Tissaia remained with her brother for hours, offering what minimal gestures of comfort she could. She paid no mind to the warriors who stood guard in the open space where the sanctum doors had been. She'd heard Kahari and Vaeldan's muffled voices a few times, but never bothered to look up.

    If Talarion had noticed them, he hadn't let it show. But he hadn't looked at her in hours either. His eyes were either closed or firmly fixed on Kaius's face. She had long since averted her gaze from the male. She didn't want to remember his colorless skin or the cold stiffness of his body, still firmly held in her brother's arms. She hadn't tried to persuade Talarion to let go of him yet.

    Tissaia barely suppressed a shiver as a gust of wind blew from the opening in the ceiling. She lifted her gaze and spied a few flakes of snow finally making their way inside. The chamber would only grow colder from here, and exhaustion and soreness was beginning to catch up to her. She had already done what she could to heal Talarion's few injuries, but her own had been mostly untreated until now as she'd been too distracted and worn out to work on them after her brother's.
   
    She gripped Talarion's shoulder in an attempt to draw his attention, but he didn't look at her. His gaze remained blank and distant even as he carefully smoothed hair back from Kaius's ashen face. "We need to rest," Tissaia said. The air around them hung unnaturally heavy and her words seemed to flatten the moment they left her mouth.

    "I can't leave him alone," Talarion whispered in reply.

    "He would want you to take care of yourself."

    A wry, scoffing laugh rumbled in her brother's throat. "Do not fucking do that to me, Tissaia." His gaze snapped to hers, as hard as steel in spite of the tears rimming his eyes once more. "Do not tell me what he would or wouldn't want from me. Do not fucking use him against me like that."

    Tissaia blanched at the raw anger accompanying the words and she let her hand fall away from him. "I wasn't trying to. I only meant that..."

    Talarion shook his head and she didn't miss the hitch in his breath. "Just go. Leave me alone."

    "I don't want to leave you like this." She reached for him but he slapped her hand away before she could touch him.

    "Leave me alone!" He seethed. "And don't you dare send anyone in here to try to move me. I'll cut the throat of the next person who touches me." Talarion continued to glare at her, but a variety of emotions flickered across his face and his breath trembled.

    He was clinging to rage, Tissaia realized, because if he didn't, he was going to crumple all over again. And that was why he wanted her to leave. He wanted to fall apart. What she'd seen before was only a fraction of the grief he felt, and she'd only witnessed it because he had been in shock and unable to control himself. He was barely in control of himself now. He had been fighting to keep that control for her sake.

    Slowly, Tissaia nodded and pushed herself to her feet. "All right. I'll try to make the guards leave too. But please, promise me you won't do anything to hurt yourself. Kaius wouldn't..." she trailed off, recognizing that although Talarion was doing his best to keep himself under control, even she wouldn't be immune to his wrathful, grieving instincts if she pushed him too far.

    Talarion didn't answer her, and she didn't ask him to. Tissaia just swiped a hand across her cheek, brushing away some dirt that had dried in the trails her tears had made, and blinked away the stinging in her eyes. "I'll be here if you need me," Tissaia murmured. "I love you, Brother."

    Fresh tears dripped down Talarion's cheeks as he looked up at her, regret shining in his eyes now. His lips parted, but no words emerged. He just let his head fall, and though Tissaia longed to embrace him once more, she forced herself to walk away, and ignored the sound of his sobs when they became audible. She paused in between the two guards at the doorway.

    "My brother wants to be alone," she said, mustering as much strength to her voice as possible. "Could you move further up the corridor, and make sure he is undisturbed?"

    She pointed to an intersection in the corridor a good distance from the sanctum entrance and the Cahirim warriors bowed their heads, though she didn't miss their looks of concern. "And could one of you tell me where to find the Prince?" She added with half a thought.

    She'd almost forgotten that Azael was there...and Nepenthe preserve her, but she somehow had to find the strength to explain every secret she'd kept from him. He still deserved the truth, even more so now.

    If he hadn't followed them and brought Gaelen and these warriors, she and Talarion might have perished as well. Their father could have freed Astaroth from whatever kept him bound to the Vidar, and whatever dark purpose the Spawn had for Kaius might have been fulfilled. Her head spun with exhaustion and the recollection that her father had escaped.

    Even after what they had lost, they still had to face him again. They had to recover the gods' book. If they didn't and their father was able to finish his plan, then Kaius had died in vain. She would do everything within her power to make sure that wasn't true. She owed it to Kaius after all he had done for them. Grief squeezed her heart until it ached to breathe.

