Anew

7

Ready for his night with Scarlet, Gabriel whistled as he made his way downstairs. As silly as it seemed, his palms were sweaty.

Not with nervousness, but with excitement.

The thought of being back in Scarlet’s life made his heart incredibly happy.

Tristan, dressed in all black with a long dagger in his hand, exited the den as Gabriel reached the main floor.

Gabriel stopped whistling and paused. “Please tell me you’re going to a ninja convention.”

“Nope.” Tristan didn’t make eye contact as he walked past his brother and entered the kitchen.

Gabriel followed after him. “Then why are you dressed like a ninja?”

In the kitchen, Tristan started making coffee. “I’m not dressed like a ninja.”

“Black pants, black shirt…weapon…? Total ninja outfit.”

Tristan shrugged.

“And why are you making nighttime coffee?” Gabriel looked his brother over a moment before it dawned on him. “Dude. Are you going to kill someone tonight?”

“Hopefully,” Tristan said, setting down the dagger and grabbing a coffee mug.

Gabriel groaned.

His brother, a murderer. It just seemed wrong.

Fitting, for Tristan’s dark and bitter personality, but wrong.

But what was Gabriel going to do, stop him? No.

If Tristan broke the curse, Scarlet would live, and that’s what Gabriel truly wanted.

What he didn’t want was his crazy brother slashing up the townsfolk while he was out trying to enjoy his time with Scarlet.

“Come on, Tristan. How about you wait a day or two? How am I supposed to relax on my date with Scarlet tonight if I know you’re off playing Ninja Assassin around town?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’d hate to ruin your date with my inconvenient trying-to-save-Scarlet’s-life plan.”

“What if it doesn’t work? What if you kill this poor guy and nothing changes?”

“It’ll work.”

“How do you know?”

“Because Nate said so.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Nate is crazy.”

Nathaniel Fletcher was their oldest friend and a bit of a curse expert. He’d been trying to help resolve the hex for years.

Without results.

“Nate doesn’t know what he’s talking about, Tristan. He’s speculating.”

“No, he’s not. If I’m successful tonight, the curse will be broken and Scarlet will live.”

Tristan sounded casual. Like ending a life was no big deal.

Gabriel shook his head. “What you’re doing is wrong.”

Tristan poured himself coffee and took a sip. “Maybe. But it’s worth it.” He put his mug down. “I won’t stop until it’s over, Gabe. This needs to end—for all of us.”

Gabriel jutted his jaw. He didn’t like Tristan’s dedication to the whole “murder” thing.

But still.

The three of them had suffered the curse for a long time, and a cure—any cure—sounded appealing.

Tristan finished his coffee and moved to leave the kitchen. But first he grabbed the knife off the counter and strapped it to his back.

Awesome.

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “Are you seriously going out with a dagger strapped to your back? You might as well just wear a sign that says Look at me, I’m a killer!”

“Actually, yes. I have to take the dagger.”

Gabriel smirked. “Well, I’m not bailing you out of jail when you get pulled over for speeding and have to explain why you’ve got a medieval knife on your back like a psycho.”

Tristan shrugged. “Hopefully, you won’t have to.”

“You’re crazy,” Gabriel said.

“One of us has to be,” Tristan said as he grabbed his keys and headed out the door.

“I hate you,” Gabriel called out half-heartedly as Tristan exited.

Before the door closed, Gabriel heard Tristan holler back, “You too!”

Gabriel flexed his hands as he stood in the kitchen.

All he wanted was a relaxing night out with Scarlet. A chance to get to know her again and have her know him again. How was he supposed to relax when his brother was out cutting someone into pieces with a barbaric weapon?