Page 117 of On Brutal Thrones

“He said if you don't win this time, he's going to make sure you can't compete again!” Nyx shoots to her feet. “Thorian, this isn't just about winning. He's talking about your life. If you're off our team, you lose whatever protection we're getting from Soryn. You won't have us watching your back. And if you don't earn godhood...”

She can't finish. She doesn't need to. Valtor will kill him. The realization settles heavily in my stomach.

And Thorian is sitting here calmly suggesting we help his father do it.

“Nyx,” Thorian says, finally lifting his head. “This is your chance to guarantee your sister's freedom. That's why you came here. That's why we formed this team.”

“It might have been why I started,” she says, crossing her arms, “but it's not the only reason I'm seeing this through.”

She raises her hand. The little woven ring catches the firelight.

Thorian looks away.

“I'd be happy knowing all of you got what you wanted,” he says quietly. “That would be enough for me.”

Oh. My anger cracks, but it doesn’t disappear. I'm still angry enough to shake him. But suddenly I understand. The idiot means it. He loves us enough that he'd die if it guaranteed the rest of us got everything we came here for.

And somehow, after all this time, he still doesn't understand that we love him enough to refuse.

The night feels strangely quiet around us. Insects chirp beyond the firelight, and wind whispers through the leaves overhead. Smoke stings my nose and eyes, although I tell myself that's definitely why my eyes suddenly burn.

“No,” Talon says.

No joke. No smirk.

Just no.

“Yeah, no,” I add.

Nyx crosses the space between them and kneels in front of Thorian, forcing herself into his line of sight when he tries to stare at the ground.

“You'd be happy if we got what we wanted?” Her voice cracks. “Well, we'd be miserable if we got it without you.”

Thorian finally looks at her. Then at Talon and at me.

I swallow around the tightness in my throat.

“You're my family now,” I tell him.

The words feel bigger than they sound.

I wish I could make him understand what they mean to me. Family isn't something a berserker walks away from when life gets difficult. It's the people you stand beside when everything else has been taken from you.

“And a berserker never abandons his family.”

Talon's mouth quirks. “I like you too much to let you go. Besides, what are the chances I can join another partnership with a demi-god?”

“Ha,” Thorian says.

The sound comes out strange.

Nyx wraps her arms around him, and Thorian folds her against his chest. He holds her tightly, his face disappearing into her damp hair.

When he finally pulls back, his eyes are suspiciously bright.

“I don't know what to do with this,” he says, voice rough. “I've never had someone choose me like this. Not since my mom.”

Well, fuck.