"How well do you know my brother?" I do little to suppress my clipped tone.


    "I would say, very well. I owe the man my life and he trusts me with his own."


    "Great, so tell me, is this kind of thing normal for Ivan?"


    Jaxon raises a questioning brow so I clarify, "Normal for him to spend nights pummeling people''s faces with his fists and locking up friends."


    "I''m sure he''s doing what he feels is necessary."


    A bootlicker. Great.


    I throw my hand in the air with a scoff, "Necessary for what? To make enemies of friends?"


    "To keep you safe."


    I stop, chewing on his words. I glance back to where Ivan disappeared and let out an irritated breath through my nose as I grit my teeth. It would be nice if he consulted me before deciding my best interests, especially when they involve my friends.


    Jaxon continues. "Like most of us, he lost his entire family long ago. You have given him a second chance. You can bet a man like your brother will not let what is left of his family get stolen a second time."


    I give Jaxon a pointed look. "There is more than one way to lose your family."


    Those twin copper orbs simply return my gaze. I cannot read a thing. Unlike Eli, Jaxon is far from an open book. Every expression is guarded, and every look—measured.


    "Do you plan on leaving?" Jaxon poses the question so easily, as though he just inquired as to what I wanted for breakfast. As if we were discussing the change of weather. Like it hardly mattered one way or another.


    That''s when I realize this man is dangerous. Because I know it matters. I know it because as much as I may not know Ivan anymore, this man does, and he just finished explaining how much my presence here matters to Ivan.


    "Leave and go where? This is clearly the only safe place for me, right?" I probably shouldn''t bait this man, but the words come out quick and I find myself biting back sarcasm. I know he catches it despite his lack of reaction, but he stays silent.


    I''m safe with Eli. Free, too.


    The thought sours in my mind and I turn, walking down the hall. Jaxon follows.


    "I suppose there''s no point in telling you to stop following me."


    "Your brother entrusted you into my care."


    That''s a no. Too bad there aren''t any ravines with rope bridges around here. I suppose I''ll need to be a little more creative this time around.


    I decide to pay someone a visit and collect my things from The Pheasant''s Roost. No matter how tempting the thought of slighting Ivan by choosing to stay there instead of his little castle is, I know it would only drive a wedge further between us. And right now I need to salvage what I can of that space.


    Before I even knock on the door of the empty inn, it flies open and Fin gives me a grin wider than the ocean itself.


    "Natasha!" He tackles me with a hug.


    I stumble back. "Hey, kiddo. How are you holding up?"


    "I miss Thomas." His eyes catch on something behind me and brighten. "Jaxon!"


    To my surprise, he runs over and gives Jaxon a similar tackle to the one I received. Jaxon kneels and ruffles Fin''s hair, then does a quick show of hands before pulling a coin from the boy''s ear. He tosses it into the air and it lands in Fin''s open hands. I take note of Jaxon''s smile. It suits him, even if it is the first one I''ve seen all morning.


    "Are you two related?" I ask, perplexed at how easily they get along.


    "No, but we could be!" Fin exclaimed. "When you two get married, you can adopt me."


    I manage to inhale enough spit to leave me choking for a nearly comical amount of time. With my hands planted on my knees, I struggle to clear my lungs, my face growing hot.


    Fin looks hurt. "What? Everyone is talking about it. Jaxon is the Commander''s right-hand man and you''re the Commander''s sister. It only makes sense."


    His right-hand man? I remember Jaxon''s words from earlier about Ivan trusting him with his life and the pieces fall into place. Instead of a babysitting assignment what if Ivan is playing matchmaker?


    When did he get so conniving?


    I turn to Fin, "I can''t imagine something more lovely than having you as a son, but something people don''t understand is that a woman can''t marry someone she doesn''t love. And a prerequisite for love is to first be friends."


    I turn my eyes to Jaxon, who is giving me that maddeningly expressionless look again.


    "You two aren''t friends?" Fin asks.


    "Definitely not." I stand and head to the stables to find my horse.


    Collecting my things proves an easy task since I don''t have much besides clothes, food, and the ammo Eli left me.


    After everything is packed away on my horse I turn to Fin. "Want to have a sleepover? Just until Thomas gets back."


    His eyes grow wide. "At the castle?" He leaps into the air. "Wahoo!"


    I smile, but catch Jaxon''s gaze locked on my saddle. He takes one step and then another, and I see what has him so entranced. One of my bags got tossed open and the small horn Eli gave me sits on display. I walk briskly past him and flip the flap over, buckling it closed, then make a show of checking the others. When I look back, Jaxon frowns at the ground. Unease twists in my middle, but I shove it aside. It is just a horn, isn''t it? I haven''t seen any around but then again, I haven''t looked. Surely it''s not too odd a thing. Besides, it''s not like Eli signed his name on it.


