“Cora, no.” My head shook when my eyes found hers. It was enough to stop her, though I knew it wouldn’t last for long.
Jacob’s hits continued to pummel my stomach until I felt myself about to double over. Twisting, I managed to get my shoulder into him, and I lunged forward, driving him across the room until we rammed into a table. A lamp tumbled over the side, breaking when it hit the floor, but neither of us acknowledged it. We were in a different world.
Now my fists were flying, connecting wherever they could. Jacob grinned up at me as I continued to land hit after hit, like he was enjoying this.
“See? Doesn’t that feel better?” Jacob laughed right before kicking my feet out beneath me.
I hit the floor hard, making the pictures on the walls shake. He was on me instantly, pinning my arms and delivering hit after hit, his aim on my face. I didn’t know where the surge of strength came from, but the next moment, I was back on top of him, swinging at him while he swung at me. Our knees, elbows, and fists were a blur of motion.
I’d never felt this way before. This kind of rage. The kind that made everything in my vision glow red. I’d never realized I was capable of the power I possessed or what it was capable of doing. I felt it all bubble to the surface right then. All of the times I’d suppressed my feelings, every time I’d buried them deep, they all burst free at the same time, fueling my anger and my fists.
The fight felt like it would never come to an end. It was clear neither of us would be the first to tap out, and even though we’d been at it for a while, neither of our strikes were dimming in power or enthusiasm.
“That’s enough! Both of you!” Cora had been silent in the corner for long enough. She came charging forward. “You’re both going to kill each other.”
She grabbed my arm, pulling it back before it could connect with Jacob. That left one side of me vulnerable, and Jacob didn’t waste a moment. The instant he hit me, I went flying back, but I wasn’t the only one. With the way Cora was still holding on to me, she staggered back and tripped over one of Jacob’s shoes that had come off during the brawl. She hit the ground hard, the back of her head ramming into the table behind her.
The sound it made when she hit it was the most disturbing noise I’d heard yet.
Jacob and I went instantly still, both of our heads turning toward where she’d fallen. I crawled toward her, my vision blurred from what I guessed was a black eye or two starting to form. Jacob rolled onto his side, heaving for a breath, trying to make his way toward her too.
“Don’t. Just don’t.” Cora’s hand moved behind her head, rubbing it.
I stilled, not sure what to do. I wanted to go to her, but from the look on her face, that was not what she wanted.
“Look at you two. You’re brothers. Twin brothers.” She sat up, motioning between Jacob and me bloodied and broken on the floor. “You’re fighting over a girl. Over me. I won’t come between you.” Her head shook as she started to stand. She wobbled a few times, but she shook her head when I moved to help. “I refuse to be the reason you two rip each other apart. We’ve been through too damn much for that.”
She didn’t know, or she hadn’t accepted, that she’d been what had come between us for years. This was nothing new. This was just all of those years coming to a head. A bloody, brutal one.
Her eyes filled with tears when they met mine, but she didn’t let a single one fall. “I can’t do this.”
When she headed toward the door, I moved to stand. “Cora—”
She didn’t stop, didn’t look back. I didn’t even know if she heard me. She was leaving, and I understood why. She loved us both. In different ways maybe, but she cared about us and couldn’t stand to be the reason we killed each other, literally or figuratively.
She was moving through the door when Jacob’s throat cleared. “I was with someone else.” He didn’t sound anything like the person he’d been minutes ago. He sounded like the brother I remembered, the one I loved and respected. “That’s why I didn’t make it to the wedding. I went out, met someone, got drunk, and let her take me home.”
Cora turned slowly in the doorway.
“I made a mistake. I’ve made lots of mistakes, Cora.” He sighed as his confession continued, his eyes never wandering from hers. “I never wanted to hurt you. I loved you, but I’m a self-destructive, greedy son of a bitch. I’m sorry.”
She didn’t say anything. She stood there framed in the doorway, the rain coming down behind her. Instead of a look of despair covering her face, she looked more peaceful than anything else. “Thank you for being honest,” she whispered, stepping back onto the porch. “Good-bye, Jacob.”
She didn’t say anything else. She just turned into the night and rushed down the porch into the rain.
“Cora!” I called, pushing myself to a stand. It took more effort than it should have, but that might have been because every bone in my body felt either broken or bruised. Same for every muscle.
She didn’t stop, and a few moments later, the dark swallowed her.
“Cora!” I tried again. My first few motions forward were more a hobble than a step.
“Going to need to move faster than that if you’re going to catch her.” Jacob had scooted back into a wall, wiping his face off with his shirt. It came away with streaks of blood and sweat.
“You look like shit,” I said, realizing what part of my motion was so damn slow. I’d been barefoot when I charged over a mess of broken glass.
“Yeah, well, I feel like shit, so at least the outside matches the inside for once in my life.”
I limped a few more steps toward the door, each one feeling easier than the last, despite the shooting pain from whatever glass fragments I’d managed to imbed into the bottoms of my feet.
I wanted to go after her. I needed to, but when I looked at my brother collapsed into the corner, I couldn’t just leave. Not yet. Making my way over to him, I held my hand out to give him a pull up.
He shook his head. “I can’t move. I’d just fall back down if I did make it up.” Jacob opened his mouth, moving his jaw from side to side to see if it was still working. “When did you learn to kick ass like that, by the way?”
My shoulder lifted. Which also hurt like hell. “It came naturally.”
Jacob chuckled a few beats, wincing when he shifted. Probably because he had a few cracked ribs like I did.
“That’s going to need stitches,” I said, indicating his left brow where a stream of blood was running from a nice gash.
“Good thing my brother’s a doctor.” His sliver of a smile revealed teeth tinged red with blood.
“I’m sorry. I really am.”
Before I could say more, he lifted his hand. “I know.”
We didn’t say anything after that, and I wasn’t sure if there was anything left to be said.
When I moved for the door again, something landed at my feet.