Courting Mortality (Brothers of Fate Book 1) by Allyson Lindt

steady. Thumbs against her throat, near the veins.
    He reached inside her, looking for the spark he needed to pull her back. She can’t be gone. This isn’t real.
    He couldn’t find what he needed. That tiny warmth that would indicate she was still connected to her life, however tentatively.
    He dove deeper. It had to be there. He had to pull her out. He rested his forehead against hers, despair sinking into him. “Please wake up, Marley.” The words spilled out without him processing them. “Please. I love you so much. You can’t do this. I’m not worth it.” He pressed his lips to hers. But there was nothing there. She was gone.
    “Wow. You’re a real romantic, aren’t you? Too little too late, eh bro?” Loki’s taunt shoved Eli’s grief aside, and replaced it with rage.
    Of course his brother was here. Eli knew surrender wasn’t Marley. That she’d never have done something like this to herself.
    Something inside Eli snapped. Eons of fury, frustration, and putting up with Loki’s shit tore through him. He lunged at Loki, unfiltered rage driving him. He wrapped a hand around Loki’s throat, pouring all of his power into the grip, and slammed him in into the nearest wall. He wanted to threaten his brother, but was too furious to find his voice.
    For the first time in their existence, he swore he saw fear in Loki’s eyes. Good. Loki needed to pay. Marley’s was the last life he would destroy.
    “Eli.” Marley’s familiar voice speared through his haze, and he swore his heart stopped. Some of his fury evaporated in confusion. His grip loosened, but he didn’t let go of Loki.
    Loki’s fear vanished, and was replaced with irritation. “Ancestors damn it.” His body flickered into the ethereal, and then re-solidified under Eli’s touch.
    “You’re not leaving. Not yet.” Marley’s voice was cold.
    Eli didn’t know what was happening, but he knew Loki wasn’t going to live through it. He tightened his grip again.
    “Stop.” Marley’s hand rested on his arm, her skin soft against his, calling to his heart. A familiar, but foreign electricity seeped into him. Why did she feel powerful? Marley didn’t have that kind of touch. “Eli. You and I need to talk.” To Loki, she said, “And I really should let him kill you. Not that I could stop him.”
    Loki shrugged. “It doesn’t really work that way.”
    “I didn’t think immortality was an actual thing until today,” Marley said. “I was wrong. Maybe you are, too.”
    Was this confusion what Marley had felt like in the clearing? Except the pieces were clicking in Eli’s head. The things Loki had said about the curse being more than it seemed, the specificity of the words last mortal breath, it was all starting to make sense. He’d revel in Marley not only being alive, but possibly being immortal in a moment. First he had to get rid of the immediate threat. “Explain after I destroy him.”
    Her attention never left Loki. “If you come near me again. Or my family. Or anyone I’ve ever said hello to on the street. You’ll regret it.” Her voice was low and threatening when she spoke. Emanating a kind of confidence Eli had never heard from her. He was used to self-assurance, but not like this.
    Loki didn’t even flinch. “You’re not that kind of powerful, hon. You’re just a baby in the grand scheme of things.”
    Eli squeezed his neck again. Loki’s taunt ended in a strangled, choking gag.
    Marley frowned. “Try me and find out. Or I can let you two fight it out now.”
    Eli smirked at the implication she wouldn’t ask him to stop.
    “You’d kill your own brother?” Loki asked him.
    He still wasn’t sure he believed it, but Eli had the upper hand—the woman he wanted was by his side. Smiling at Loki, Eli dropped his grip on his brother’s neck. He balled his hand into a fist, pulled back, and let the punch fly.
    Loki’s head bounced off the wall with a satisfying thunk . He raised his fingers to his split lip, and