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Jaromir took a step in a blind daze, nearly tripping off the edge of the pavement; Kheir caught his elbow before he could fall. Everyone was watching him. Their stares burned the side of his face, but all the self-loathing he'd felt minutes ago was blasted apart by shock.
A tremor went through his bond with Maia, but he didn't have the words to tell her why this man knew his name, couldn't make his lips form the reassurance that he wasn't a client. Far,farfrom it.
He should have been dressed for this. Should have been wearing something other than Azrail's jacket, which skimmed his thigh and barely hid his cock.
"Isak," he croaked when he finally remembered how to speak.
The tall, battle-scarred nineteen-year-old limping at speed across the road was nothing like the gangly kid who'd been ripped from Jaro, but there was no mistaking his eyes, or the bright colour in his voice.
Azrail's head whipped around to stare at Jaro, then back at the man hobbling closer.
There was only shock and stubborn determination on Isak’s face as he reached Jaro and grabbed him into a startling hug. He didn't seem to care that Jaro's dick was barely covered; he just clung on tight, and Jaro's chest collapsed with a sob as he hugged him back.
"This is Isak?" Azrail asked gently. "Your brother?"
"Yourbrothertried to kill us with that mirror?" Kheir demanded, equal parts confused and angry—protective.
Jaro didn't have any answers, couldn't think around the choking sound of his own sobs and the feeling of Isak gripping him tight enough to bend his bones. He didn't care, wouldn't care even if they broke.
His brother was here. Not in a slave caravan, or wherever the kidnapped beastkind ended up. Not indentured in a pillow room like Jaro, or doing back-breaking manual labour for a wealthy family. He was free, like Jaro, and—
"Why are you living in a chemist's shop?" he rasped, with no strength in his voice at all.
"I like the company," Isak answered, equally rough with emotion but threaded with humour. "I've named every single rat in that place."
The place where Jaro's laughter lived was empty, hollowed out by an emotion he couldn't name. His hands trembled where they held onto his little brother. Seven years—seven years since they'd been dragged apart.
"Let's give them some space," Azrail suggested as Jaro's chest crumpled with another ragged cry.
Footsteps shuffled away, but when Isak said, "Nice outfit," and patted Jaro's shoulder, a vine of honeysuckle lashed out and wrapped around his wrist, halting his second pat.
"If you hurt him," a dangerous voice warned, and Jaro blinked through his teary vision to findMaiagiving his brother a fierce stare, "I’ll rip you into so many pieces, we could use you as a jigsaw."
"Gruesome," Isak said with a flash of a grin. "I like it."
Maia just stared at him, dangerous in her silence, and Jaro's heart leapt into a sprint. She was defending him. Why was she defending him, and warning Isak not to hurt him? Jaro couldn't breathe at all.
"Why are you threatening me?" Isak asked, releasing Jaro but resting his hand on his shoulder, as if he needed the contact too. "Jaro, why is she threatening me?"
Jaro tried to speak, but emotion and hesitance swelled his throat shut. He wanted to introduce Maia as his mate, but did she even want to be mated to him anymore?
"I'm hismate," Maia bit out, the words fierce and sharp, and Jaro's face crumpled with more tears. "AndI'm the princess of the Vassal Empire. Hopefully you've heard of me. If you haven't, I break people's minds and manipulate them to my every whim just for kicks."
That wasn't true. She got no joy from it.
"So don't test me," she finished with a feral smile. "I'll fucking end you."
She wouldn't. Maia wasn't cruel enough to steal Jaro's brother from him just when he'd found him again—or rather,beenfoundby him—but Isak didn't know that.
"Scary but sexy," Isak stage-whispered to Jaro. "You did well, brother."
Jaro choked out a laugh.
"You hurt my brother, death-dealer, and I'll kill you right back," Isak said with a crooked grin. He'd grown up so much, and Jaro's chest ached fiercely. He should have beenwithhim this whole time, like Az had been with Evrille. It wasn't fair that he'd missed Isak growing into the man he was now.
"Oh saints, there's two of them," Bryon groaned somewhere behind them, and a laugh caught in Jaro's throat.