Page 16 of The Blood Crown

Karro's eyes never left the sharp edge of the blade as he let the question hang in the chilled air.

Ven loosed a sigh. “Seth told you.”

Karro dropped the knife, head snapping up as he looked at Ven.

Ven silently cursed himself, dropping his head back against the rough bark to avoid the inevitable interrogation.

“I meant have you told her how you feel?” Karro swiveled on him, eyes narrowing. “What didyoumean?”

Ven dug the toe of his boot into the dirt, silent as he lifted his eyes to his brother.

“Fucking Fate,” Karro uttered, deftly slipping the knife back into the sheath at his chest. “All the more reason to say something!”

Ven shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “She just camebackfrom that place. Fromhim—whoever the fuck he was. I’m not going to force that on her—not when she’s still grieving what she left behind.”

Karro shook his head in frustration, muttering under his breath.

This is why he’d told Seth. Seth didn’t meddle. Seth knew when to go ahead and shut the fuck up.

“I will tell her when we’ve safely made itback. When she isn’t forced to be with me every second of every day.”

Karro was quiet for a moment, his lips pulled into a thin line as he leaned forward, studying him in a way that made Ven want to start a brawl. When he finally spoke, it was with forced calm, his face only inches away from Ven’s. “Do you know how lucky you are, you bastard? And you’re such a fucking idiot that you can’t even see it.”

Anger flared in his chest, his breath turning ragged at the accusation in Karro’s tone. As if this were an easy decision. As if it didn’t threaten to tear his beating heart out of his chest with every passing moment that he kept it from her.

Ven leaned forward, refusing to give any ground, nose to nose with his brother. Karro may have been physically larger than himself, but they’d fought enough over their lifetimes that they both knew they were evenly matched.

Karro pushed a finger into his chest, and Ven was tempted to break it. “Do you know what I would give to find that?” Desperation threaded Karro’s words. His voice nearly breaking for a moment as he met Ven’s gaze. “Someone to fight for? Someone to come back to?”

“Please—you’re the last person who can lecture me—”

Karro “You think I don’twantsomeone to claim as my own? Somethingeven closeto what Nira and Embra have?” He stabbed a finger into the night air. “What you might have withherif you weren’t such a fucking coward?”

Confusion replaced the anger roiling in his chest as Karro’s words struck deep.

Karro never lacked for company, so he’d never thought much past it. But now—he wondered how he possibly could have missed it. And he felt like a piece of shit for not knowing his brother better than that.

The females. The fleeting trysts. Maybe they hadn’t been Karro’s choice, he just hadn’t found his match.

“She cares for you, and you care for her,” Karro murmured. “Why is it so hard for you to admit that?”

If only it were as simple as Karro made it out to be.

“Because we both know the fate I am doomed to face,” Ven uttered.

Karro’s voice was laced with frustration. “You knownothingof what Fate has in store for you.” He looked toward the camp, toward where Aurelia slept. “Don’t be a fucking fool.”

Unfolding his legs, Karro stood up without another word and stalked off through the woods, his harsh words ringing through the night air, mixing with the flurries of snow.

Chapter 8

Aurelia’s eyelids fluttered open.

Wiping away the cold sweat from her brow, she pressed a hand to her chest to will her heart to stop pounding. Another nightmare . . .

The forest was quiet around them, the veil of night still heavy across the Shades. The river gurgled softly in the distance, the water never far off from where they chose to make camp for the night, but there was another sound. . .

She lifted her head, glancing to where Ven lay beside her. His eyes bled through the darkness as he lifted a finger to his lips. Karro was already awake, poised at the edge of their makeshift cover, completely silent as he crept closer to the branches that veiled them from the rest of the forest.

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