At first, Rex couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing. There was no way Tavi would’ve brought their mother and sister into this room of his own volition, which meant he’d probably been pressured into it. Which meant…

Which meant they might be suspicious.

He rubbed at his eyes, trying to make sure he was actually seeing Mother and Nyla, and there they were, with Tavi standing beside them like he belonged there.

It filled him with mixed emotions, and he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. He wanted out of this onesie, out of this crib. He wanted his life back. But at the same time, he didn’t want his family to see how hard his cock was inside of a diaper, didn’t want to know if Tavi would touch him in front of them.

But he knew that if he spoke up, Tavi would be seriously fucked. He had to weigh it carefully, but it felt like he was trying to think through quicksand for all that he could get through his own thoughts.

Could he really do that to his own brother, knowing what would happen if he threw his twin under the metaphorical bus?

Could he really risk not speaking up now that he had the chance?

Surely they’d let him discipline his little brother. The only problem was that Tavi had proven himself dangerous, and he obviously had dangerous allies. If he didn’t cooperate, they might take him away, then what? He didn’t know if he could handle them taking his twin away from him.

He didn’t know if he could handle another day like this.

Rex realized that at some point, he’d grabbed the pacifier, and he was sucking fervently on it. He met Tavi’s eyes, and his brother was watching him with something hot and heavy in that mirrored gaze. He spat it out, and he tried to telegraph just how sorry he was for what he was about to do.

Kneeling and shoving against the side, he grabbed the bars of the crib, choking out, “M-mother.” To his horror, some of his spittle dripped down his chin, and he saw her recoil from him.

It hurt — but then, he had to remind himself that she thought he was Tavi. Of course she’d be repulsed. Ever since Tavi had failed her by not manifesting magic, she’d treated him like he was subhuman. Rex had tried to protect him from it in his own way, but Tavi just didn’t seem to be that grateful despite everything he’d done.

Tavi’s expression turned into something alarmed from behind his mother’s back, and he shook his head, but Rex had already committed.

“Mother, it’s… That’s not… I’m Rex,” Rex croaked out.

Mother turned to Tavi, who had managed to hide away most of his hurt, and she did not look at all amused. “Has he been saying things like this for long?” she demanded, ignoring Rex completely.

It threw him completely off guard when she didn’t even look at him.

What?

He hadn’t expected her to just assume that he was lying. He’d expected a widening of eyes, the casting of a spell to bind his errant brother, a furious storm raining down upon them. He’d thought she’d know, that she’d have some sort of mother’s intuition — or that she’d be able to see that Tavi didn’t have magic. She had to know something was wrong.

But she didn’t.

“Yeah,” Tavi admitted, running a hand through his hair and looking between them. “I don’t know how he expects anyone to believe it when he doesn’t have magic, but…” He shook his head. “He’s been spending a lot of time asleep. Maybe he’s dreaming.” He looked at Rex, who didn’t look at him in turn. “I guess he just wishes things were different.”

There was still hurt in his voice, hurt that seared through Rex, too. But what had he expected? Who would really want to live like this?

And no, his little head didn’t get a vote.

“No!” Rex said, voice getting stronger as he clutched the bars more tightly. “Mother, Nyla, that’s Octavian. I don’t know how he has you fooled, but he does! He doesn’t even have magic.”

Neither of them looked impressed — or convinced.

Rex couldn’t look at Tavi, whose wounded and betrayed look spoke volumes out of the corner of his eye as it was.

“Oh, for Heaven’s sake,” Mother huffed, annoyance spreading across her expression. “Let’s indulge Octavian’s foolishness just this once.” She said the name like one might say sewage, and it sent a pang through Rex. “I highly doubt any witch could fool Nyla when it comes to illusions.”

Nyla. Right. Nyla would see whatever it was that had his magic wrapped up so tightly… and she would see that Tavi didn’t have magic at all. Hope started to rise

“Nyla?” Mother asked imperiously, gesturing to Rex. “Do you see anything that indicates something out of the ordinary?”

