Page 118 of The Cost of Blood and Bonds

“I can’t lose her.” A sob tears from his chest. “I can’t. I can’t live without her.” His breath shudders. “I’ve tried to imagine it, and I can’t. There’s nothing, Grier. Without her, there’s nothing.”

I pull him against me. His sobs shake his whole body, years of walls coming down at once. I don’t say anything. What is there to say? He’s afraid of losing her. I already have. I just hold him and let him break because I understand more than he’ll ever know.

When the sobs finally quiet, he pulls back. His eyes find mine, stripped completely bare.

“Grier.” His voice is hoarse. “Let’s not go back.”

I go completely still.

“We could find somewhere up here, a village, a cabin.” His eyes are wild with something that looks almost like hope. “People will assume we died in the blast. They probably already do.”

“Rye—”

“Think about it.” He grips my arm. “No castle. No secrets. No Father. Just the three of us—away from everything. We could start over⁠—”

“Rye.” I say it the way you talk someone off a ledge. “You don’t mean that.”

“I do.” His voice cracks. This isn’t desperation; he’s already decided.

“And Finn?” I ask quietly.

Rye’s eyes snap to mine, his face shifting instantly.

“Who is Finn to her, Grier?” The plea in his voice is unmistakable. “Please. Please—just tell me.”

I look at him. This man who just broke apart in my arms. Who loves her so much he’d give up everything, his entire life, just to keep her. He deserves this. He deserves something.

“He’s her brother.”

The word lands between us. Rye stares at me, uncomprehending.

“What?”

“Finn’s her brother.” I hold his gaze. “That’s why she was so terrified.”

Silence passes long and heavy.

“Her brother.” Rye blinks. “Finn’s her brother.” He repeats it, like he’s trying to make sense of it.

I watch it settle over him, the confusion giving way to understanding, the understanding giving way to relief.

“Why didn’t she tell me?”

“There are reasons,” I say, trying to hold him steady with my voice. “But that part has to come from her. Not me.”

“Grier—”

“I’ve already told you more than I should.”

He wants to push. I can see the questions burning behind his eyes, but he doesn’t.

I pull him in, wrap my arms around him, and hold him the way I’ve held him through everything else. He exhales against my shoulder, a shaky, broken sound. Relief and confusion and something else all tangled together.

“It’s going to be okay.” I tighten my grip. “We’ll figure it out, together.”

He nods against me and doesn’t pull away. We stand there in the snow, two men who love the same woman, keeping each other from breaking in the cold. The snow falls softly around us, and for a moment, it’s enough.

Chapter 38