the start that she was not what she seemed. I warned you—you failed to heed my warning and look what happened! The whore went to that bastard. Is this the reason you wish to keep him here?” Auro demanded.
Lyne shook his head, bloodied tears threatening to fall from his pale face. “Brother, you know that is not the only…”
“But it is one of the reasons, is it not?”
He stayed silent.
Auro hissed, pale hand slashing through the air. “Destroy that picture—it’s holding you to the past. If you must, take your anger out on him, but do not recall her when you are with me,” he snarled, his thin voice rising with anger. “It is an insult not only to me, but everything that I have done for us.”
Lyne stared at him. He wanted so badly to tell Auro what he thought of his highhanded remarks, what he thought of his rules and what he had done. He wanted to shout back, but knew that it would only earn him a cold shoulder and a long night alone.
His gaze dropped, and Auro stormed out of the room without another word.
Lyne moved to the dresser, opening the second drawer. Within, the picture of his Amena lay. The old frame was worn, the gold paint chipping. The glass was clouded, and the drawn picture that he had spent several years on was faded. He held it gently in his hands, feeling his chest tighten with emotion.
With anger, at his brother for being angry over the picture. With longing, missing her and her smile. With pain, because of her betrayal. With hate, because of that bastard. His fingers itched to wrap around Talon’s throat, to tear away every limb that had touched her.
It had been so long ago, it was amazing that the hate and betrayal was still so fresh. Auro would never know how it felt to lose someone who meant the world to them. It always amazed him, that his brother could be so close-minded. Now it only angered him.
Amena and Auro were the only ones who understood him. He loved them both equally, had cherished them. It had torn his heart when he realized that Amena was only a whore, using him for his power and position.
He laughed bitterly, hands tightening around the picture frame. How would she feel now, knowing that he had been so lowered in status, no one knew who he was? Before, grown, battle-scarred men had turned their head away with fear for meeting his soulless gaze. That had been his one pride, and he had not known that Amena called to the dark like he called to death.
Darkness had taken her. Death kept him alive.
Lyne stared down at the faded picture, knowing that the time for him to rid himself of her was growing closer.
He had promised himself that when they finally got Talon, he would give her up, forget her. By then, his revenge would have been exacted. It had taken longer than Auro had thought to find the man, and Lyne had only grown more attached. Even through death she held his heart in her grasp.
The last time they had been too late. A raid from France had been Talon’s downfall. A reputable baron with a beautiful wife, he had been the envy of many and, as Lyne was later told by his serfs, kept a strict hand and was horridly loyal to the king.
That loyalty had been his downfall. Lyne could remember running through his manor, praying that they weren’t too late. When he had barged into the room, he had known immediately that he hadn’t made it.
Talon hadn’t known about his powers, his ability to take over legions, hundreds, even thousands of men. The woman that he had died with had not been his real love, but some woman that his parents had arranged for him. The sex had not unleashed his powers, and before the raid. Auro had been ecstatic. The turn of fate had been in their favor, he had boasted as they made the long travel to Talon’s hold.
Auro had been wrong.
The flames had eaten the two alive. Lyne had stared in despair, in fury... They had been too late, once again. His chest tightened with remembered pain. His mind turned back to Amena, their last failure, a shame.
“I’m such a fool,” he whispered. His anguished whisper turned into an angry roar. The picture hit the wall with a bang. Glass flew at him, the explosion not bringing relief