Chapter 116 Blood over blood
ADRIAN
The dining hall still smells like wine and tension.
Everyone’s pretending the spill didn’t happen. The servants are scrubbing at the stain like it’s a sin they can erase, but the red only spreads deeper, darker. My brother’s laughter still echoes faintly in my ears, sharp, strained, nothing like him.
I watch Zeus storm out before dessert even hits the table, shoulders tight, jaw locked like he’s holding back something dangerous.
Something’s wrong.
I feel it in my bones.
I give it a minute before I follow, rising from my seat. “Excuse me,” I mutter, ignoring Father’s questioning look. The moment I’m outside, the air hits cold against my face. I spot Zeus’s silhouette already halfway down the corridor, moving like a shadow with purpose.
“Zeus!” I call out.
He doesn’t stop. Doesn’t even slow down.
“Zeus!” I try again, louder. “You’re not gonna pretend that didn’t just happen, are you?”
He keeps walking. The bastard’s acting like I’m air.
Something in me snaps. I quicken my pace, grab his shoulder, and spin him around.
His eyes are wild, gold bleeding through, bright and burning. He looks like he’s halfway between a man and the beast that’s always scratching under his skin.
“What?” he snarls. One word, laced with venom.
I take a step back, studying him. “You almost bit my head off over a glass of wine. I get it now.”
He laughs once, short, humorless. “Do you?”
“I know what you planned tonight.”
The words drop between us like thunder.
For a heartbeat, the hall is silent, not even the torches crackle. Then his eyes narrow, dangerous. “You should be careful with accusations like that.”
“I’m not accusing you,” I say. “I’m stating a fact.”
His lip curls. “And where did you get this ‘fact,’ little brother?”
“Does it matter?” I shoot back. “You were shaking like a damned addict when Father spilled that drink. I don’t need more proof to know you were up to something.”
He steps closer, the air around him shifting heat, dominance, threat. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know you’ve been restless for weeks. I know you’ve been sneaking off with Adira. And I know-” I pause, the words burning in my throat, “-that whatever you planned tonight wasn’t just to talk politics.”
His expression flickers, the barest hint of guilt, then gone. “You should walk away, Adrian.”
“I can’t.”
“You should.”
“Not until you tell me why Daisy had to be collateral damage in whatever twisted game you’re playing.”
The name hits him like a blade.
Zeus’s composure cracks, just a hairline fracture, but enough. His eyes flash, teeth bared. “This isn’t about her.”
“It is about her!” I shout. “You used her, Zeus. You broke her. She trusted you, and you turned her inside out for what? Intel? Some power move? She’s not a pawn.”
He turns away, running a hand through his hair, the muscles in his jaw working. “She was a means to an end. Don’t make it something it wasn’t.”
I step forward, fury boiling. “You used my friend like she didn’t matter.”
“She doesn’t matter!” he roars, spinning back toward me.
“She sure as hell mattered when you were in between her legs, Zeus. Didn’t she?” I was starting to see red.
“That was all part of the process. Besides, it was just sex. She’ll get over it.”
The silence that follows is deafening.
My pulse pounds in my ears. For a second, all I can hear is my own breathing slow, disbelieving, deadly calm. “Say that again,” I whisper.
He doesn’t. He doesn’t have to. His eyes already said it.
The hit comes from instinct, a blur of motion, my fist connecting with his jaw hard enough to make him stagger back. His head snaps to the side, and for a heartbeat, I think maybe that’s it.
But then he lunges.
We collide in a blur of claws and teeth and fury. His hand slams into my chest, throwing me back into the wall hard enough to rattle my skull. I kick off it, shoulder-first into his ribs. We hit the ground, rolling, years of training and hatred boiling over.
“Still the hero, huh?” he snarls, slamming his forearm across my throat. “Always sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong!”
“At least I have a conscience!” I choke out, twisting beneath him. “You’re just a snake wearing our father’s crest!”
He growls, low and feral, and his claws flash. The slash catches my cheek, hot blood streaking my face. I swing back, fist catching him in the gut, then again in the ribs. He grunts, spits blood, grins.
“This all because of your precious Daisy?” he taunts. “She’s tougher than you think. She’ll survive without you playing her guard dog.”
“Don’t say her name!” I roar, driving him backward. The marble floor cracks beneath us as our claws dig in, power flaring with every blow.
We’re not brothers anymore. We’re two Lycans tearing each other apart.
He catches my arm, twists it behind me, and slams me face-first into a pillar. Pain flares bright and sharp. I kick backward, heel catching his thigh, then whip around, claws bared.
He blocks, but I push through, tackle him hard enough that we crash through a set of wooden chairs, splinters flying everywhere.
“Enough!” I yell, panting. “Just admit it! Admit what you were trying to do tonight!”
Zeus spits blood, grinning that damned grin. “You think you’re better than me? You think you’re righteous? You’re just naive.”
“Maybe,” I snarl, “but at least I’m not a murderer.”
He stops smiling. For a second, his face goes blank, cold, then distant.
Then he lunges again.
We crash into a table, knocking over a candelabra. Flames lick across the tablecloth, smoke curling up in lazy spirals. I barely dodge a strike meant for my throat, roll aside, and drive my elbow into his jaw. He staggers, swipes at me, catches my shoulder instead.
We’re both breathing hard, half-shifted, claws dripping crimson. The hall looks like a war zone, shattered glass, burning linen, blood smeared across the floor.
“Father doesn’t deserve the throne!” Zeus growls, circling me like a predator. “He’s weak. The packs need someone ruthless enough to keep them in line.”
“Ruthless?” I echo, shaking my head. “You mean soulless.”
He laughs, bitter and raw. “Souls don’t win wars.”
“And that’s why you’ll never be king,” I say.
Something flickers behind his eyes, something old, wounded. Then he charges.
The impact sends us both crashing into the wall. My back hits stone, hard enough to knock the breath out of me. I swing anyway, catching him across the face. Blood sprays, warm and metallic. He hits me back twice as hard, ribs cracking, vision flashing white.
For a second, neither of us moves.
We’re both on our knees, panting, bleeding, staring at each other through the haze.
He looks less like my brother now and more like a stranger wearing his skin.
Then a voice cuts through the air, sharp and commanding.
“Enough!”
Kelvin’s shout rings down the corridor like thunder. He walks in and towards me and helps me up. “What the hell is going on here?!”
I stumble to my feet, wiping the blood from my lip. “Ask him,” I rasp. “Ask your golden boy what he was planning tonight.”
Zeus jerks free, glaring at me. “Stay out of it, Kelvin.”
Kelvin’s eyes dart between us, narrowing. “You two are going to kill each other before father even dies of old age.”
Zeus laughs, a low, broken sound. “Maybe that’s the plan.”
“Watch your mouth.”
Zeus doesn’t fight back. He just stares at me over Kelvin’s shoulder, eyes still burning, still full of hatred, but under it, I see something else. Something like fear.
“What were you going to do, Zeus?” I demand. “Tell him.”
He says nothing.
Kelvin exhales, pinching the bridge of his nose. “That doesn’t matter right now…”
He stops mid-sentence, eyes flicking toward the grand staircase. His expression shifts from irritation to something colder.
“Iris is in the throne room,” he says quietly. “With her grandfather.”
The words freeze the air between us.
I straighten immediately, eyes sharp. “What?”
What are they doing there?” I ask quietly.
Kelvin looks at us both grimly. “You tell me.”
The silence that follows is suffocating.
I wipe the blood from his mouth, eyes dark, unreadable. “Then we’d better find out.”