Sewn & Scarred (The Fated Creations Trilogy #3)

Chapter TenWyott

Chapter Ten

Wyott

T he Vasi hungrily guzzled the blood that I tilted into his mouth. Maddox hadn’t come back through yet, but at least Evaline was expected home later.

Cora was working at the marina throughout the daylight but planned to go to the docks at sunset to wait for their ship to come in. Yesterday, Cora, myself, and the other Kova had come to see Maddox so we could share memories and try to get him to come out, again. I hoped against all odds that he’d be back, at least for a few minutes, when Evaline came home. I knew that seeing her would motivate him to fight that much harder. We hadn’t seen him emerge again, but I was back to make every attempt to draw my brother out.

I pulled the glass away when he finished. The Vasi kept his head tilted and licked the blood from his lips before narrowing his eyes at me.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

I blinked at him. “What do you mean?”

The Vasi rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean. Hopeful, like you think he’s going to be able to come out.”

I shrugged with a bob of my head.

“I am hopeful. I saw Maddox come out the other day, whether you want me to believe I did or not. Maddox,” I said softly, lowering my eyes to his, hoping that at any moment, they would flicker gray. “We’ve had hope this entire time, I’m so sorry if you thought we didn’t. If you thought we’d given up. We haven’t. Evaline…” I trailed off trying to find the words that would make him hate me less for letting her go. “She went to Correnti. Her mother told her that there was a Kova there who had changed into a Vasi, but came back.” I watched closely to see if there was any sign that he’d peek through but the only change was that the Vasi ground his jaw. “She went, and would not let me go with her. Just like you hadn’t, but she’s with Sage and Lauden and Dean. They’re going to find that Kova and bring her back here to help you.”

“You can damn well try,” the Vasi barked, lunging for me.

I bent toward him, just out of reach of his sneer.

“I will try. I will try every fucking day if I have to. Because I know he would do the same for me.” My eyes moved between both of his, looking for my brother. “I will get him back. I know he’s listening, and I know he’s in there, and I know he will come back.”

The Vasi shook his head and laughed with absolutely no humor.

“No, he won’t. I have him locked away, forever. He will disappear into nothing.”

I smiled as I straightened and crossed my arms over my chest. “No, you’re lying. He’s in there, you saw him come through, I saw him come through. I’m done talking to you.”

“Good. Go away.”

I shook my head and chuckled.

“I’m not leaving. Maddox,” I said, letting my voice soften. “Remember when we were kids, and we raced each other to the top of Mt. Rominia?” I asked as I grabbed the chair across from him and sat in it. “And we weren’t paying attention to how late it was getting, so by the time we got up to the top, it was already dark out?” I tucked a strand of hair that had fallen into my face behind my ear. “We were supposed to be home before the street lanterns were lit, but we never even looked back down to the city because as soon as we got to the top, we could see the glow of the lava deep inside Mt. Rominia. We sat up there for hours, tossing rocks over the edge, trying to see if we could hear when they hit the bottom.” I smiled as I looked down at my hands while the memory played behind my eyes. “And when the volcano erupted a few weeks later we were scared shitless that we caused it with our rocks.” I laughed. “We vowed to never tell a soul, promised to take that secret to our grave.” I tilted my head as a realization hit. “I never have told anyone, not even Cora.”

The Vasi shifted in the seat and cleared his throat. “He’s not here.”

But I persisted.

“Remember, before my father died, how you’d spend the night over at my house every other week?” I asked, scraping my thumb over my opposite palm. “And we’d always want to camp outside, but we hadn’t learned to ignore certain sounds yet. And every time, we couldn’t fall asleep. The world was so loud. The wind, the water, the bugs buzzing around us.” The Vasi sighed, but I continued. “And we’d always give up and go to sleep inside. My father would feel so bad that we didn’t get to camp out that he’d grab every blanket and pillow we had, and the dining room chairs and coat racks, and he’d build us a fort in the middle of the sitting room?” Tears filled my eyes as I leaned forward, toward him.

“Even though it wasn’t the same as camping, we still had our tent. And we could still pretend that we were outside, or that we were on an adventure somewhere on the mainland.” I tilted my head, looking into the eyes of the Vasi, hoping Maddox could see me. “And now, all these decades later, we’ve had so many adventures together. We’ve traveled, we’ve fought, we’ve hunted, we’ve loved.” Tears gathered in my eyes. “We’ve lost.”

I had to take a breath to swallow past the lump in my throat as I thought of my father and lowered my head to look at the floor below me.

“You have always been my best friend,” I said as I heard the Vasi swallow. “And you have always been my brother.”

My voice wavered as the Vasi ground his teeth.

“And I love you,” I said, tilting my head up to look at him.

And just as I did, the Vasi jolted forward, eyes wide. His face froze in a look of panic, and I watched in real time as his eyes flashed gray, and Maddox came forward with a harsh gasp.

“I love you too, Wyott,” he rushed out, as if he didn’t have much time, and I smiled, tears filling my eyes and falling down my face.

“Maddox,” I breathed, an incredulous laugh spurting from my lips. “It’s you!”

He smiled and nodded. “It’s me.” Tears had gathered in his eyes too, and he shook his head. “I don’t know how much time we have together. But I want to tell you that I’m so fucking sorry,” he said, shaking his head.

I cringed, understanding why he was sorry and why he was saying those words to me .

“It’s okay,” I said, pulling my chair closer to him.

He shook his head violently. “No, it’s not. You are my brother, and I knew your concerns and I went anyway—”

He cut himself off and flung his head back, and I heard it collide with the Rominium chair. He was fighting the Vasi.

Before I could react, he was clenching his eyes closed, and shaking his head.

“I went anyway even though you didn’t think it was a good idea,” he gasped out. “No one thought it was a good idea but I didn’t care. I was too focused on controlling things that I had no business trying to control.” His words rushed out, but he seemed to get a handle on it because he took a deep breath and looked up at me, and I saw his gray eyes.

“You were right, when Gabriehl had Evaline. I can only control what I do, how I feel. I can’t control everyone, or her safety. And Gods, losing this control has taught me that lesson.” He swallowed hard and I saw his chin quiver. “And now I’m afraid that I’ve lost my chance with her, lost the life we could’ve had.”

I reached forward and put a hand over the Rominium shield that covered his.

“Don’t say that, we will get you out and you’ll have your forever with her. Tell me, what can we do to help you come back? Permanently?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know, I’ve tried the entire time I’ve been in here. Every time you all have come to me, I’ve tried to free myself. But it has only just started working.”

I knew he likely meant that he’d been able to gain more control since we’d started feeding him Evaline’s blood, but he wouldn’t admit it out loud because the Vasi would refuse to drink it.

He tilted his head.

“In a weird way, I think everyone coming to see me helps.”

I smiled, glad my plan was working, but his face grew serious.

“When will she be back?” he said, his voice low.

I swallowed. “She should be back tonight, but that’s only a guess. I will let you know as soon as she’s here.”

He nodded and ground his jaw, his eyes straining, before he seemed to fight off whatever attempt the Vasi made and look up at me.

“I’m sorry that I let her go,” I said softly.

He shook his head. “Don’t be. Like I said, I can’t control everything. I just have to have faith that she is strong enough to protect herself.”

I smiled and whistled. “Brother, you have no idea how strong she is,” I said, then leaned forward to tell him.