Chapter 149 Rip Away Your World - Craven's POV

Chapter 149 Rip Away Your World - Craven's POV
Craven
I had never seen my brother look so pleased to see me, but that should have been enough to tell me this had all been a trap. I had known there was a chance Corwin would be waiting for us. I hadn't expected him to look as if he had been hoping we would come.

My gaze dropped to the hand wrapped around Adele's waist, then back to his face.

“Let her go,” I said again when he didn’t move.

Corwin smiled. “No.”

The single word made something inside me snap. I took another step forward, but the vampires around us immediately raised their weapons.

I didn't even look at them. “Move.”

No one did. My gaze remained fixed on my brother.

“I am Prince Craven, or as you may remember me, Craven, the Feral. Move out of my way, or this room will be filled with blood,” I stated plainly.

The vampires looked at one another, and I could see the hesitation on their faces. Some remembered me. Others had heard of me. They had all heard the stories in some form or fashion.

Corwin, however, only laughed. “You really haven't changed.”

I ignored him. My eyes remained on the vampires standing between us.

“Last warning.”

One of them lowered his weapon. Another immediately followed.

“Cowards,” Corwin muttered.

That made me look at him just as his smile disappeared. He thought they would obey without question, but he couldn’t have been more wrong. Though I wasn’t the heir to the kingdom, I did have authority, and they knew that I would kill them without hesitation.

More of them began lowering their weapons.

Corwin's eyes narrowed. “Don't.”

The word was directed at his guards, but none of them moved to raise their weapons again. I took another step forward.

“Craven,” one of the men behind me warned.

I ignored him. My attention was on Adele.

She was still pressed against Corwin, and his arm was wrapped tightly around her waist. Her eyes immediately found mine.

I could see the fear in them.

I frowned. “Are you hurt?”

Adele shook her head quickly. “No.”

Corwin looked down at her. “She hasn't been harmed.”

I looked at him, my gaze narrowing into slits. “I wasn't asking you.”

His jaw tightened as I got closer. I could see the panic rising and knew I only had seconds to act.

He could hurt her if I gave him the chance.

But then someone burst in the door behind me, and I knew who it was when I saw the look of shock on his face.

“Mira,” he breathed.

“Hello,” she said from behind me. “I’m alive.”

The color had drained from his face. His arm loosened around Adele as he stared past me, his crimson eyes locked on the woman he had watched die.

“No,” he whispered.

Mira's gaze moved to him. Corwin took a step backward.

I had never seen him look afraid before, not like this.

His eyes searched her face as if he were trying to find some sign that she wasn't real. Some trick. Some illusion. Anything that would make this make sense.

Mira didn't move. “Hello, Corwin. Is this how you are going to greet me after all this time we’ve spent apart?”

He flinched at the sound of her voice. Adele went completely still against him.

“You died in my arms,” he murmured. “How could you fake your death and not come back for me?”

“Corwin,” she said softly. “Let the girl go, and we can talk about—”

“No,” he snapped, regaining his composure and holding Adele closer to him. “You’re going to explain why you did this…to me. I was one of your mates.”

She sighed. “Corwin, you need to calm down. Let Craven have back his mate. There doesn’t have to be more bloodshed.”

“No,” he said again. “I have uses for her and my brother is going to pay for what he has done.”

“Done?” I asked mockingly. “You’re holding my mate captive. It is you who has problems.”

He glanced at me. “Don’t pretend that you’re innocent.”

“I truly don’t know what I’ve done to you,” I said honestly. “Yes, I went on a rampage and I… got myself banished to the Isle. But I’ve never hurt you or even gone for the throne. So what have I done?”

None of it made sense. We didn’t have the best relationship because of my bloodlust and the way he was the golden child, but that didn’t mean I had personally done something to him.

His expression shifted to confusion. For the first time since I had entered the room, Corwin looked at me as if he were actually seeing me and realizing things.

“You really don't know?”

I frowned. “Know what?”

Mira's expression tightened. She looked between the two of us, and something in her face told me she already knew where this was going.

Corwin laughed, but there was no humor in it. “You took everything from me.”

I stared at him in disbelief. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“No, I didn't.” I shook my head. “I heard you say that I took everything from you. I’m asking what exactly I supposedly took, because I never took anything.”

His eyes flashed.

“You took her from me,” he murmured.

I thought back and couldn’t remember what he was thinking. “But I didn’t know Mira. I didn’t even know you two had a past until recently. How are you blaming this on me?”

“It was before you were sent into exile. Remember that attack?”

Once again, I was completely lost. “I remember an attack before I started visiting Soren, which is when I met Mira.”

He growled low in his throat. “That was the day I lost her.”

I remembered him being almost inconsolable, vowing vengeance and death for all those involved, which, as far as I knew, he did just that. 

“Those who attacked the castle paid for their crimes,” I admitted. “And I had no idea the two of you were even…together. This has nothing to do with me.”

“If you hadn’t suffered from bloodlust, then that attack would never have happened. You ripped my world away from me,” he said, his voice softening. “And now I’m going to rip yours away from you and let you feel the same pain I did.”