Page 255 of Commanding Scythe and Sky

“For bein’ the bearer of bad news?”

“Say that ten times fast.”

He snorted. “Rather not.”

“For your help, Kade.” I turned to study those eerily misplaced eyes. “August believes in you. I guess I should’ve sooner.”

“’M the son of a killer.” He shrugged.

I scoffed. “We’re all children of killers here.”

“True. But your parents fought with honor.”

I went suddenly mute, struggling just to swallow.

“I’m sorry. Dunno if I’ve ever said it, but I am. Ansel Callahan was a great man. Better friend, by the sound of it.”

I nodded tightly, shifting my feet against the silty shore.

“He is greatly missed. Not only by your coven, but by the souls who knew the world was brighter because he walked in it.”

“Thank you,” I managed, though the words came out choked.

Kade’s gaze dipped in my periphery. When I turned, I found him staring at my exposed ribs.

Scowling, I asked, “Can I help you?”

“Maybe,” he purred, meeting my gaze. “You trust your brother?”

“To be a giant pain in the ass? Absolutely.”

He chuffed, lips quirking. “And his judgment?”

I stared at the waterfall they’d gone over. “Pain in my ass,” I muttered, glaring at the drop.

August had likely calculated Moros’ death as worth the price of his own. Self-sacrificial, absolutely. But calculated. We were both prone to acting on passion, but not blindly. There had been intent in coming here. Intent in trying to take the fight from Cyrus with a bullet hole in his chest. Intent in carrying syringes in his tac suit and taking Moros himself.

The fall would have been no different.

“With my life. Every goddamn time.”

Kade drew a slow breath—the kind you take before digging glass from a fresh wound.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen you fight without your armor,” he noted.

“Didn’t have time,” I explained. “Sure as fuck wasn’t going to pass up a chance to get my hands on Marlana.”

“And yet you left her to the others?” Genuine curiosity softened the question.

“August and…”

“Cyrus,” he supplied knowingly. I nodded, grateful he didn’t press. “So, you relinquished your prize to protect the living.”

“A reckoning is coming. It’s not just mine to take.”

“No doubt.”

“I’ll see it through the same way it started. With my brother by my side.”