Kiss of Midnight_ A Midnight Breed Novel - Lara Adrian [880]
Kade scoffed. “How can you say that? How can you think it? You, the favored son, the hope of the family. Father never made a secret of that.”
“Father,” Seth replied, exhaling sharply. “If he feels anything for me, it’s pity. I have needed him, where you never did. You’re just like him, Kade. Can neither one of you see that the way that I can?”
“Bullshit,” Kade said, certain in his rejection of the idea.
“And then you went off and joined the Order,” Seth continued. “You were gone and I sank deeper into your shadow. I wanted to hate you for leaving. Hell, maybe I do.”
“If you need an excuse for what you’ve done, then so be it,” Kade ground out savagely. “Blame me, but you and I both know you’re only looking for a way to justify what you’re doing.”
Seth’s answering laughter was little more than a growl, deep in his throat. “Do you really think I’m looking for justification? Or for any kind of absolution? I kill because I can. I won’t stop, because it is part of me now. I enjoy it.”
Kade’s gut twisted. “If that’s true, then I feel sorry for you. You are sick, Seth. I should put you out of your misery … right here and now.”
“You should,” Seth replied without inflection. “But you won’t. You can’t, because I am still your brother. Your own rigid morals would never let you harm me and we both know it. That’s a line you would never cross.”
“Don’t be so sure.”
As he said it, the wolf howl he’d heard a few minutes ago sounded once more, from somewhere nearby. Kade glanced over his shoulder, toward the thick knot of pine and spruce in the crouching darkness, feeling the wild summons coursing through his veins. As it must have been for Seth, as well.
Even though he should hate his brother, he couldn’t.
And although his threat was well deserved, he knew in his heart that Seth was right. Kade could never bring himself to harm him.
“We need to sort this shit out, Seth. You have to let me help you—”
When he swiveled his head back around to face his twin again, all that greeted him was the empty winter landscape … and the bone-deep, bitter understanding that any hope of saving Seth was gone along with him.
CHAPTER
Eighteen
Each step was agony.
Every inch of his naked body was blistered and raw from ultraviolet exposure, his normally rapid healing processes impeded by the added damage he’d sustained from the shotgun blast that had ripped into his thigh and abdomen. Fresh blood would speed the required regeneration. Once he fed, his soft tissue and organs would mend in a few hours, as would his skin, but he could not risk another minute without seeking adequate shelter.
He had barely survived the daylight, having been forced to flee the cave after the humans had stumbled upon him there. He’d run, bleeding and wounded, into the surrounding woods, into the lethal rays of the sun outside the cave. He’d had only enough time to dig a hole in a deep bank of hard-packed snow and bury himself within before the severity of his combined injuries had shut his body down and rendered him unconscious.
Now, a short while after he’d roused to find welcome darkness, he knew only that he needed to seek new shelter before the next sunrise. Needed to find somewhere secure to recuperate further, so he would be strong enough to hunt again and feed his damaged cells.
His feet dragged in the moonlit snow, his pace slow and halting. He despised his physical weakness. Hated that it reminded him of the torture he had endured while in captivity. But animosity drove him now, forced the shredded muscles of his legs to move.
He didn’t know how long or how far he had walked. Easily miles from the cave and his makeshift shelter in the snow.
Ahead of him, he saw a dim orange glow through the veil of silhouetted evergreen trunks. A human residence, apparently occupied, and far removed from any other signs of civilization.
Yes, it would do.
He stalked forward, ignoring his pain as he locked all focus on