Page 125 of Anathema

The potent liquor failed to numb the frustration pounding through Zevander, as he sat back in his chair, staring through the window over the vast valley of trees, to the mountains in the distance.

Hours, he’d spent training Maevyth on a single glyph. It’d take years to train her on the more powerful ones, and he didn’t have that kind of time. Who in seven hells knew when Branimir would finally snap and he’d have to take a blade to his own brother.

Or worse.

Still, Zevander couldn’t deny the joy he’d gleaned in watching her. The unwavering determination in her eyes that hardened his body in the most infuriating ways.

The door crashed open on an obnoxious clatter, and he turned to find Rykaia standing in the doorway, out of breath.

“Zevander! Come! It’s Maevyth!”

“What’s wrong?” Strange, the way every muscle locked up right then.

“Branimir has her!” Sheer terror clung to Rykaia’s voice.

Placing his drink on the desk, Zevander pushed to his feet and strode across the room. He hustled down the corridor and the staircase, to the Great Hall, and down another corridor to the dungeon staircase.

All along the way, Rykaia relayed what she’d seen, her voice growing more hysterical with every step. “I was bringing her a basin and sponge to wash, and I saw one of his spiders pull her in! Do you think he’ll hurt her?”

Zevander dared himself to imagine such a thing, the visual sending hot spears of rage through him. “No,” he said, for his sister’s sake. Once in the dungeons, he strode toward where Dolion hunched over the door.

“I attempted a paralysis spell, but he seems resistant.”

Ignoring the older man, Zevander took hold of the door handle and forced all of his muscles into the effort of lifting it. It wouldn’t budge. On a growl, he took a step back and summoned the black flame to his palm. He threw his hand out, sending the flame toward the door like a lasso that hooked onto the anchor. Against the resistance, it threw open the door on a crack of its hinges, and Zevander swiped up the mirror as he stalked toward the hole.

He lowered the mirror into Branimir’s cell, spinning it around, past the flaming sconce—to two figures sitting against the far wall. And the sound that rose up from below pierced him in the heart. A song he remembered from some distant memory he couldn’t place. An angelic voice that strummed his soul. The most beautiful sound he’d ever heard.

In the mirror’s reflection, Branimir lay in Maevyth’s lap, as she gently stroked his face. For the first time in centuries, his brother looked completely at peace. The sight of them together stirred a deep sorrow, and something else. Jealousy? He couldn’t place the emotions. Branimir had only ever made him feel pity.

His brother tilted his head back, and on catching sight of the mirror, he let out a hiss and backed himself away from the girl.

“No, wait!” Maevyth reached out for him, as he retreated to the shadows.

Setting the mirror aside, Zevander climbed down the stairs, and when she turned toward him, he flicked his fingers. “Come.”

“No,” she said, and damn her stubborn nature and the challenge in her voice that spiked his blood. “Why is he locked down here?”

“It is his choice.”

“You’re lying.”

“No,” Branimir spoke in a raspy voice. “It is true. Go with him.”

Confused, she shifted her attention from one brother to the other. “Come with me. You don’t need to lock yourself away.”

“Maevyth,” Zevander warned. “Come. Now.”

When she didn’t move at his command, Zevander sent forth a blast of power that lifted her from the ground.

Branimir snarled from the corner where he cowered.

“Stay,” Zevander growled back. “Or I will send a thousand poisonous shocks to your heart.” The moment the words slipped from his lips, he regretted them. It’d been a long time since he’d threatened his brother that way.

He placed Maevyth carefully to her feet and urged her to come to him.

She gave one glance back to Branimir then made her way toward the ladder, not bothering to spare Zevander a glance as she climbed up.

Sighing, Zevander followed after her and, once out of the cell, closed the door, replacing the chain. “You will sleep in one of the rooms in the tower.”

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