Chapter 34

Rhys

Rhys. Wait, Rowan said through the mind link, but I ignored him, pushing into the house. Behind me, I could hear them following.

The house was a labyrinth of shadows, each corner a potential threat. We moved through it like ghosts, our senses heightened, our bodies taut with anticipation. The air was thick with tension, the silence broken only by the creak of floorboards and the soft thud of our footsteps as we searched through each room as carefully as we could while taking down the guards that we found along the way.

Then, we found her.

Pale and almost lifeless, she was chained to a cold, stone wall. A wave of anguish washed over me, a raw pain that threatened to overwhelm me. Naya was also lying lifeless on the floor, but the room was empty save for the two girls, which further proved to me that there was something really off.

Kai, along with Rowan, rushed to Elara's side, their hands trembling as they fumbled with the chains.

I was about to move toward them when the door slammed shut to reveal a face I had thought I would never see again.

Finn?

He stood in the doorway, a smug smirk plastered on his face. Behind him was a phalanx of armed men, their eyes gleaming with a cruel anticipation.

"Finn?" My voice was shaky as I spoke. "What are you doing here?"

"Brother! How amazing it is to see you again after so long!" His voice was mocking as he spoke, the perfect mimic for Silas' voice.

"Silas sends his regards, brother." His gaze landed on me, and his smirk widened. "And I must say, it is a pleasure to be reunited with you, Rhys. Look at you, unable to even detect a trap anymore. You walked right into it. All for what? A Siren? How the mighty have fallen!"

"She's not a Siren."

A growl rumbled in my throat as my wolf fought to take over, but before I could move to grab onto him, he raised his hand to reveal a pulsating object. Almost immediately, I felt all the muscles in my body stiffen.

Rowan and Kai groaned, and I turned my head, which seemed to be the only working part of my body, in their direction to see that they had been frozen too.

A cold smile split Finn's face as he watched us with delight. A deep darkness now clung to him, one I had never seen before, and I realized that he was no longer my brother. No longer was he the boy I had protected with all my might from Silas, the boy I had fought so hard to shield from the bitterness of our world. I had sacrificed myself for him, hoping that Silas would be satisfied with having only me. But I should have known that my escape would make him go after my brother and force him into the life that he wanted for me.

"Look at you, Rhys. You are a shadow of the man you were destined to be. You abandoned all you worked for. He was going to leave everything to you. You were destined to take his place one day, and you abandoned years and years of hard work. For what? For a Siren?"

"Is that what he told you? That he would leave it all to you one day? That if you worked hard enough, you would command his empire when he was gone?" I asked, laughing cruelly, reveling in the way his smug smirk faded a bit.

"He's lying, Finn. You've been manipulated and deceived, just like the others that have come before you. He trains your mind to work for him completely. You don't even have an identity of your own anymore because you've been completely brainwashed by him. Do you think you're the only person he's promised the empire to? There have been many before you, Finn. He'll continue to waste your time while draining your life source to make himself more powerful. He's never going to leave the empire, or whatever he calls it, because as long as he uses boys like you, his life source will continue to blaze, and he will live a very long life." My voice was dripping with venom as I spoke.

Finn's laughter echoed in the room. "You're right, Rhys, Silas...he's a monster. He shaped us both in his own twisted image. But then you escaped, and I had to pay the price. You can never imagine the torture I went through because of your mistake. We were forged in the same inferno, but while you escaped the flames, I was consumed by them."

I tried to move again, but my movements were sluggish, hindered by the strange magic that seemed to cling to me.

"You see, Rhys, I've always been the stronger one. You were the golden boy, but I was the one who survived, the one who thrived in the darkness," Finn continued to drawl as he circled around the room.

The wave of energy in the room was becoming unbearable and I fought against the oppressive force, but it was like swimming against a tide.

Stop fighting it, Rhys. It's designed to work using your strength against you. The more energy you put into fighting it, the faster you're being drained. Stay still, all of you , Elara's voice came through the mind link, and I did as she instructed.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Elara had awakened, and I turned my head toward her, the moment our eyes met, I felt our powers strengthen.

Finn continued to unravel his twisted tale of resentment that was warped by hatred and despair, and as he spoke, distracted, Elara raised her gaze to meet mine. The surge of power that I found sparkling in it sent a shudder up my spine. I felt our bond hum for several seconds, and then a bright light suddenly filled the room and a wave of energy washed over us, breaking the spell.

Finn's face contorted in fury as he realized what had happened. He lunged at Elara, his intent clear. But before he could reach her, I moved in a blur of motion, slamming into Finn and knocking him down. Shock crossed his features, but it was gone almost as soon as it came and before I could land another blow, he sprung up to his feet, moving out of the way just in time.

The fight that followed was a whirlpool of violence. Finn fought with desperation, his attacks growing wilder with each passing moment. It was obvious that his skill had been honed by years of combat, but he was no match for the rage that fueled me. I moved with brutal efficiency, my strikes calculated and deadly. Kai and Rowan's eyes were burning with the same feral intensity as I felt. They made quick work of eliminating Finn's men and freeing Elara from her restraints.

With a final, crushing blow, I sent Finn crashing to the ground, and as he lay there, broken and defeated, I looked down at him with a cold detachment. His eyes, filled with terror, met mine. With a sickeningly calm precision, I wrapped my hands around his neck, determined to squeeze the life from him.

"Silas," Finn whispered, his voice a mere rasp, "will never let you get away with this."

I was about to finish him as I squeezed harder, when a wave of heat engulfed the room, and fire began spreading all around us.

"We need to get out of here, Rhys. Leave him. We don't have long before this room collapses anyway," Rowan called out, forcing us to retreat.

I tried to search through the smoke for Naya, but it was completely useless. There were now several bodies strewn across the floor, and my eyes were starting to sting from all the smoke, so much so, that I couldn't see anymore, and my lungs felt like they had caught on fire.

"Rhys! Come on!" Rowan called, and with a defeated sigh, I raced out of the room, watching as the roof collapsed the moment I jumped out.