Page 29 of The Brothers Bane

She sways as if standing on a wire, then steadies, and her dark green gaze lands on me. Her eyes are slitted like a cat’s, pupils dilating when she looks at me before snapping back to tight slivers, as if that shift was only a reflex she didn’t mean for me to witness.

“Hi,” I say, uncertain how to greet her and completely out of my element.

She doesn’t smile, just sizes me up in an almost predatory way, then glances at Alcides, one eyebrow lifting as she does the same to him.

“I could eat you both alive,” she finally says, and it doesn’t sound like a come-on, either, but an evaluation of our worthiness to fight.

I frown and cross my arms. “I’m sorry if I don’t measure up. First, you caught me naked. And second, it isn’t like I chose to be anyone’s secret weapon.”

“I’ll get you there. But it’s late, and you look exhausted. I do regret I didn’t arrive earlier, though. Did they give you a room?”

“I have a bed in the barracks,” I say, gesturing to the mouth of the cave.

“Not good enough. You need uninterrupted rest.”

“I have been given private quarters,” Alcides says. “I planned to let her sleep there with me.”

She nods curtly, her eyes flashing with what seems like a warning directed at Alcides. I hadn’t been aware of this plan of his, which sounds like a bit of an afterthought now that Campe is here barking orders.

“Are we going to have a problem?” I ask, looking between them both.

“No. Get dressed,” they say simultaneously.

“Okay,” I drawl, stepping slowly backward and letting them continue to stare each other down. While I find my clothes, they continue their silent standoff. Once I’m dressed, I gather Alcides’ clothes and walk back to him, handing him the bundle.

“Listen, you two are both here for the same thing. If we need to settle on a schedule or something, let’s do it now. We only have how many days left?”

“Three, by my count,” Alcides says. “Not enough to get much done.”

“I only have two days,” Campe says. “The mission to steal the key takes place two nights hence, and I must be there. My role is crucial.”

Alcides’ eyebrows rise. “You are going to steal it? I had hoped Vesh could convince the boss to just give it to us.”

“He asked too high a price, so this is the alternative,” she says, glancing pointedly at me.

Alcides follows her gaze, his expression going tight. My skin prickles when he nods. “Chaos must have wanted Nemea in exchange for the key. Because she is a Chimera, I imagine. Because the bastard can’t stand that Fate has something he does not.” He shakes his head and scrubs a hand over his face in frustration, grumbling something about insufferable primordials.

“Why in the world would he want me? I’m nobody.”

“Who you are doesn’t matter,” Campe says. “It iswhatyou are that he cares about. The last Chimera within his reach was the woman on that island we found you on—the one with the abundance of dragon and ursa blood.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “April Vincent’s a Chimera? He tried to take her?”

She grimaces. “Wetried. We are his lackeys when it comes to chasing down his impulsive cravings. Ever since Fate claimed Deva Rainsong as theirs, Chaos has wanted to acquire a Chimera of his own for balance. April Vincent’s father led us to her. Chaos had hoped that he could leverage Andrew Vincent’s gambling debts to let him have his daughter, but of course it didn’t work. The conflict was… bloody. Ty lost three heads.”

“It was foolish to try,” Alcides interjects. “The bloodline are all guarded by Deva now. That fate barrier on the island is what protects most of them, but even before that, Deva would have come if a member of the bloodline was threatened.”

“But not me. Pan and Vesh made it through. Deva didn’t come.”

“YousummonedPan, if I recall,” Campe says. “I don’t know which came first: your desire to treat with a god, or Fate’s picking at the cracks of Tartarus. Either way, your ritual opened the prison up to Fate’s tendrils. And now Vesh has swung the doors wide open in his bargain to get that key.”

“You are also a very unique Chimera,” Alcides adds. “You are a true balance for Deva Rainsong, something April Vincent was not. I witnessed every bit of magic that severed Typhon’s heads that day. April was not made of chaos like you are; she was earth and fire, but that’s all she was. You are creation and destruction rolled into one, Nemea. There is no other creature in existence who could be our mate.”

“It isn’t my fault Vesh made the choices he did,” I defend. “I’m not in control of him.”

Campe starts to speak when Alcides cuts his hand through the air. “If you lay blame at her feet again, I will crush you,” he says. “Fate does not act frivolously. If Fate magic is at play, it is calculated. Vesh only conceded to the inevitable when he made that bargain for Fate’s half of the key. Fate was already in, whether we liked it or not. Perhaps they recognized Nemea for what she was—a force of chaos that they could use to piggyback into the prison. To hit Chaos where it would hurt him most. Well, it’s working, and we are all moving full-speed ahead on this path to destruction.”

His face is a mask of barely banked fury that is frankly terrifying. I wrap my arms around myself, holding tight.

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