At the sight of him, Luka didn’t think more.
Without a word, without explanation, he turned and bolted from the room, footsteps thundering down the stairs two at a time. The wood creaked under his weight as he rushed through the hallway, past the living room, past the door he had been guarding with his life for days now.
He flung the front door open.
“Lucien?! Brother!”
The name tore out of him, raw and unguarded.
Lucien looked up just in time before Luka crashed into him, arms wrapping around his shoulders with a force that was half relief, half disbelief. For a split second, Lucien stiffened in surprise, then he laughed under his breath and returned the embrace just as tightly.
“Levka,” he said. “You look terrible.”
Luka let out a rough laugh, pressing his forehead briefly against
