Chapter 359
Zayn
Eventually, Kael and I ended up stretched out on the cold dungeon floor, both of us staring up at the ceiling with our hands resting behind our heads as we waited for someone to come down and check on us, although neither of us had any real idea what we were expecting them to do when they finally arrived.
Nobody came.
The minutes dragged on, and the silence gradually became more irritating than the ache in my body, especially with the heat trapped beneath the castle making the air feel thick and unpleasant.
Kael shifted against the floor beside his cage before letting out an exaggerated groan.
“Why is it so fucking hot in here?”
I turned my head toward him.
“I don’t know, maybe it has something to do with the fact that it’s August and we’re sitting underground with absolutely no ventilation.”
“That doesn’t explain why it feels like we’re being slowly cooked.”
“You’re a lycan.”
“And?”
“You have survived far worse than a warm room.”
He sighed dramatically.
“I’m going to die down here.”
I stared at the ceiling again.
“Good.”
His head turned toward me.
“Good?”
“If you stop talking, maybe I’ll finally get some peace.”
“You’d miss me.”
“I absolutely would not.”
“You would.”
“I’ve spent months here without you and somehow managed to survive.”
“Barely, judging by the state of you.”
I turned my head again and narrowed my eyes at him.
“You were the one who got thrown into a cage ten minutes after breaking into the kingdom.”
“And yet somehow I still look better than you.”
“You look like shit.”
“So do you.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
I rolled my eyes and looked back toward the ceiling, deciding that continuing the argument would only encourage him.
It worked for approximately thirty seconds.
Then Kael sighed again.
“I’m still hot.”
“Shut up.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
“I think I’m dehydrating.”
“You’re being dramatic.”
“I can feel my organs shutting down.”
“Your organs are fine.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know enough.”
“You’re not a doctor.”
“And you’re not dying.”
“You can’t prove that.”
I turned toward him again.
“If you complain one more time, I’m going to find a way to strangle you through these bars.”
He grinned.
“See? You missed me.”
I was opening my mouth to answer when something reached my ears.
Footsteps.
Both of us immediately stopped arguing.
The sound came from somewhere farther down the corridor, faint at first, but the steady rhythm grew louder with every second until I could make out someone approaching from the direction of the dungeon entrance.
I pushed myself upright, ignoring the soreness that immediately pulled through my muscles, and watched the corridor.
A guard appeared at the far end.
He carried something bundled in his arms and walked toward us without saying a word, his expression completely blank as though bringing two prisoners clothes was the most ordinary task in the world.
When he reached my cage, he stopped and tossed the bundle through the bars.
It landed beside me with a dull thud.
I looked down.
A pair of sweatpants and a plain shirt.
The guard continued toward Kael and threw an identical set into his cage before turning around and walking away.
I stared after him.
“What the hell was that?”
Kael picked up the shirt and unfolded it.
“I guess they don’t want us running around naked.”
I looked down at myself.
“Apparently they have standards.”
“Very considerate of them.”
“Generous, really.”
Kael pulled the shirt over his head.
“I’m touched.”
I grabbed my own clothes and changed as quickly as I could, grateful for anything that made me feel even slightly less exposed after being dragged through half the castle with nothing on.
Once I had finished, I leaned back against the wall and stretched my legs out in front of me, immediately wishing the stone beneath me could somehow transform into a mattress.
Kael settled down across from me, tugging at the collar of his shirt before making a disgusted face.
“Great.”
I glanced at him.
“What now?”
“I’m even hotter.”
I stared at him.
“You cannot possibly be serious.”
“I am.”
“You’re wearing a shirt.”
“Yes.”
“Then take it off.”
“That defeats the entire purpose of giving me clothes.”
“Then suffer quietly.”
He frowned.
“You’re remarkably unsympathetic.”
“You’ve been complaining for the last five minutes.”
“I have legitimate concerns.”
“You’re sitting in a dungeon.”
“Exactly.”
“That should probably be the least surprising thing about today.”
He considered that.
“Fair.”
I shook my head and looked away, although I could already feel the corner of my mouth threatening to move.
I hated that he could still make me almost laugh after everything that had happened.
For several minutes, the only sounds were the faint crackle of the torches farther down the corridor and the occasional shift of our clothes against the stone whenever one of us moved.
Then Kael turned his head toward me.
“So, there’s something you should probably know.”
I glanced at him.
“What?”
“Aurora’s pregnant.”
My entire body went still.
“What?”
He looked at me with an almost irritatingly casual expression.
“She’s pregnant.”
I stared at him.
He shrugged.
“About six months.”
My mind seemed to stall completely.
Aurora.
Pregnant.
Six months.
The words moved through my thoughts one at a time, refusing to settle into anything coherent.
“And you’re the father?”
The question came out before I could stop it, sharp enough that Kael’s eyebrows immediately shot upward.
“What the hell?”
