Daybreak

XV

**TRIGGER WARNING** this is the protection pigeon, letting you know this chapter contains actions and mentions of suicide!

***

"But that's barbaric!"

"I know-"

"Can't there be another solution to this? One that doesn't involve killing each other?" I questioned but he was already shaking his head.

"No, and neither of us are allowed back to our world until one of us is dead," he said, he didn't look at me as the words left his mouth, instead looking off at some place unseen.

My eyes widened, "Neither of you are allowed back?"

He shook his head, "I may have left on my own but I might as well be banished just the same."

"But why do you have to kill him?"

"I just have to, Bree," he spoke, brows furrowing.

"But he's your brother!"

"That doesn't matter to them," he was shaking his head, grimacing, voice going louder to combat mine, "Don't you get it? I can't not kill him. Whether or not we stop him, that prophecy still hangs over our heads-"

"Forget the prophecy," I interrupted him, "Do you know how many times stories have broken prophecies? Do you know how little those things ever actually matter? Maybe we can change this, maybe this is the story where you don't have to kill him. We could be the ones to save him.

Knowing what I did now, we had to do something to help Thalias instead of just killing him for the sake of some damn prophecy-

"But like you said those are stories," he stressed, grabbing my hand, I didn't have it in myself to pull away from his touch and his grip tightened marginally over my fingers, "this is real life, and prophecies always get their way."

"But he's you're brother," I repeated, looking him in the eyes, voice softer, "Shouldn't you be protecting him instead?"

"He chose to go down this path," he said, dropping my hand and standing from where he had sat on the floor, tone going hard as he walked back to his room for the night, though something told me he was repeating dusty words he himself no longer knew the meaning to-

"Prophecy or not it was his choice to kill."

I watched him leave; chewing on a strand of my own hair before looking around, lost to the now dark, empty room sprawled out around me. It had stopped raining some point after we'd gotten here and the view from the massive windows was breathtaking.

By this point the sun had set, bringing the day to a close, the blinking lights over the city sky magical and dream-like and I wondered briefly if Amelia and Trish had managed to clean up the trashed apartment by now. I had no way of checking in with them, I had stupidly left my phone there when I'd left with Sylvian and I silently prayed they didn't file a missing persons on my behalf by now-

Especially with the door being shattered to splinters.

I swallowed-

Well, one could only hope.

Sylvian had placed a folded t-shirt and grey sweatpants on the edge of the cushions when he had come to clear the couch, and my skin itched to get out of my rain-crusted clothes before turning in for the night, the dry blood along the collar of my shirt scratching uncomfortably into my skin.

Sighing I stood, grabbing the clothes and making my way to the bathroom to change, the shower giving me one sly look too many and I was quick to hop in and clean myself up before changing, letting the hot water hit my face and resorting to the three in one bottle to get the job done.