Kat felt her heart sink. “Wait! Please, Mother L’rin,” she called and started to go after her.
“She’s just going to tell you that the only solution is to let Lock and I bond you to us forever,” Deep said. “Is that really what you want to hear?”
Kat stopped. “No,” she said, giving him a cool look. “No, most definitely not.”
“I didn’t think so.” He smiled but it wasn’t a happy expression. “So it’s settled. We’ll head straight back to the Mother ship and get permission to go to the Scourge home world where we can break our annoying little bond. We’ll be free of each other before you know it.”
“Wonderful,” Kat said flatly. “As easy as one, two, three.”
“Exactly.” Deep nodded. “And if your pain comes back, just tell Lock or I. We’ll take care of you.”
“You’re too kind,” Kat said, glaring at him. “But I feel fine—better than fine, actually. Great. Especially now that I know I’ll be getting away from you.”
Turning, she stalked away. Tears were rising in her eyes again and she didn’t want to cry in front of either of the brothers. Especially not Deep—the heartless bastard.
* * * * *
“Why did you do that?” Lock’s voice was soft and desolate. When he looked at Deep, the hurt in his brown eyes was almost too much to bear. Deep wanted to shield himself against his brother’s suffering, but he didn’t deserve not to feel it. Instead of closing himself off, he opened himself to the painful emotion.
“I did what was best for her,” he said evenly. “You know that’s true, Lock.”
“No, you did what was best for you.” Lock’s pain turned suddenly to rage. He rounded on Deep, his hands clenched into fists, his eyes blazing. “Because you always do what’s best for you. And because you think if you push her away first, she won’t have a chance to hurt you.”
“She’s had her chance,” Deep said in a low voice. “Don’t worry about that, Brother.”
“Well, I haven’t had mine!” Lunging forward, Lock punched him on the jaw.
Deep saw it coming but he didn’t back away or try to defend himself. He took the punch full on. And the next and the next, until his face was as bloody and numb as his heart.
Finally Lock stopped and stood there panting. His hands hung limply by his sides, the knuckles blood-spattered and raw. The blows had hurt him as much as Deep—the echoes of their shared pain, both emotional and physical—flooded the closed loop between them.
Deep wiped blood from his lower lip and winced. “Are you finished? Or do you want to hit me some more?” It was the first time since they were children that Lock had struck him. He was hurt but not surprised—not really. I had it coming.
Lock looked down at his hands, examining his bloody knuckles with dead eyes. “No…I’m done.”
“Good.” Deep straightened his shoulders and sighed. “Let me get some gel packs on my face before it swells while you go find Kat. If we hike fast and the tide is right, we can be folding space before the sun sets.”
“If we hurry,” Lock repeated dully. “Because the faster we get back, the faster you can get us separated from the only woman I’ve ever really loved. The only woman either one of us has ever really loved.”
Deep raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you forgetting Miranda?”
“We shared a few dreams with her,” Lock said wearily. “Not our lives—not like Kat.”
“So she doesn’t count because we never actually got to meet her in person?” Deep demanded.
Lock looked up at him wearily. “What happened to Miranda was terrible, Brother. It was a grief deeper than anything I have ever felt—until now.” He sighed. “But Miranda is gone and Kat…she’s right here. She’s lovely and intelligent and perfect in every way. So of course you have to drive her away.”
Deep looked his brother in the eyes. “If you truly love her, then you’ll help me in this. I’m no good for her, Lock—for any female. I’ll poison her life if we get too close.”
“Just the way you’ve poisoned mine.” Lock ran a hand through his hair and blew out a breath. “I wish I could cut the tie between us. Not just between the two of us and Kat—between you and me. I wish…I wish we weren’t brothers.” He glared at Deep. “I’d rather be dead than spend one more day as your twin.”
Despite his outward composure, Deep’s breath caught in his throat. He knew his brother—Lock never spoke unkindly and he never lied. If he said a thing, it was true from the bottom of his heart. “Brother…” he said uncertainly.