Page 52 of Made in Malice

“You’ll take care of it, right, Lucian? Show her you can be…considerate,” Nox urges his brother.

“She could do it herself if she spoke to everyone else the way she speaks to me.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I tuck my hair behind my ear, only to pull it right back out when I feel too exposed to their gazes.

“I’ve watched you pretend to ignore the sheep and act like you’re meek, but you’re not with me.” His words come out accusatory. I can’t tell if he’s mad because I ignore everyone else talking crap about me at school, or if he’s upset because I don’t let him get away with treating me like I’m the trash he accused me of being.

“I can’t argue with an entire school,” I grit out through my teeth, “and I wouldn’t need to if it weren’t for you. They follow your lead.”

“Show them who you are the way you showed me,” Lucian snaps.

I can’t make sense of why he would even care, so I don’t respond directly to his prompting. Besides, I haven’t backed down to any single person. It’s groups I can’t win against, so I don’t even try. I bring our conversation back to the reason I’m here. “Tell me what you want, please?” I offer the placation, but my tone is off, proving I don’t really mean it.

Lucian lifts his brows as if I surprised him, then finally answers, “I want to ruin your family, and I want your help doing it.”

“Why would I do that?” He alluded to why he would want me to do it outside, but I need to know more. Still, I can’t bring myself to directly ask why he thinks the Umbras are responsible for his parents’ deaths.

“Because I told you to.”

“Lucian,” Nox chastises softly, but it’s belied by the smile tipping his lips.

“That’s not a motivator for me.”

“I could make you.” Lucian lowers his chin, and his gaze darkens.

“You could try,” I counter, which results in Nox planting his hand on his brother’s chest when Lucian tries to get up as if he’s prepared to physically make me comply right this very instant.

“My brother blames your family for the death of our parents.”

“Why does he blame them? It doesn’t sound like you do.” I cling to the chance that Lucian is just delusional, and Rory and Astrid had nothing to do with their parents’ deaths.

“He blames them too,” Lucian mutters, sending a quick rebuke in his brother’s direction in the form of a glare.

“Tell me why you think they are responsible,” I urge, not certain we will ever get to the bottom of this with all the bickering.

“Our parents died of carbon monoxide poisoning,” Nox says softly while watching his brother for a reaction.

“It should have been the Umbras. Our parents never would have been at that cabin if it wasn’t for Rory canceling his attendance to the event at the last minute and pushing the duty off on them. It’s proof the Umbras don’t deserve to be in the seat of power, and if they hadn’t pulled your ass out of the gutter, they never would have had it again.”

“What?” They died of carbon monoxide, and Lucian blames Rory and Astrid?

“Your grandfather is the president, and that comes with obligations, but he pulled out, which meant my parents went in the Umbras’ place. They didn’t even have time to get their own accommodations, so they stayed at the shitty cabin your family picked, and there was a carbon monoxide leak,” Lucian spits out, but I can tell each word cost him.

“I know what it’s like to lose your family, so I won’t insult you with useless, ‘I’m sorry for your loss,’ garbage. It never helps. But that…that sounds like an accident,” I admit, knowing he’s not going to want to hear it.

Even though I don’t like Lucian, I know he must have cared deeply for his parents. It’s evident even now in the expression on his face. It makes me wonder if losing them is what made him into the bitter man he is today. Who was Lucian Morningstar before his life was forever altered?

“Who says it was an accident,” Lucian retorts, his eyes growing more feverish by the second.

“Do you have any proof it wasn’t?” I question softly, hating myself a little for doing it. I know how I felt after the crash, when the police were asking about my mom and if she had been drinking. I despised them for making me see the truth. The accident was her fault for getting behind the wheel drunk, and we were lucky it didn’t happen a hundred other times. They made me see who was to blame for me being left completely alone in the world when I was barely seventeen, and it wasn’t just my mom. My dad and I let her get behind the wheel, knowing she’d been drinking. It was probably because neither of us had the energy to argue with her again about how she wasn’t fine, but I don’t see how the Umbras are at fault here. It wasn’t intentional or even due to neglect on their part. It was an accident.

“I don’t have proof yet,” Lucian grits out through his teeth.

“Is that what you want from me? To help you prove their deaths weren’t accidental?” I’m incredulous, and I can’t keep it from my tone.

“You’re not asking the right questions, lamb.”

“And what questions do you think I should be asking, pretty boy?”

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