Page 90 of His Fate

"At least we know he has not changed much." Henrich sighs.

Andrej shakes his head but doesn't speak.

This close I'm able to pick up on the same feelings I sensed before leaving my mate, but now there is a profound sadness that accompanies it and I begin to fear the worst.

Milos steps forward, nudges the sack with his bare foot and when Havok growls, he grins. "Should we let him out?"

We all look to Andrej, our eldest brother staring holes through the bag.

Whatever he found when he got to France must have really rattled him.

Next to our family, Havok is easily the most important person to Andrej, to all of us, and the bond the two forged was bone deep and as strong as blood.

Andrej was barely thirty years old when he met Havok.

It was Cyril's second attempt at usurping the throne from our father and he and Karel were leading our army through one of our smaller territories when Ivan caught them by surprise.

They attacked while our warriors slept, somehow breached the camp and managed to force a shift on Andrej by slicing his Achilles' tendon in his dragon form. The blood loss was great and my brother was very weak so he could hardly fight back, then out of nowhere this creature, this vampire unlike any we'd ever seen before came swooping in and attacked Cyril just before he ate Andrej.

That is when Havok took him down in dragon form with only his bare hands and fangs.

Needless to say it left an impression on Andrej and when Cyril forced Ivan to retreat, Havok aided our brother, found him a safe place to shift and heal then looked out for him while he did.

From that moment forward the two were just as inseparable as the four of us and quickly we became a unit of five.

It was as if Havok had always been with us, was born of Bozidar and Dominika the same way we were, and our father moved him into our castle, made him Andrej's right hand over the army and called him son right up until they entered The After.

It has been over two hundred and seventy years since we've seen our brother, the last time being a horrible and gruesome night none of us shall forget.

We have felt his loss every day. The loss of him, as well as the loss he suffered and our seemingly endless search for the bastard has been fruitless until now.

Which is exactly why I'm both overjoyed and extremely concerned about having him here in whatever his current state is.

"Andrej! Andrej, you cocksucker, you get me out of this godforsaken potato sack immediately or I shall make you regret strolling into my cave more than you already do!"

We all frown but Henrich speaks. "He was in a cave?"

Andrej nods. "Living like a wild beast. Almost just as rabid."

"Fuck off right to The End, you motherfucking bastard!"

"Let him out." I nod toward Havok. "Let him out so we can explain why he's here."

Havok growls. "I don't give a flying fuck why you've brought me wherever the hell you've brought me! You should have left me to rot in that mountain, left me in the Alps so I can continue—"

"Punishing yourself?" Andrej grunts as he crouches down and pulls his dagger from his hip.

Just as I thought.

Havok's horrific loss probably sent him to the verge of insanity and he has most likely been punishing himself as well as entertaining absurd thoughts of that life being what he deserves.

Quite frankly, I'm shocked he hasn't succumbed to the madness completely, all considering.

"No!" Havok shouts as Andrej splits the sack open. "Searching! There is no punishment great enough to absolve me from the suffering and pain I have caused! I was searching for my light, searching for the one who snuffed it out! I was—"

"What is that awful smell?" Milos scrunches up his nose just before his eyes land on our brother and go wide.

"Gods in The After..." This cannot be our brother, cannot be the same man we all came to love so much and miss even more.

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