    As we reach the town''s square a huge crowd clogs up the path. While men still stare at me, more seem distracted by something in the center of the square. Curiosity leads me closer, through the crowd, but what I see stops me in my tracks. I watch in horror as a large man wearing a black bag over his head heaves an ax high into the air. It comes crashing down right on the neck of a man with his hands tied behind his back.


    As his head rolls free I reach for Fin, shoving my hand over his eyes. Blood flies everywhere, soaking the wooden deck and dribbling over the edges, seeping into the stone path below. Two more headless bodies beside the fresh one now add to the ghastly scene. I know these men. They are the same from this morning in the prison.


    The men who attacked me. The same ones Ivan beat up. Now they''re dead.


    The shock I feel is not new. I recognize it easily enough from before when Eli killed the chief on the bridge. Only this time, it is not followed by emptiness, but anger. My words mean nothing to Ivan. All it took was one word to stop Eli from taking an unnecessary life but here Ivan takes three at once.


    As I leave, I find Jaxon who, to his credit, looks surprised. I suppose Ivan decided to do this without consulting his right-hand man first. When we make it back to the castle, my horse is taken to the stables and Fin explores the kitchen, stuffing his face with cheese.


    Jaxon sets the last of my bags at the foot of my bed. "Your response is not one I would have expected."


    "Response to what? The beheading? It''s not the first I''ve seen."


    There. Like a lightning strike. If you blinked, you would miss it, but a sliver of surprise crosses his face before it''s buried. At least my life is as much a mystery to him as his life is to me. I raise my chin at the satisfying thought.


    "Of course, I never thought I would see it coming from Ivan."


    Jaxon is silent. I guess he figures defending my brother is a lost cause at this point. Or maybe he thinks I''m the lost cause.


    "If you ever want to talk about what happened before you reached the city..." He takes a step forward but stops when I cut him a frown.


    Sorry Jaxon, I''m not so desperate and broken as to cry on the shoulder of a stranger. Not this time around anyway.


    "I need to speak with my brother."


    He straightens and gives me a slight nod before retreating to find Ivan.


    I sit on the bed, holding the horn Eli gave me in my hands, tracing the shallow, twisting lines carved from the milky-white smooth material. Soft leather straps are embedded along the edge and I rub them between a thumb and forefinger, closing my eyes.


    I see Eli''s smile. Feel the warmth of his embrace. I smell the earth in his clothes and the woods in his hair and feel the strength behind those arms. I never should have left. Two weeks. Just two weeks and I will see him again.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    A sound by the doorway interrupts my reminiscing. Jaxon clears his throat, hands at his back as he waits. I shove the horn under a pillow and follow as he leads me down the halls to where Ivan stands on a balcony, overlooking the city.


    I walk up beside him, following his gaze to the town square where men are mopping up blood and I kick away the anger that bubbles to the surface of my mind. I cannot afford to let my emotions rule the conversation. Not this time. And so, silence creeps between us, each waiting for the other to break it.


    "Apparently, the city is abuzz with talk of marriage." I sweep my hands along the balcony wall, leaning over it as I toss Ivan a smile. "Never took you for such a yenta."


    His expression lightens. "Is it working?"


    I glance back at Jaxon who stands by the doorway. "Six months ago, it might have."


    The old me would have melted the moment Jaxon looked my way. With those beautiful copper eyes and strong build, despite being a stranger he seems kind enough—not to mention that Fin adores him.


    "You never said what happened on your journey here," Ivan notes quietly.


    "I didn''t."


    He finally looks at me, but now I avoid his gaze, staring instead at the city before us. I cannot tell him about Eli. Not now. Not after today and especially not when Ivan might be the reason Eli refuses to show his face around here.


    "I want to be here for you, Tasha, if you''ll let me."


    "Trust goes both ways, brother, and after today."—I hug my chest—"it''s in pretty short supply."


    He lets out a harsh exhale and I join his frustration. This is all wrong. I never imagined this is how our reunion would go.


    "Did you know most men who wake from the stone die? The numbers are gruesome. Some say only twenty percent survive past the first month."


    No, but it makes sense. This world is so different from the one we were all born into. The weak would never survive, and the society I came from was not known for its resilience to difficulties, struggle, or pain.


    "Those who remain are survivors. Men who can adapt quickly and do whatever it takes to see the next sunrise. They are strong, smart, and ruthless. This world is not one of family. There are no brothers, sons, or fathers. Only men. Men with nothing left to lose."


    Men with nothing left to lose.


    That''s not true. They do still have one thing left to lose. One thing that matters. Uncle wrote about it. Eli has it.


    Their humanity.


    "Your arrival signaled a significant change, one that if not handled correctly would easily give way to chaos. Today was necessary in order to set boundaries; anything less, and men will make their own. It is as much for your sake as for the city."


