Page 9 of Hell Storm

Julian took a deep breath. “Jon Carlisle will fade into the abyss with all the others who have come against members of the monarch over the centuries.”

“What we’re involved in can’t be compared to anything before it.” Roman spoke sharply, as if the words were daggers. “No one before us was stupid enough to involve themselves in a scandal like ours.”

Roman shifted a fiery glare toward Julian. “Or … should I say a scandal likeyours?”

There was a brief standoff before Julian’s gaze lowered, and I didn’t doubt for a moment that guilt had suddenly weighed him down.

“That’s enough,” I interjected.

“It’snotenough!” Roman roared. “Is no one else willing to speak the truth that’s on all our minds? Yesterday, we went so far as to claim ownership of this girl. Has that not earned us the right to speak freely on the matter?”

My brow tensed as I stared.

“Perhaps our love for our brother from the East is more toxic than his Doll,” Roman suggested, using the term Jon had just attributed to Corina. “Perhaps it’s insane that we’ve vowed our allegiance to Julian whenhisallegiance clearly lies elsewhere.Whatever the obsession is, it’s overshadowed his loyalty toeveryoneelse. Including himself,” Roman concluded.

“This isn’t—”

“Let him speak his mind,” Julian cut in, turning his attention toward Roman after I’d been silenced. “We’re brothers, and part of that bond means we respect one another’s opinions.”

Even when that opinion is hurtful and skewed.

Roman knew the hand Levi and I played in Julian being reckless at the gala. We were just as much to blame as Julian was. Perhapsmoreto blame than he was. Still, knowing this, Julian positioned himself to endure the verbal attack Roman was more than ready to give. I guessed as much from the hard stare he had yet to turn away from Julian.

No one spoke. No one moved. It was as though the scene had been frozen in time, as we sat waiting to see who’d give in first.

It was Roman who finally broke his gaze. Turning away, he continued to fume, tapping a finger agitatedly against the table.

Julian didn’t seem to take Roman backing down as a victory, and neither did I. It was merely a further breakdown in communication. A further breakdown in our once solid unit of four.

I had to say something.

“Listen, I know none of this has been easy, but we can’t afford to fall apart. There’s too much at stake.” I turned to Roman. “And despite how any of this came to be, there’s no denying that the outcome of the blood bond will be great for our people as a whole.”

My words faltered when I met resistance—a hard sigh from Roman that meant he didn’t want to hear what I had to say—but it needed to be said.

“Just last night, there were a dozen or more deaths reported. Ianites are strategically being eliminated, and there wasn’t a whole lot we could do about it,” I stated. “Until now.”

“The cure,” Roman grumbled. “The cure we havezeroproof will actually work?”

I was beyond exhausted. It felt like we’d brought him back from the edge, only to continue fighting him on some unquenchable desire to run right back to that dark place.

“We won’t know one way or the other until we try,” was the only answer I had for that.

Another breadth of silence crept in, and luckily, Levi broke it.

“Either way, whether we believe in it or not, we’ve committed to this thing in front of the entire world,” he concluded. “So, there’s no choice but to ride it out.”

“Agreed,” I seconded.

“With that in mind,” he continued, “I volunteer to perform the next Claiming ceremony.”

My vision shifted when I tilted my head, surprised that Levi, of all people, would offer himself as the next candidate for what Roman viewed as nothing more than a glorified experiment.

“Really?” I couldn’t help but to ask.

Levi gave a swift nod. “Might as well. But I have a condition.” He smiled with the statement, maybe because I requested a similar consideration when he asked for the favor with Julian.

“Such as?”

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