    "My Lady," one of the warriors called, catching her attention. He pointed down an adjacent corridor. "Prince Azael was last seen down that way. I believe that's where most everyone has gone to rest or have their wounds treated by the Half-Fae healer."

    Tissaia dipped her chin. "Thank you," she rasped, and hurried in the direction he had indicated.

    She would need to speak with Kahari and Vael too, when she was able. But not now. All she wanted to do now was curl up on the floor and sink into the earth. She drew a shallow breath and picked up the strongest traces of Azael's scent. Tissaia began to follow it, fighting to keep from breaking with the anxiety and grief that was overwhelming her.

•༻☽☾༺•

    Azael had been on his own for several hours and had taken that time to clean a few of the old rooms he'd found, as well as clean himself up and find changes of clothes for Tissaia and Talarion. He was grateful that Gaelen's warriors had plenty of supplies with them when they found them.

    There had even been a few females among the group who had generously given a change of clothes to Kahari, and had provided the clothes he'd set aside for Tissaia. He hadn't seen her or Talarion since he left the sanctum earlier, and worry was continuously gnawing at his gut, urging him to make sure Tissaia was all right and that her brother hadn't accidentally turned his anger on her.

    He scolded himself for even considering the fact, but couldn't bring himself to dismiss it as a possibility entirely. Talarion hadn't been himself from the moment Kaius was kidnapped, and this...it could be enough to push him over the edge entirely.

    Azael perked up as quiet footsteps echoed outside his bedroom. A soft rap sounded at the door and he offered admittance, already standing. The door opened and Tissaia slipped inside, closing it behind her. When she turned towards him, she had her arms wrapped around herself and her eyes were glossy with unshed tears.

    "Talarion doesn't want me near him right now," she said in a wavering, raspy voice. "And I couldn't persuade him to leave Kaius. He was so angry and..." She trailed off, her lashes brushing against her cheeks as she fought back tears. "I think he was afraid that he might hurt me if I stayed. I've never seen him like this. I'm afraid that he might...that he could..."

    Azael stepped closer to her, not quite within reach yet. "He just needs time," he soothed. "Neither of us have any idea what he's going through right now. Losing someone your very soul is bonded to...I can't imagine what that must feel like."

    "He said he could still feel Kaius, but that he felt cold," Tissaia whispered.

    Azael only watched as she squeezed her eyes shut and hid her face in her hands. He couldn't imagine exactly what Talarion felt right now, but he could imagine how he would feel if something similar had befallen Tissaia. Perhaps their souls weren't bound. Perhaps they might never be, but something told him his heart would be ripped out regardless.

    "Just give him time," he repeated. "They loved each other in a way I've never seen anyone love someone before."

    "I loved him too," Tissaia hissed, but the words were more sorrowful than angry. "He was my brother. I wanted both of them to be happy, always."

    She looked at him then, before her shoulders slumped forward and she folded her arms around herself again, as though her body was caving in and she was trying to stop it. Azael caught her before she could fall to her knees, and she didn't push him away. Tissaia buried her face against his chest even as sobs racked her body.

    Azael pressed his cheek to the top of her head and wrapped her in his arms completely, holding her as close as he could. "I'm sorry," he breathed onto her hair. "I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner. I shouldn't have left you, or tried to keep so much from you. I know it's worth very little now, but you'll have the truth, Tissaia. All of it. No more secrets or heartache between us. But you have to rest first."

    "I don't want to leave Talarion alone," she wept.

    "I know, but there's nothing we can do for him if he won't let us."

    She lifted her head and something clenched around his heart at the sight of her distraught features. Almost without realizing it, he found himself lifting his knuckles to her cheek and smoothing back the hair that had stuck to her skin.

    Tissaia's gaze searched his own, before she admitted, "I don't want to be alone either. And I know there's so much left between us that we need to say, but I can't now. "

    "It's all right, and I didn't intend to leave you alone if you didn't want to be," he assured her. She closed her eyes and her body relaxed slightly as he brushed his mouth across her temple. "I won't leave you again," he whispered. "I'm done running away from things, especially you."

    "I'm done running too," Tissaia replied. "And I'm done keeping secrets. I can't anymore. Not if this is the cost." She nestled her cheek against his shoulder and finally returned his embrace. Azael let himself hold her until he felt her swaying on her feet.

    Then he lifted her and carried her to the old porcelain tub he had painstakingly cleaned out before. He left her with the firm promise that he was only going to find her something to eat while she cleaned herself up, and Tissaia hadn't bothered to argue, though he'd felt her lingering gaze when he stepped out of the room.