they say. It’s only a matter of time.”

“She has more heart than you realize.”

“You don’t know the first thing about her.”

“I know she likes the cold. Her favorite thing is dancing. Though she pretends it’s not.”

I see red. “Shut up.”

“Her favorite color is blue. For the ocean. And one day she hopes to settle there with her mother. In a small house, with—”

I charge at Yagrin, knocking him to the ground. His mask bleeds back into his skin as I land on top of him. I pummel him in the ribs until he arches his back, rolls to the side, and throws me off. I slam the ground hard; my side is throbbing. Yags was never much of a fighter. But his fist connects with my gut and knocks the wind out of me. I manage to wrap my legs around his waist, tug him onto his back, and return the favor, straight to his jaw.

“Your left hook was always so weak.” He spits blood. “This isn’t about the Sphere at all. You want revenge on the girl who reminded you that you have a heart.”

I pound him with my right hook and he yowls in pain. “Better?” I pull him up and unclip the restraints from my waist.

He smooths the blood off his face with the back of his hand. “So you’re here to, what? Kill us?”

“By authority of the Dragunheart, second to the Dragunhead—” My side aches.

Yagrin’s gaze falls to the shiny ruby pinned to my chest and he sucks in a breath.

“You’re going to kill the girl you love, Jordan? And me, your brother?”

I clip the restraints on his wrists. Time in the Shadow Cells will do him some good.

“Enough of this. Listen to me.” He wriggles in their hold. “Like I listened to you all those years. The Order can’t be what it should. It can’t even be what it used to be.”

“If you want to make it to Headquarters at all, shut your mouth.”

“This is not us, brother. We protect each other.”

My grip slacks as I stare at those wide brown eyes that used to sparkle with mischief. When our father was the only villain we wanted to outrun. I can practically see the scrawny little boy he was—his tidy blazer, Mother straightening his bow tie just so—staring back at me.

“I protected you, you mean. But you’ve gone too far this time, Yags. I can’t anymore.” As I carefully place my hand on his neck to hold in the choke, an apology lodges in my throat. But the time for reconciling is behind us. My brother gets to choose his path. He won’t choose mine or anyone else’s. And I know my path.

“By the authority of the Dragunheart, second in the brotherhood—”

“Father and Beaulah couldn’t care less about you. They love what you do, not who you are. That’s never going to change. Quell is not your enemy. Letting yourself love her is the only hope you have to make it out of this with your humanity. The Order is broken, brother. Learn to face the truth for once in your life.”

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