My Second Chance Mate is a Barbarian (Sera and Fenris) novel Chapter 494

Sera

"Did you see her?" Mina asked as I shut the door behind me.

"Yes," I said. Amara turned and pressed her back against the closed door, arms stiff at her sides, feet shoulder-width apart.

I looked at Amara, at the way she had planted herself there. She had never done that before. She met my eyes and didn't move, and after a moment I turned away.

I crossed to where Mina sat in the chair by the fire. Her eyes were fixed on the flames, her face slack and empty. She'd been washed clean of the blood, in a clean, plain dress, her hair still damp. But it was her eyes that betrayed her. The spark within them, the defiant gleam, had been extinguished.

"And him?" she asked without looking up. "Sarn?"

I took a deep breath. "He had a letter." Under Kael's seal, no less. "Asking Vidar to come quickly. Saying Kael needed his help."

Mina's head snapped up. "Kael's seal?" She stared at me, working it out, then her eyes widened in surprise. "Bram sent Vidar a letter?"

"It wasn't Kael's hand," I said. "That's what I took it for too. Bram's."

Mina stared a moment longer, then let out a short, harsh laugh and shook her head, incredulous. "No. Bram's been shitting himself over that man since the day he found out he existed. He jumps when someone says the word 'brother'. He'd sooner crawl into a snowbank than write Vidar Sarn an invitation."

I sat down on the edge of the bed, trying to gather my thoughts. The room was silent except for the crackle of the fire. I stared down at my hands, clenched tightly in my lap.

"Then who?" I finally asked. Mina shook her head, slowly. Neither of us had an answer. We left it there.

"He wasn't there, Sera," Mina said, her eyes on the fire. "I called for him. I went through the rooms. I didn't look at anything, not properly. Only her." A pause. "It was him. Wasn't it."

I took my time answering, staring at the floor. Finally, I said it. "Yes."

"Bram killed her," I said. "Bram killed Taya, and he ran." The words sat between us.

Mina sat forward suddenly, as sharp as a razor. "Then send someone after him. Now, before he gets a day's start."

I kept my eyes on the planks. "Who? Every tracker in this keep would be hunting Kael. That's who they'd think they were after." I paused. "And if one of them catches him..."

"They catch Bram," Mina finished.

I nodded, glanced up at her. "And Yvara isn't here."

Mina's voice was very quiet. "He knows everything, Sera."

"I know."

"So what do we tell them?" Mina asked. "The pack. Vane."

"The truth, as far as it goes," I said. "Kael isn't in the keep. Nobody knows where he's gone."

Mina stared at me. "They'll say he did it. They'll say Kael beat his own daughter to death and ran."

"I'm not worried about their gossip," I said, shaking my head. "Kael's brother is in his kitchen right now. Do you think for a second Vidar Sarn believes that story?"

Mina was silent, her eyes searching mine.

"And look at Vane," I pressed on. "Do you think he believes, even for one moment, that Kael would do that?"

Mina shook her head slowly.

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