Page 32 of Legacy of Chaos

What the—?

She halted in front of a window, stopped in her tracks by the sight of Stryke—head bowed, chest heaving, his big body casting a tall shadow on the courtyard flagstones next to the Harrowgate.

Gods, she despised him. And yet, as he stood there alone, fists clenched, there was a vulnerability about him that was completely unexpected. He seemed…sad. No, it was more than that. Something else. But she couldn’t put her finger on it.

Not that it mattered. She didn’t care.

But she did feel like a bit of a creeper, standing there staring at him while he clearly wanted to be alone.

Then, the door to the courtyard burst open, and he was no longer alone.

But by the expression on Blade’s face, that definitely wasn’t a good thing.

Chapter 8

“I hope like hell you aren’t running away like a damned coward.”

Unbelievable. Figured that just as Stryke got his shit together and was on his way out, his brother would fuck everything up.

Cursing, Stryke swung around. “Fuck off, Blade.”

Man, it felt good to say that. For years, his conversations with Blade had been brief, tense, and just polite enough to keep from starting shit.

It was time to start shit.

“Youarerunning, aren’t you?” Blade said, his black Italian leather dress boots hitting the concrete pavers like muffled gunshots. “Asshole. I even defended you the other day when Rade accused you of running away when we needed you the most. I argued. Said wepushedyou away.” His snort of disgust made an angry puff of vapor in the cool night air. “But he was right. Here you are, doing what you do best.”

Stryke forced himself to stay calm, even though anger flowed through his veins like blood. Furious gold flecks simmered in Blade’s dark eyes, and Stryke wondered if his eyes reflected the same. He hoped not. Blade got even more pissed when he couldn’t bait Stryke.

“What I do best,” Stryke said evenly, “is develop weapons for people like you to fight demons.” He met Blade in the center of the courtyard and bared his teeth. “So, back the fuck off, brother.”

Blade tensed, the tendons in his neck practically pulsing with aggression. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? You’d like it if I got out of your face so you didn’t have to look into a mirror and see the pain you’ve caused.”

The truth of that hit too close to home, and Stryke growled as he got in his brother’s grill and proved him wrong. They went nose-to-nose and chest-to-chest, with years of hurt filling every gap in the remaining space between them.

But the thing was, Blade wasn’t wrong. All the pain his family had gone throughcouldbe traced back to Stryke. As pissed off as he was, he knew he deserved every drop of Blade’s animosity.

Self-awareness was a hell of a thing. And damned inconvenient.

“What do you want, Blade?” Stryke asked, his voice rumbling and low with the effort it took to keep from decking his brother.

“I want you to acknowledge what you’ve done, and I want you to fix it.”

Fix it? Had Blade hit his head? “I can’tfix it, Blade. No one can. Chaos is dead.”

“No shit!” Blade yelled. “Fucking hell, Stryke.” Blade clapped his hands on his head and wheeled around, his body coiled with rage and frustration. “I’m not talking about Chaos!” He pivoted back around, his hands fisting at his sides. “I want you to fix what you did to our family. What you’ve done to Mom and Dad. And Crux.”

What Blade demanded was impossible. Sure, their mom and dad would probably like to see him more, but his presence would also bring back memories and misery. He couldn’t put his family through that.

I can’t put myself through that.

It was another ugly truth he wasn’t ready to analyze. He didn’t have the time nor the desire to open wounds and drain the poison. That would mean apologies and groveling and exploringhis feelings. Fuck that. Venomous anger was a far less messy coping mechanism.

“I did what I had to do,” Stryke said. “And how am I supposed tofix itwhen any attempt to make peace ends with you being an asshole? I made an effort tonight, but I knew you wouldn’t make it easy. I’m not the problem here.You’rethe one who huntedmedown to rip me one.” He took a beat, gathering all the fury and pain that had been taking up storage space in his brain. It felt good to let the rage erupt to the surface in a volcanic blast of relief. “You think I wanted to deal with that tonight? You think Ieverwant to hear about how I fucked up this family, let alone every. Single. Time I see you? You think I need you blaming me for what happened to Chaos—?”

He hadn’t seen the blow coming. One moment, he was laying into his brother, and the next, he was tasting blood and hearing bells.

“You don’t get to say his name.” Blade popped another punch square in Stryke’s nose, and blood spurted onto his lips and chin. “Not until you stop hiding.”

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