Unmade (Unborn #4) - Amber Lynn Natusch Page 0,33
out, but until all this shit is handled here as well as there, I don’t intend to have you two meet.”
“I would not harm her, if that is your concern.”
He laughed again. “Side two doesn’t make that easy…”
“Neither does the Dark One.”
Silence settled between us again until I broke it. “Does your job make it difficult to be with her?”
He scrubbed his face with his hand. “That’s a loaded question if ever I’ve heard one, but yes, it does. Very much so.”
“Would it be easier if you were not who you are—if you did not have to lead the PC?”
“Not that abandoning my position is an option, but no, it wouldn’t. I will always be PC, and because of that, our relationship will always be difficult.”
Something small and hard to understand inside of me broke a little at his words. Perhaps I had thought that, if he would relent his position to me willingly, we could get the information from Ares without accepting the unsavory part of his proposed deal. But it was clear from Sean’s reply that that was not a viable option. Perhaps that broken bit was the hope I had held for another way out of Ares’ deal snapping in half.
“I am sorry for that,” I said softly. “I wish I could do something to make it easier.”
“You can,” he said, placing his hand on mine. “Stop almost getting yourself killed so I don’t have to stress about you, too. One reckless female in my life is more than enough.”
“Oz would argue that one is one too many.”
“He always did like things his way…”
“As he still does.”
“But you don’t let that happen, do you, Sister?”
It was my turn to smile. “Only when it suits me.”
His laughter rang out through the room, filling it with something I could not quite place, but enjoyed nonetheless. We sat there for a while longer, his hand still atop mine, and I wondered what our lives would have been like as children together. How different I would have been with him at my side—with all of my brothers present to influence me, for better or worse.
The moment died not long after with a light knock on my door. Sean gave my hand one final squeeze before he got up and answered it. I spotted Trey on the other side, who showed something to my twin. The change in his demeanor was instantaneous. He quickly devolved into the being Ares had shaped—the dark side of him that was ruthless and cunning and perfect for the job our father wished to take from him and give to me instead.
When Sean closed the door, he took a long breath to steady himself before turning to face me.
“I have to go. I’m sorry, Khara—”
“It is your job, Sean. And I will be fine in your absence. I always am.”
A ghost of that bright smile returned. “Because you aren’t afraid of anything, right?”
“No,” I replied. “Because I am batshit crazy.”
His booming laughter filled the room once again. It echoed off the vaulted ceiling even after he slipped out the door.
I had not lied when I had said I would be fine in his absence, but I had not told the full truth, either. For something in me felt heavy when he disappeared from sight, and it would remain so until I saw him again.
13
“All right, assholes. I think it’s about time we come up with some kind of plan for all this shit we have to deal with,” Casey called from deep within the Dragon’s underground lair. Everyone filed over to the couches with varying levels of urgency. Oz arrived last, his expression troubled. Whether his concern was regarding what Sean and I had spoken about or something else, I did not know, nor did I have time to ask. Casey started in the second we all gathered.
“The way I see it, Khara has shit coming at her from every angle right now. We need to neutralize some of these threats before they get any worse.”
“And help find her mom,” Kierson added with a sad smile.
“Agreed,” Pierson said. “I have been analyzing the logistics of this, and I’ve come up with a tentative plan.” His blue eyes drifted to mine before he continued. “The gods seem the least of our worries at the moment, so I have put them at the bottom of our priority list, but that still leaves the Dark Ones and he-who-shall-not-be-named.”
“Deimos is hunting his brother,” I said. “Under normal circumstances, I would be