Rex wasn’t even sure the answer mattered. In Mother’s mind, he’d already been judged and sentenced to a life of oversized baby clothing, bottles, and diapers — of wetting himself and getting enemas to make sure he was clean, of getting hand jobs from his brother and who knew what else…

Part of him wanted Nyla to miss it, and he hated himself for that with indescribable passion.

Nyla met Rex’s eyes, and she considered for a moment. The way her gaze slid from the top of his head down to the soles of his feet made him feel like he was under a microscope. He knew she’d see it. How could she not? Even their mother had acknowledged Nyla’s skill, and if any witch in the city could get an illusion past her…

“The only magic resonating from him is from his slave mark,” Nyla said at long last, though her gaze never left Rex’s even as she reduced his worth to nothing more than Tavi had ever been, defining him by his slave mark and nothing more.

He realized with a jolt that she knew.

She knew.

His heart sank. Tavi had always been her favorite brother. Of course she’d protect him, if it came down to that. She’d never tell Mother if Tavi was guilty of wrongdoing.

If the way she looked at him was any indication, she didn’t intend to do anything about it either. It didn’t surprise him as much as it might have. His eldest siblings had been pushed so long and so hard to be perfect that witch society had molded them into ruthless beings. If Nyla wanted to protect Tavi, she’d do it, and that was that.

“Liar,” Rex croaked out. He looked from her to Tavi, then back.

Some people might’ve looked away. Nyla never did. She held up her hand when Mother flushed in anger and tried to speak, remarking, “Stop this foolishness. I know you’re upset with what your brother has done to you, but you are his slave and it is his choice.” Nyla casually strolled closer, reaching through the bars to touch his hair. “Be glad someone has chosen to take care of you. Your fate could be so much worse, love.”

Her deliberate lack of names, the care with which she chose her words, caught him off guard. For a split second, he wondered if she had anything to do with this, but he dismissed that thought almost instantly. Nyla was good with illusions, but this seemed above even his sister’s skill. Suppressing his magic was hardly an illusion, after all, and that was the most potent part of this. He had no idea how Tavi had managed this, or who could’ve been powerful enough, but Nyla wouldn’t have dared risk her future by having anything to do with it.

As it was, if their mother ever found out she’d been lying…

There definitely were worse fates than this, but that didn’t mean he wanted it, and he definitely didn’t think he could stand to be a witch deprived of his magic for the rest of his life — however long that ended up being.

Rex might enjoy it, and he might even surrender to it… but there was only so much he was willing to let his brother take from him.

“I think that’s enough for today,” Mother said. “I only came by to check on you. I haven’t heard from you in a few weeks, Rex. I was going to tell you to mind your spending, but I see you have a project worth investing in.” Her voice was so warm for his brother, especially in comparison to how cold it was for him, and Rex bit his bottom lip hard. “I’ll let you get the baby’s diaper changed.” She wrinkled her nose. “And please, put that pacifier back in its mouth before it keeps spewing nonsense. I’ll deposit more into your account so you can finish outfitting the nursery and making sure he behaves properly.”

Rex stared at her. How could she be such a fantastic, talented witch — and his mother! — and not know that she was looking at the wrong twin? He and Tavi were identical, but that didn’t mean there weren’t subtle differences here and there… And encouraging him to spend more money! Like this wasn’t already insult to injury. She might as well have slid a knife between his ribs.

“I’ll take care of it, Mother,” Tavi said, but his voice was subdued.

“We’ll show ourselves out,” Nyla said. “I imagine he’s hungry.” Her eyes locked onto Tavi’s, and Rex had that same awful sense that she knew something far beyond what she was saying — and she was defending their human brother!

“Y-yeah,” Tavi said, stammering enough to make their mother give him a sidelong glance. “I’ll make sure he’s fed.”

