The hand on her shoulder was weighty and warm. “Payne. Payne, look at me.”
With no energy left to fight, she dropped her arms and met his grim eyes.
“Answer me one thing,” her twin said.
“What.”
“Do you love the bas—him. Do you love him?”
Payne looked back through the glass at the human on the bed. “Yes. I am in love with him. And if you try to dissuade me by the fact that I have not lived yet enough to judge, I say unto you . . . fuck off. I need not know the world to realize my heart’s desire.”
There was a long silence. “What did Wrath say?”
“The same thing you would. That I must erase myself from his memory and never, ever see him again.”
When her brother did not say anything further, she shook her head. “Why are you still here, Vishous. Are you trying to think of what to say to get me to go home? Let me save you the effort—when dawn comes, I shall go—and I shall abide by the rules, but not because it is good for you or the king or myself. It is because it’s safest for him—he does not need enemies such as yourself and the Brotherhood to torture him just because I feel as I do. So it will be done just as you wish. Except”—at this, she glared at him—“I will not scrub him. His mind is too valuable to waste—and it cannot withstand another episode. I shall keep him safe by ne’er coming here again, but I will not condemn him to a life of dementia. That is not going to happen—he has done nothing but help me. He deserves better than to be used and discarded.”
Payne returned her eyes to the glass.
And after a long while of silence, she assumed that her twin had left. So she nearly screamed when he stepped in front of her and blocked the view of Manuel.
“Are you still here,” she snapped.
“I’ll take care of it for you.”
Payne recoiled and then growled, “Do not you dare think of killing him—”
“With Wrath. I’ll take care of it. I’ll . . .” Vishous scrubbed his hair. “I’ll work something out so you can keep him.”
Payne blinked. And then felt her mouth drop open. “What . . . what did you say?”
“I’ve known Wrath for a lot of years. And technically, according to the Old Laws, I’m the head of our little happy family down here. I’ll go to him and tell him that I approve of this . . . match and that I think you should be able to see the bas—guy. Man. Manello.” He cleared his throat. “Wrath is very security-conscious, but with the mhis around the compound . . . Manello couldn’t find us if he wanted to. Besides, it’s hypocritical to deny you what other Brothers have done from time to time. Fuck it, Darius had a kid with a human woman—and Wrath’s now married to that young. Matter of fact—if you had t
ried to separate our king from his Beth when he’d met her? He’d have killed anyone who even made the suggestion. Rhage’s Mary? Same diff. And it should . . . be likewise for you. I’ll even talk to Mahmen, if I have to.”
Payne put her palm up to her pounding heart. “I . . . don’t understand why you would . . . do this?”
He glanced over his shoulder, staring at the human she loved. “You’re my sister. And he’s what you want.” He shrugged. “And . . . well, I fell in love with a human. I fell in love with my Jane within an hour of meeting her—and . . . yeah. I’ve got nothing without her. If what you feel for Manello is even half what I have for my shellan, your life is never going to be complete without him—”
Payne tackled her brother in an embrace. Nearly knocked him right off his feet. “Oh . . . brother mine . . . !”
His arms came around her and held her. “I’m sorry I was such an asshole.”
“You were . . .” She searched for another word. “Yes, you were such an asshole.”
He laughed, the sound rumbling up through his chest. “See? We can agree on something.”
As she held on to him, she said, “Thank you . . . thank you . . .”
After a moment, he pulled back. “Let me talk to Wrath first before you go to Manello, okay? I want to work it all out beforehand—and yes, I’m going home right now. Jane’s doing rounds and the Brotherhood is off tonight, so I should get right in with the king.” There was a pause. “I only want one thing from you in return.”
“What. Anything. Name it.”
“If you’re going to hang around until dawn, go inside. It’s fucking freezing as shit out here, true.” He stepped back. “Go on . . . go hang with your . . . male. . . .” He rubbed his eyes and she had a feeling he was remembering what he’d walked in on when she’d been in the shower with her healer. “I’ll come back . . . ah, call. . . . Do you have a phone? Here, take my—Fuck, I don’t have it.”
“It is okay, brother mine. I shall return at dawn.”
“Good, yeah—I should know by then.”