Page 278 of Psycho Pack

I study my brother's face as he lowers his gun, trying to reconcile this version of him with the one I grew up with. The dedicated soldier. The perfect son. The man who put law and country above everything and everyone else.

And this, of all nights, is the first time in my life I've ever wondered if we're really not so different after all.

The thought makes me glance at Ivy.

Perhaps I understand my brother better than I thought.

"Fuck," Whiskey finally breaks the silence, his voice unusually subdued.

Azarel doesn't acknowledge him, his eyes still fixed on Monty's corpse. Then, in an instant, his usual mask of indifference is back in place.

He turns and walks past the corpses, past the bullets, past the fallen knives, and freezes in the doorway. He looks back at me with one final glance. "The next time we see each other, we'll be enemies again."

It's not a threat.

Not quite a warning, either.

Just a casual statement of fact.

"Wouldn't be the first time," I answer.

And then, I see it. For just an instant, a flicker of a smile.

Then, he's gone.

The heavy silence in the Council chamber is broken only by the distant sounds of battle echoing through the broken windows.

"Holy shit," Whiskey says beside me. "Your brother is intense."

I let out a heavy sigh, looking at the bodies littering the marble floor. "And now our leverage is gone."

"Negotiation is overrated anyway," Ivy mutters.

I can't help but chuckle, pulling her close with one arm. The warmth of her against my side helps ground me, reminds me why we're here. "We do have an army," I muse. "And the capital." I pause, considering the new reality we find ourselves in. "I suppose that will have to be enough. Perhaps the time for negotiating is over, anyway."

Whiskey shifts his weight, adjusting his rifle as he glances toward the door where Azarel disappeared. "What do you think he's gonna do when he realizes we transferred Cosima to Nikolai?"

"He'll have to go back to what's left of Reinmich first to secure his cover, unless he wants to bring her back into a warzone," I murmur. "Something tells me she wouldn't appreciate that. Right now, he thinks she's in Surhiiran custody, so there's no reason for him to rush it. Once he realizes who has her, we'll be long gone and he'll pick her up, same as planned."

"Yeah, unless that crazy bastard double crosses us and decides to keep her," Whiskey says, his brow furrowing with concern.

"Why would he do that?" I ask.

Whiskey shrugs. "Could take weeks for Azarel to get to her. What if he gets attached?"

A dry laugh escapes me, and I shake my head. "Nikolai is getting what he wants. His weapons. There's nothing a man like him values more than that."

Whiskey's eyes drift to Ivy, and a knowing smile spreads across his face. "Yeah, you're probably right," he says. Then he grins. "His loss."

I catch his meaning and pull Ivy closer instinctively.

He's right.

"Come on," Ivy says, tugging gently at my arm. "Let's go find the others."

She's right. We need to regroup, to make sure Thane and Wraith succeeded in their mission.

To see this through to the end as a pack.