    I see it then; past the hard shell sits a genuine heart. There is a softness there even if it is overshadowed by this fearless and calculating lion standing before me.


    Maybe he is right; I may be intimately familiar with surviving out in the woods but what Ivan does is different. I don''t know the first thing about running a city of thousands. Let alone one full of the sort of men who survive where others do not. What looks like overkill to me might be a leash just tight enough to keep the monster from ripping your throat out. But if my being here means more men lose their lives then maybe I don''t belong.


    I could never walk away from Ivan. At least, not forever. He''s my blood—my family. He''s my humanity. But I need to get away for a little while. I need to know what happened between Eli and Ivan. I would ask Ivan myself if it wasn''t for my guts twisting themselves into knots at the very thought. But I could ask Eli. And maybe together we can figure something out and resolve whatever it is that stands between the two of them.


    "What if I told you that you don''t have to worry about me?" I say quietly.


    "I will always worry for you, Tasha. You''re my sister."


    "No, what I mean is"—I turn my back to the city, leaning against the balcony wall—"I might not always be here, behind these city walls. Do you trust me enough to believe I know what I''m doing?"


    He raises a skeptical brow, "you can''t possibly plan on leaving. I have been all over the eastern side of this continent; there is no settlement as large or safe as this one."


    "I don''t doubt that. But my question—"


    "It''s too dangerous."


    His interruption stops me short. I note his tense jaw and the fierceness in his eyes.


    "If you want to travel somewhere, Jaxon will accompany you with some of my men. Wherever you want to go. However long you want to be gone."


    And there it is. The leash. One born of fear and mistrust. And pain. I simply stare at the man before me, speechless. Even if I expected as much, I hoped for more. If he can''t trust me now, how much less so will he trust Eli who is at best a stranger and at worst an old enemy? Eli must remain a secret.


    I turn my gaze back to the city. What can I say to that? Arguing would only harden him further and feed mistrust.


    "Jaxon knows you well," I say softly.


    Ivan bends against the balcony wall, squeezing his fists, the muscles in his arms flexing with effort as he struggles with something. His face—painted in pain.


    "I know this is not what you wanted." He turns mournful eyes my way, "but would you really leave me again?"


    Four years before the world turned to stone, I left to go to college across the country. I remember Ivan''s crocodile tears, his pleading for me to stay. The way he clung to me like the whole world was crumbling beneath him. I had never seen him so desperate and it ripped my heart out. But what could I do? Life moves forward whether you''re ready for it or not.


    He looks at me with those same eyes now. I feel a lump in my throat and try to swallow, but it only grows larger.


    "I''ll always be your sister, Vanny." I reach for him and he welcomes the embrace. "I don''t care how much older you are now, you''ll always be my little brother."


    His arms wrap around me and I sense a desperation I never noticed before. Or maybe it wasn''t there before. The most dangerous animals are vulnerable and desperate. I don''t think Ivan has any vulnerabilities. No, that''s wrong. He didn''t have any, but then I walked through his city gates.


    I need a way out of the city without Ivan knowing. I cannot risk him learning about Eli, not until I have answers. And if I can get to Eli I''m sure we can figure something out. A way to keep these two opposing worlds from clashing while allowing me to exist in both.


    ~~~


    Later that day I decided to visit Thomas. With Fin on one hand, a basket in the other, and my eternal, copper-eyed shadow following behind, the prison guards have no qualms with me this time around.


    As we reach Thomas''s cell in the back my mouth drops open. His cell now holds several furnishings including a bed, nightstand, oversized leather chair, and a small table beside it. Thomas looks up from beneath a pair of reading glasses, setting aside a book titled The Problem of Pain.


    "What''s all this?" I laugh as the guard opens the cell and Fin runs inside to greet Thomas.


    I step inside, shaking my head at a small painting hanging over the head of the bed.


    "I didn''t know you could get all this stuff in jail," Fin says, flipping the cover of the book open and closed as he walks around.


    "You can if you have the right connections," Thomas says with a sly look my way.


    I smile back. Ivan surprised me. In a good way this time.


    "I brought gifts to cheer you up," I declare, lifting the basket up. "But it looks like you don''t need them."


    "Oh?" He takes the basket and lifts the lid, peeking inside and pulling out a wheel of cheese and then a book.


    "I raided the royal kitchens. And then the library."


    He laughs with timber so deep it fills the small space with warmth. "Remind me to break the rules for you more often."


    His gaze shifts to my left. "Hey, Jaxon. How''s training the new recruits going?"


    Jaxon leans against the bars of the doorway, arms crossed over his chest in a relaxed fashion.


    He smiles at Thomas, "beginning to learn the meaning of the phrase Hell on Earth."