I clenched my jaw.
“What?”
“Why would you think I’m the father?”
I gave him a look.
“Oh, don’t act fucking stupid.”
“I’m not acting stupid.”
“I know you slept with her.”
His expression changed.
“I could feel it, you asshole.”
He stared at me.
“I knew something happened.”
“That doesn’t mean I got her pregnant.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t.”
I scoffed.
“Then who did?”
Kael stared at me for a second before his expression shifted into something that looked suspiciously like amusement.
“You.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“You’re the father.”
I stared at him.
He didn’t look away.
My mind struggled to catch up with what he had just said, and when the meaning finally reached me, everything inside my chest seemed to stop at once.
“I’m… what?”
“You’re the father.”
I continued staring at him, searching his face for even the smallest indication that he was joking, but there was nothing.
He was serious.
I dragged a hand slowly over my face.
“And you didn’t think to mention that the second you got here?”
“You were busy.”
“I was busy?”
“You looked like you’d been through hell.”
“I have been through hell.”
“Exactly.”
“That doesn’t explain why you waited until now to tell me that Aurora is carrying my child.”
“I was trying to figure out how to tell you.”
“The appropriate way would have been to walk in and say, ‘Hey, Zayn, you’re going to be a father.’”
Kael nodded thoughtfully.
“In hindsight, that probably would’ve been easier.”
“In hindsight?”
“Yes.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
“We’re sitting in fucking cages beneath a castle, and you’re telling me I’m going to be a father like you’re giving me some casual piece of information.”
“I didn’t exactly have a lot of privacy to work with.”
“You had six months.”
“I didn’t have six months with you.”
“You could’ve told me when you got here.”
“I was trying to work out whether you were going to punch me.”
“I still might.”
“That seems fair.”
I shook my head and leaned back against the wall, staring at the ceiling while my thoughts raced in every direction at once.
Aurora.
My child.
The thought was so enormous that I didn’t know where to put it.
I had spent months thinking about Aurora, wondering what she was doing and whether she was safe, but somehow I had never allowed myself to imagine this.
A child.
My child.
Then Kael’s expression changed, and whatever amusement had been there disappeared.
“There’s something else.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
His gaze dropped.
“We don’t know if she’s still pregnant.”
My chest tightened.
“What?”
“We don’t know what happened to her after she was taken.”
He rubbed his thumb against the side of his hand.
“She could still be pregnant, but she could have lost the baby too. We have no idea what they’ve done to her or what she’s been through.”
I felt something twist painfully inside my chest.
“No.”
The word escaped before I could think about it.
I looked away, refusing to let my mind follow that possibility any further.
No.
I couldn’t.
Not that.
Not after everything else.
Kael didn’t say anything, and for once I was grateful that he didn’t try to fill the silence with another stupid comment.
I dragged a hand through my hair and took a slow breath, trying to force my thoughts into some kind of order.
Aurora was missing.
She might still be carrying my child.
I didn’t know where she was.
I didn’t know whether she was safe.
I didn’t know whether she was even alive.
And there was nothing I could do about any of it while sitting inside this fucking cage.
I eventually looked back at Kael.
“Well…”
His eyebrows lifted.
I gave him a tired look.
“If we’re going to keep throwing life-changing information at each other, I suppose it’s my turn.”
His expression immediately became suspicious.
“What?”
I leaned my head against the wall and watched him through the bars.
“Your father is my father.”
Kael froze.
I let him stare at me for a moment, watching the realization slowly spread across his face.
“You and I,” I continued, keeping my voice deliberately calm, “are half brothers.”
He said nothing.
I raised an eyebrow.
“Go ahead.”
His mouth opened, then closed again.
I almost smiled.
“Say something.”
Kael stared at me.
“You’re fucking joking.”
“I’m not.”
He sat up straighter.
“My father is your father?”
“Apparently.”
“That makes you my brother.”
“Half brother.”
“I don’t give a shit about the technicality.”
“You were pretty interested in technicalities earlier.”
“That was different.”
“How?”
“Because I wasn’t finding out that my brother has been sitting in a cage across from me this entire time.”
I shrugged.
“Life’s full of surprises.”
Kael dragged both hands over his face.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
I couldn’t help the faint smile that finally appeared.
“You wanted something to distract you from the heat.”
He stared at me.
“I hate you.”
“Get in line.”
He shook his head, still looking completely stunned.
“Half brothers.”
“Half brothers.”
“That’s fucking insane.”
“Yeah.”
He looked toward the ceiling as though asking whatever higher power existed to explain how his life had managed to become this ridiculous.
Then he looked back at me.
“So we’re brothers.”
I nodded.
“And Aurora’s carrying your child.”
I nodded again.
Kael stared at me.
I stared back.
He slowly shook his head.
“This family is fucking exhausting.”
I laughed despite myself.
“Now you’re getting it.”