“See that you do. You’re responsible for him,” Nyla told Tavi, her eyes still intent upon his. From the outside, it didn’t look any different than the usual concern she showed for him, the concern most of the family disapproved of. He was shocked silent, unsure of how those words could seem to hold such duality. “Don’t forget that.”

“I won’t,” Tavi said. He took a step toward her, but Nyla looked at him just like she’d always looked at Rex — who wasn’t welcome anywhere near her. As much as their mother loved Rex, their sister loved Tavi, and there had never been much room for anything in between.

“Mother!” Rex tried one more time, but their mother was already on her way out without so much as a glance behind her. If she only knew, she would be horrified, but she wasn’t listening — she wasn’t listening, and her own children were conspiring against her.

Nyla tapped Tavi’s arm, murmuring something in his ear that Rex couldn’t hear, then she was gone, too…

Leaving him all alone with his twin.

Fuck, it hurt. His own family hadn’t recognized him, and they’d left him here with Tavi controlling him. He was going to be trapped like this until Tavi chose to release him at this rate, and he didn’t even understand how it was possible.

“I’m not just going to accept this,” Rex said hoarsely, even though there was a part of him that wanted to do just that. “I can’t.” He shook his head, even though he knew Tavi would be able to see the yearning in his eyes as he looked at his brother.

“Why not?” Tavi asked, running his fingers through Rex’s hair just like Nyla had done only moments earlier.

Rex hated how second nature it had become to embrace the touch when Tavi did it, to enjoy it, to have it be a part of his experience with his brother. “Because my magic…” He trailed off, the bitter resentment that had characterized this whole period of their lives more than obvious in his voice, if not in the words themselves.

“I can’t trust you with it,” his brother said slowly, looking away. “You know that.”

“You don’t know what it feels like,” Rex said, a little whimper accompanying his words. “Daddy, you don’t know how much it— it—”

Tavi still wouldn’t look at him, busying himself with folding up the clean onesies he’d tossed onto the bed.

“It feels like I can’t see, or smell, or experience things. It’s like…” Frustration ran through him as he tried to figure out how to explain this to his magicless brother. “It’s like reaching for a sense and not having it be there. It’s like being blind and mute all at once, like missing a limb that was always there before. You just keep going for it, but it’s not there.”

Tears pooled up at the corners of his eyes, and he hid his face against his pillow.

Tavi came back, wrapping an arm around him. “Shh,” he said. “C’mon, Rex. It won’t be forever.”

Rex blinked several times, trying to clear his eyes of tears. “Every day is forever, Tavi.”

“Daddy,” Tavi admonished gently, stroking his stomach. “You’ve always thought that. Every day you’ve been denied something. Every time you thought the world owed you something. It’s never been true.” He sighed.

Rex felt something in the pit of his stomach sink. He wasn’t going to get through to his brother, and that much was clear, but he was going to have to keep trying. “Daddy, pl—”

“I said no,” Tavi replied, firm and authoritative and cutting all at once.

Rex flinched.

“That’s the answer, Rexy. Stop trying to get another one, because it’s not happening. You’re just going to tire yourself out.” By the time he’d finished speaking, his voice was soft again, soothing, and Tavi’s lips brushed his cheek. “It’ll be okay. Babies don’t need magic, and my baby boy will be just fine without his.”

Tavi kissed his forehead.

“It’ll be okay,” he repeated, mirroring Rex’s own words — spoken so many times that it was like an echo — back at him. “You’ll see.”

Rex whimpered, unable to find his voice.

Tavi smiled, serene and oddly comforting despite his words. “I’m a new daddy, and new daddies make mistakes, Rexy. But I’ll do better. I only want the best for you.”

 

THE END

OF

BOOK ONE

 

TAVI AND REX’S STORY CONTINUES

IN

TAKE (THE NEED TRILOGY #2).

 

COMING SOON

 

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