“Please end it, Zarid,” I beg my brother. Tears spill over and stream down my cheeks. “Be quick and merciful.”

He waves a finger at the sky. “Only if you turn that off.”

I look up before glancing at Keryth. His facial expression is just as bewildered as I feel, because we’re not doing it on purpose.

“I—I don’t think I can.” Scrunching up my face with effort, I try to mentally nudge the fire away.

Closing his eyes, Keryth does the same. Although it helps to shrink the cyclone, the sky still churns and crackles.

“I could make it rain,” Keryth suggests. “But there’s no guarantee that it won’t rain fire. That could be a disaster.”

Zarid shakes his head at the burning trees. “Quite a mess you’ve made, sister.”

“This wasn’t her fault,” my loyal mate defends.

“I never wanted any of this to happen.” My chest rises and falls with hiccupping sobs. “I just wanted to be with Keryth.”

“And now you will be,” Zarid tells me. “But you’re in my debt. You live because of me.”

“What is it you want?” Keryth asks warily, stepping slightly in front of me.

“Peace. A new treaty. Better trade deals. I’ve made a huge sacrifice for our kingdom.” Zarid makes it sound like killing our father was a valiant act, but I know him.

He did this for himself.

I’m trying my best to tune out Father’s wheezing when I ask, “What’s in it for you?”

My brother smirks. “I want the Night Realm to stay out of our business. Let me run our kingdom as I see fit.”

“You mean, ignore the fact that you’re stealing women from the human realm?”

In order to replenish the female population after the plague, my father ordered the unthinkable. A team of his soldiers became official snatchers, traveling to Earth through portals and coming back with hordes of devastated girls. When he realized humans are quite a bit more fertile than fae, the abductions only increased.

Zarid sniffs. “Keep your morals to yourself, and we’ll all get along just fine.”

So, that’s a yes.

Keryth extends an arm to him. “Your kingdom is yours and my kingdom is mine. As long as you’re not kidnapping my citizens, I’ll stay out of it.”

I want to protest, but it won’t do any good. Zarid’s always done things his own way, and he doesn’t seem to have much of a conscience.

When the men shake hands, it’s a done deal.

“Z-Zella.” Father pats the ground next to him, asking me to kneel.