Free The Scent (The Bryn and Sinjin Series Book 2) by H.P. Mallory

believe she is more powerful.”
    “There is nothing for me to believe,” he responded matter-of-factly. His bushy white eyebrows reached for the ceiling. “Your sister is and always has been the stronger of you both. You, my dear, are unfortunately the weaker link.” Swallowing hard, I didn’t say anything. Instead, I allowed Luce to continue tearing me down because that was exactly what I needed. I needed to hear what he truly thought of me. I needed to allow him to break me, piece by piece so I would never, ever trust him again. I needed to see Luce for the lowly bastard he was to ensure that I no longer had any confusion regarding my loyalties.
    “Nice to know what you think of me,” I answered, my tone of voice even.
    “When you were both infants, Jolie was the one I always wanted,” Luce continued. “It was my own rotten luck that we ended up with you instead.”
    Tears stung my eyes, but I refused to grant them any release. I had always thought of Luce as a father figure, since he was the only male role model I’d ever known. My parents had both died before I was old enough to remember them, and the only family I’d had was Luce and the members of my tribe. But now I didn’t think of him as anything other than an angry and embittered old man who was so set on revenge against my sister’s people that he couldn’t even think straight. “So what now?” I demanded.
    “I have not yet decided what to do with you,” Luce answered before taking the three steps that separated him from the door. He put his hand on the knob and gazed down at it in what appeared to be thoughtful repose. He paused for another few seconds before turning again to face me. “As of now, I consider you a threat to your own people.”
    “You aren’t my people!” I spat back, a raging fire in my tone. “And you never were.”
    Nodding, he didn’t seem upset. Instead, he was almost detached, like he was just observing me without any emotional attachment to me whatsoever. And that was probably the truth. “The damage runs deep,” he said indifferently. “You have been brainwashed to believe your sister’s lies, brainwashed to believe that we are your enemies.” Then he shook his head. “I imagined you were much stronger, Bryn, that you would not have fallen for such an obvious ploy.”
    “I haven’t been brainwashed to believe anything,” I railed. “The only thing I learned from my sister is what it means to love someone. And you certainly never taught me that.”
    He nodded, obviously finding no argument in my sentiment. “You should know better than to indulge such things. Emotions are dangerous. They should be …”
    “Rooted out and destroyed,” I finished by rote.
    “At least, you haven’t forgotten some of your training,” he said in an acidic tone. “Unfortunately, you couldn’t follow it.” He rotated the doorknob, but before he stepped outside, I had one last thing to tell him.
    “I regret nothing,” I managed to announce in a level, cool tone. Although he didn’t turn back to face me, he did pause at the threshold. “Whatever happens from here, I don’t care,” I continued. “Because in the last six months, I learned how to live. I learned what true love feels like, and how wonderful it is to care about another person. And I have no regrets for that, not for one second.”
    “Perhaps you will take comfort in your words in due time,” Luce answered. He closed the door behind him before I could ascertain what his cryptic comment meant.

FIVE

    Word of my apparent disloyalty and betrayal spread throughout the tribe in a matter of days. Because I was not allowed visitors (except Luce), I had to learn about my perceived fall from grace from the kitchen girl, Betta, who brought me my three meals a day. Although Betta was, by nature, a shy and timid girl, she seemed eager to open up to me once I asked her enough questions. I suspected that as one of our handful of human workers, who didn’t possess