ChapterSeven
ALEK
Sweat dripped down my spine, working its way toward my hairline due to my inverted position. Regular push-ups had lost their usefulness a long time ago. I preferred the challenge of doing them while in a handstand. It didn’t just add extra body weight; it forced me to be completely in control of my balance and my body. And the focus was something I needed right now. Otherwise I’d start to spiral.
Again.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a figure standing on the outside of the spelled glass barrier that kept me from breaking out of this prison. I closed my eyes and worked myself back to a standing position before facing the man who was my mirror image. I knew it was Tor before I’d even gotten a good look at him. Twins could sense these sorts of things.
“Nice ink. But I always thought the days of the week were supposed to be stitched into your underpants. What’s so special about Sunday, anyway?”
I didn’t want to share Sunny with him. She was mine. I growled low in my throat, hands fisting at my sides. “Fuck off.”
“Oh, he’s snarly this evening. You’d think a day of being in time out would have done something about that tantrum you’re throwing.”
“Release me, and I’ll take thistantrumout on your stupid face.”
Tor grinned. “You mean your face?”
My brother stood there, a tray of food in his hands.
“If you’re here to feed me, do it. If you’re here to taunt me, shut the fuck up.”
He raised one eyebrow before lifting a drumstick to his lips and taking a big bite, letting out an obscene moan. “Mother really outdid herself tonight.”
“You’re an arsehole.”
“I’m not the one who tried to kill Father with a boulder.”
“I wasn’t trying to kill him... just maim him a little,” I muttered.
“You don’t maim anyone with a two-ton rock. You obliterate them.” He leaned against the glass, not even looking at me as he continued to devour my meal.
“He’s a berserker. He would have been fine.”
“Wordon the harbor is so are you.”
“Jealous, brother? I finally have something you don’t.”
“Perhaps if you hadn’t stolen my place, you wouldn’t be locked up right now, and I would be the one blessed by Odin.”
He thought this was a blessing? I was caged like an animal, cut off from my mate, a risk to everyone around me. Even my own parents didn’t want me near them. This was far from a blessing.
“You don’t know a fucking thing,” I said, disgust curling my lip.
“I know you tried to take something that didn’t belong to you, and this is your punishment.”
I slammed my fist into the glass between us. If it hadn’t been there, I would have knocked him the fuck out.
“Temper, temper. You don’t seem to be learning your lesson, twin. They won’t let you out to play until you get a handle on all that anger.” He stared at me, a flicker of concern dancing in his irises. “You really are one, aren’t you? I see the darkness spreading in your eyes even now. What does it feel like?”
“Rage. Power. Insatiable thirst for violence and pain. Preferably yours at the moment.” I knew my smile held a sharp edge.
My twin and I bickered like any siblings, more probably since we’d spent our lives trying to one-up each other. But at the end of the day, I knew he’d die for me, same as I would for him. He wasn’t my enemy. No matter how much the blood thrumming through my veins told me he was.
“I wonder if I’ll ever know the sensation. It seems unfair you would be the only one given this gift.”
“It’s not a fucking gift, you feather-headed git.”