Page 41 of Made in Malice

He takes one step forward like he might get in my face, but his brother blocks his path. “Thank you for stopping,” he tells me, but he sounds sad. “My brother could have died out there if it weren’t for you.”

I don’t have enough energy to give his words much thought because I’m too focused on finding an escape while he’s blocking Lucian. Just as I get near the staircase, someone grips my wrist, stopping me. I wrench my arm away and sneer, “Touch me again, and I will take us both over that ledge. My life is worthless, remember?”

Lucian’s eyes widen for just a second, then he steps back as if he believes I would drag him over the third-floor railing.

I stomp down the stairs, feeling so mad I could cry, but there is no way I’m letting him, or anyone else, think he hurt me.

I allow my anger to drive me right back to my classroom, where I shove the door open before dropping none too gracefully into my seat at the back of the class. Several heads turn to watch me, but I take a page out of Morningstar’s book and pretend none of them exist.

NOX

“That didn’t go as planned.” I voice my thoughts to my stubborn brother. If he weren’t my twin and we didn’t share a soul, I might want to punch him in the face for making Nova walk away the way he did after everything she did for us. When I saw her in the camera last night, I assumed she’d done something to him, but she saved him and he knows it too, even if he can’t admit it. His head is a fucked-up mess, and I can’t blame him for it.

“She’s infuriating,” he snaps as if he’s waiting for me to agree.

“You mean she’s not like the other sheep?” I counter and turn around to lean against the railing now that I can no longer see Nova on the main floor, storming away. “It’s killing you.”

“Fuck off, she just pisses me off.”

“Why?” I prod.

“Because she shouldn’t be here. She doesn’t belong here.” He’s adamant.

“Why not? Because she wasn’t born here? So the fuck what.” I shrug.

“The Umbras were dead. They had no heirs, no one to take on new roles when it was their time again, and I was this close to making that bitch submit to me, but then they pulled her out of the ether just in the nick of time. You don’t think that’s a problem?”

“They’ll have to prove her lineage. She’s either a founder or she’s not.” I’m not nearly as obsessed with taking everything from the Umbras the way Lucian is, but then again, most days, I don’t give a fuck if I live or die, so at least he has something to keep him going.

“Where did they find her? Who is she?” he demands as if I have an answer.

“You’re the one with a person on the inside,” I remind him.

“They are not fucking talking to me. I’ve tried to make contact twice.” Lucian pushes his hair away from his face in an unusual display of frustration. There’s not much that can get a rise out of him other than family business, but this girl does so without any effort on her part.

“Find someone else who can tell you about her,” I suggest.

“I don’t want anyone near her,” Lucian bites out through his teeth, and I know it cost him to admit it, so I don’t push him to examine why he won’t let anyone near her, especially since I know the answer. He already thinks of her as his—or ours, to be more precise.

There is, however, something he needs to hear. “She’s afraid of you.”

He scoffs and looks at me as if I’m the one who’s delusional. “The only time I’ve seen her remotely frightened is when she ran out of the study room in the library with her arm all scratched up, and I still don’t know what the hell happened in there.”

“You scare her,” I repeat, but I doubt it’s any use. Lucian’s not ready to admit some things, even to himself.

“I need to find out if she really is an Umbra,” he says, ignoring me like I assumed he would.

“What then?”

“Then I will know exactly how I need to use her.”

NOVA

By Thursday, when I’m getting ready for my second shift at Hooker’s, I’m about ready to toss in the towel and quit the college I was so eager to attend. I’m constantly looking over my shoulder, wondering when the next attack is going to come.

The only thing keeping me enrolled is the thought of returning home to my crappy apartment after getting a taste of what my life could be like, and the fact that I don’t want to give Lucian the satisfaction.

I’ve seen him around campus a few times. Well, I think it’s him anyway, and not his possibly more stable brother, but he ignored me like I asked for the most part. I’m not dumb enough to believe he has any intention of actually leaving me alone. I catch him watching me sometimes, as if he’s biding his time to strike, and it’s messing with my head, which is exactly what he wants.

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