Cursed [malexmale]

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

"No!" Arikos dropped the stone in his hands and Hannibal's eyes widened.

Ulenon yanked the sword out of Menoetius's back and Menoetius collapsed to his knees, hands reaching up to cover the gash in his stomach. Ulenon flung his sword back, sending blood splattering across the floor as he walked past Menoetius, making a path straight for me.

But he didn't make it very far.

Menoetius was on his feet and slamming into the guy so hard that he sent him smashing into the ground. Ulenon cursed and swung himself around, knocking Menoetius back across the corridor and slamming into the wall. Menoetius gasped and slumped to the ground, blood oozing past his lips and from the wound in his stomach.

That gave plenty of time for Hannibal to swoop in, snatch up the bag and roll with it so he slammed into the wall beside Menoetius, dropping the bag at his side and grabbing Menoetius up from the ground, pushing him up and reaching over to staunch the blood flow from his wound.

Ulenon whirled around to blast him, but Arikos was quicker and blasted Ulenon in the back, sending him flying through the air and smashing into another wall. The corridor shook and trembled around us from the force of it. Arikos sprinted over to drop to his knees beside Menoetius.

"Is he alright? Why is there so much blood?" Arikos managed, eyes wide in horror, his hands touching Menoetius's gut to help stop the flow of blood. Hannibal cursed, ripping off a strip of cloth from his shirt to press against Menoetius's wound, but it was soaked within seconds. The entire time, Menoetius just sat there, staring straight ahead like he wasn't sure what was happening to him.

With the intent to heal him, I started toward him, only to have Ulenon recovering out the corner of my eye, ready to send a god bolt my way, but I ducked it and let it fly past me before I sent a bolt of my own. Ulenon caught it and crushed it, making me curse under my breath. His white eyes locked on me as he lowered his arms.

"Father was right about you," he said with a cold calmness, his voice a few notes deeper than Teslius's, "You are the weakest of us." I narrowed my eyes, fury surging through my veins. It wasn't even the fact that he insulted me, but rather, the bitter reminder that this bastard had not only hurt Dexius, but he'd eternally scarred Teslius.

Looking at Ulenon now, the twins looked nothing alike. Teslius was far leaner than Ulenon, the body of a swimmer, and his hair was naturally textured from days spent on the beach. Although, now, Teslius was broken. He trembled constantly and his eyes welled up tears from time to time, and he was steadily losing the will to survive. Meanwhile, Ulenon stood here, tall and proud, muscles thick and honed for battle, his long black hair in a loose ponytail over his shoulder, a drop of blood sliding from the corner of his mouth after his faceplant into the wall, and his white eyes were the coldest, emptiest shade of white I'd ever seen.

"You sold out Teslius." The venom in my voice scared me, but my fury didn't let me back down.

Ulenon stared at me blankly, almost as if he had no idea who I was talking about before his eyes flickered with recognition.

"Yes," he answered coolly, "Any intelligent person would have. Teslius was always weak. He was always dependent. He could never think or do anything for himself. He was a constant parasite on my back and I saw my chance to get rid of him. Now he's gone." I wanted to throw it in his face that Teslius was so much stronger than that, strong enough to still be surviving today, despite the trauma Ulenon had dealt him. However, advertising Teslius still being alive was a bad idea. Instead, I curled my lip at him.

"You're disgusting. You've always been the selfish one. No wonder Atlan keeps you around; you're just as fucking crazy as he is," I accused. Ulenon's white eyes glowed.