The Palace (Chateau 4)

I stepped behind Magnus and waited for him to turn around.

Magnus pulled out his knife from his pocket and held it at the ready. “Let them go, or I’ll cut off your balls, your lips, and your nose.”

Alix wasn’t scared because he had a more formidable foe on his side. He looked behind Magnus, right at me.

My brother stilled—because he knew.

He slowly turned around and met my look, a hint of surprise there, as if he actually believed there was a chance Alix was the one behind this. His faith infuriated me.

My concentrated stare was full of anger and disappointment. The betrayal stung—and it would always sting. Magnus had forced me to do this because I had no other option. “Because of your foolishness, I will take three lives instead of one. The women can thank you for that.”

He shook his head slightly, still in disbelief. The women and guards stared at us as the torches flickered. His eyes remained on me as if there was no one else there, and when he spoke, it was just for me to hear. “You’re better than this.”

Nothing would dim my anger. Nothing. “Sorry to disappoint you, brother.”

He flinched at my cruelty. “It doesn’t have to be this way.”

“Yes, it does.” I looked past him and nodded at Alix, telling him to continue with the butchering.

With lightning speed, Magnus punched Alix so hard in the back of the head that he fell to the ground and didn’t get up again. There must have been so much adrenaline in his veins to numb the pain, because his knuckles slammed into the hardest skull I’d ever seen. He turned back to me and stared me down, now as his enemy.

The two other guards standing with the women didn’t move forward, having seen their enormous comrade collapse on the ground from a single hit.

Magnus held his ground and didn’t back down. “I’m not going to let this happen.”

He officially severed all loyalty to me. I was the one who saved his life. He wouldn’t even be here right now if it weren’t for me. But he seemed to have forgotten that. He seemed to have forgotten the night I got jumped trying to get enough money to get him to the doctor when he was sick. “You’re weak.”

“And you’re deranged.”

“Step aside, Magnus. I mean it.” The threat was unmistakable. It was a showdown—and I would come out the victor.

“Or what?” he challenged. “You’re going to kill me?” He echoed the same question I’d asked of him, calling my bluff publicly, saying it loudly so everyone could hear. He put me on the spot, pushed me to the brink.

My anger increased tenfold. I’d never wanted to kill someone I loved, but now I actually wanted to. I wanted to bury him in the graveyard where our family rested in eternal peace. He betrayed me—so he was dead to me anyway.

“The only way you’re gonna stop me is by killing me. So, I suggest you pull out your knife and do it.”

The line was drawn in the sand.

He left me no choice.

I had to do it.

All eyes were on me.

It was so quiet that the torches sounded like an inferno.

To do nothing would permanently humiliate me. It would damage my power. It would ruin everything I’d built.

But all I did was stare.

He knew I couldn’t do it. He fucking knew it. “We can do this another way. I promise you.”

My eyes remained focused with hatred.

He stepped closer to me, lowering his voice. “Don’t be like Father. Be like Mother.”

The mention of her was a wound that no one could see. Because, of everyone I’d lost, I missed her the most. Croissants on Christmas morning. The sight of her in the first row at my symphony concerts. Listening to her sing as she drove us to school in the morning. She was the most innocent person who’d ever lived—and she was murdered.

Magnus must have known he’d hit me hard because he pressed harder. “Let’s stop disappointing her more than we already have. Come on, Fender.”

I refused to be swayed. I refused to give up my hatred. My vengeance was all I had left. “We’ve already talked about this. It’s too late.”

He shook his head. “It’s never too late. Stop this.”

The silence lasted forever. I didn’t pull out my weapon or order the guards to continue the slaughter. I didn’t move against him either. I didn’t kill him where he stood. With a defeated voice, I spoke. “You win, Magnus.”

Magnus couldn’t control his reaction. Relief rippled across his face like a pond once a stone had been thrown into it. Affection came soon afterward.

I shattered it. “For now. When your rotation is finished, you’ll be discharged from your service. You will never return here—and I will run this camp as I see fit.”