    As the two talk, the ever-elusive ''Jaxon smile'' makes more appearances. I feel less surprised this time around; it seems to come out for everyone but me. Not that I care. But I should find a way to make the man trust me. Or at the very least, like me. It could be the key to sneaking out of the city.


    "I would like to talk to Thomas alone," I say, directing my gaze at Jaxon.


    He gives me a veiled look of indifference, but it drags out long enough that I begin to wonder if rather than indifference, it is suspicion with which he regards me. I open my mouth to repeat my request, but he straightens, calling Fin over with promises of magic tricks.


    As they walk around the corner, I sit on the bed with Thomas and heave a wearied sigh.


    "Boy problems?"


    I groan. "Not you too."


    The corner of his lip tugs up in a knowing smile. "You could do a lot worse than Jaxon. That is unless your heart is already hooked on someone else''s line."


    My mouth falls open and I snap it shut, but the heat rushing to my cheeks betray me. I cover my face with a hand and turn away, clearing my suddenly dry throat as discreetly as possible.


    Thomas'' almost impish grin fades into something somber and his voice lowers to a hushed whisper. "If it is who I think, you need to be careful."


    My hand trails to my neck and I turn to see pity etched across his face.


    "You mean Eli? But you know him, you even trade with him."


    "I knew E, a man who wore a mask for reasons of his own. I traded with a man who I thought, like countless others, was simply banned from this city for causing trouble. But when you kept repeating the name Eli in your sleep after that night by the stables, I pieced it together." He stands and scans the hall, eyes wavering momentarily before whispering. "There are stories of Eli—history between him and your brother."


    I knew it.


    "What kind of stories?"


    His expression twists in reluctance. "How well do you know Eli?"


    "I trust him completely."


    Three breaths pass between us as he studies me, testing my conviction. I meet his gaze evenly and he lets out a heavy sigh.


    "If I had known E was the same man as Eli the Red King, I would never have involved myself with him."


    "The Red King?" I echo the unsettling name.


    "If there were history books for this dead world, his story would be one for the centuries. It''s not the story of a man, but a monster."


    I feel my insides twist, not from Thomas'' words about Eli, but from what they mean. How can I hope to reconcile Ivan and Eli if what Thomas says is true? I always knew Eli''s past was dark, ever since the very beginning, I knew. But he''s changed. And I must find a way to make Ivan look past that history to see the man Eli is now.


    Fin''s voice reverberates down the stone hallway announcing Jaxon''s return. "Thomas," I whisper harshly, "I need a way out of the city. Discreetly. Within two weeks."


    He gives me a rather long, miserable look but it slowly morphs into a sad smile of defeat. Then a single nod.


    "What I wouldn''t give to be young and in love. I may have a way."


    What I did to deserve a friend like Thomas, I will never know. Jaxon seems oblivious to our scheming, but of course, the man is so unreadable that if he did suspect something I doubt I would detect it.


    On our way back to the castle, I notice Jaxon''s steady gaze upon me.


    "You''re feeding the rumors, you know that, right?"


    "I was just thinking. Ivan used to spend hours talking about you."


    "So you''re finding out the real thing doesn''t hold up to a memory?"


    "Quite the opposite, actually."


    I hate this man. I hate how such simple words make my cheeks flush against my will. Hate how he can say them without batting an eye. And hate that he says them.


    "He loved to tell this story of you two as kids. A bully at school threw his backpack into the river and he lost everything. The next day you hunted the bully down and threw him into the river."


    I smile, recalling the event from years ago.


    Jaxon continues. "He said that the backpack had the last gift from your parents before they died."


    A glass marble. Not just any glass marble either. Custom-made and smaller than a baseball, the splendid glasswork was such that when you looked at it, an optical illusion made it appear as though you peered into a depth far beyond that of a simple marble. Ivan always loved that sort of thing. Magic tricks and illusions would fascinate him for hours.


    We reach my room and I stand inside the doorway. "He came home in tears and when I found out what happened I figured it was only fair the kid responsible go for a swim to find it."


    Jaxon snickers. "In the middle of a New Hampshire winter?"


    I shrug, "I was a spitfire back in the day."


    "Back in the day?"


    I roll my eyes, "I''m hardly throwing people into rivers or handing out black eyes nowadays."


    Jaxon hums in agreement. "No, of course not. Now you''re much more dangerous."


    I cut him a withering glare which elicits a smile from the man. My first.


    "Goodnight, Jaxon."


    "Goodnight, Miss Volkov."


    I shut the door and slowly drag my hand up the wooden frame, my fingers curling into a fist as my forehead rests against them.


    My brother''s right-hand man, his most trusted friend, sees me as dangerous. I need to change it up and lower his guard somehow. Because I still need a way to lose him before I can make it out of the city and meet up with Eli.