without reason, so I’m going to be cautious until I know for certain that my brother is back and himself. I flick the TV on, and leave the football game on in the background while he eats slowly. That alone is enough to tell me he isn’t okay. But I wait and give him chance to eat and get his head back to where he needs it to be.
He drains the tea in one go, wincing as the bitterness hits him, but he swallows before closing his eyes and leaning back on the sofa.
“I saw it over and over again,” he says, his voice so quiet I barely heard him. “You, Remy, Dad. All of you, dying, at my hands. Your blood covering every inch of me. It didn’t matter what I did, no matter how hard I tried to change it, I killed you. All of you. Again and again.”
“It wasn’t real,” I say, trying to reassure him, but he looks at me, and he’s so broken I know my words don’t matter.
“It was real to me. I can’t even count how many times I killed you, or led you to your death, Colt. Over and over.” He takes in a shaky breath before meeting my eyes. “How long was I out?”
“When did he do this to you?” I ask and he winces.
“After I spoke to Remy…” he says quietly, looking down at the floor.
“About three weeks,” I tell him softly, and his shoulders droop.
“It felt like about six months, maybe longer. I don’t know. I lost count…”
“Why did you do it, Bauer?” I ask, I know I said I’d let him rest, but I just can’t wrap my head around it. Family is everything to him. I imagine that’s why Archer tortured him the way he did, and it’s exactly why I can’t fathom a reason.
“I loved him. Or I thought I did,” he says, his eyes pleading with me to understand, to not judge. Shock hits me, because in all our lives, I’d never suspected, he’d never even hinted…
“But as time went on, he started getting more and more out of touch with why he first started his search. Then this thing with the Demons… I knew he wasn’t the man he used to be. I realized too late that I was in too deep. I tried to do what I could, to warn Remy, but then Dad got hurt, and I didn’t know what to do. It was a warning to me, he could see I was becoming hesitant, that I was pulling back from him.” He takes in a deep breath and I try to process everything he’s telling me.
“I don’t know what to say to that…” I tell him honestly. “It has nothing to do with you loving him, though I mean, us Bennetts really seem to know how to pick ‘em.” I laugh dryly. “I just… it’s done, it’s in the past. We need your help; Archer is out of control. He took Fallon.”
“He did what?” He gasps and his head droops. “I’m so sorry, Colt.”
“Yeah, he has her trapped in the Shadow Realm. Remy is there now trying to get her back.”
“She went there willingly?” He looks alarmed, and my heart races.
“She went to get Fallon, rather than meet him to open the portal for Archer,” I tell him.
“Fucking hell, this is so fucked up. That’s exactly what he wanted, Fallon’s powers don’t work down there, and I’m guessing that was their escape plan. He never wanted her to open the portal, at least not from here. I don’t understand the magic of it all, but it can be closed from here if it’s opened here. But if she opens it in the Shadow Realm… she can only close it from that side unless she has help… She’ll be trapped there.”
Chapter Seventeen
Remy
We finish eating, but that smug grin never leaves Luna’s face. “What do you mean, we could help each other?” I ask, watching her closely.
“Well, you're looking for someone, and I can probably help with that. And well, you have... things that I would quite like in my toy collection.” I hold my fork so tight the metal bends beneath my fingers, and she laughs.
She fucking laughs.
“I think we'll be fine without your brand of help, and on that fun note, we'll be leaving,” I say through gritted teeth as I stand.
“Well, you can leave at least.” She winks at me, steepling her fingers beneath her chin.
“What, the fuck, does that