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I notice the bruises on his face straight away. The badly busted lip, the stitched eyebrow, the swollen nose. He got beaten up bad and he’s fuming. Scratch that. He’s enraged, infuriated…murderous.
So when he stops an inch away from Rose, I grab her by her jacket, pulling her away from him slightly, putting a safe distance between them. Nate is a master at controlling his anger, but when it’s out, he’s unstoppable.
The difference between my brother and me is that I’ve had to bury my emotions to survive. To hide behind a cold apathy to protect myself. But Nate, he’s always completely aware of his emotions. He feels everything, he knows good from bad, and he rules it all.
He weighs his decisions with a precision he’s obsessed with, a control that is inimitable. Something I’ve always envied him for. There is a jealousy that burns in me for a sort of control I know exists, but I will never have. Had he been a good person, he would have saved the world. But he was born evil, and he has chosen to use his gift only for selfish decisions.
“What happened to you?” Rose asks.
He ignores her question. “How many times did I say,no guests.”
“Really? That’s what matters to you right now,” I mock him. “You’re practically disfigured and you’re telling us about house rules?”
“You’re right,” he chuckles. That dark one he keeps for special occasions. “Why should we care about what I say? Especially when it was only to keep Bianco from completely losing his shit and do something unimportant like hit Ozy in the face or, I don’t know,” he shrugs, “demand she moves back to D.C.”
“What?!” My twin and I gasp. Mine is an angry, shocked gasp. Hers is a small, anxious one, her throat tightening on the word.
“Get in the car. We’ll discuss it at home.”
“I…is…” She’s completely lost her composure, a trembling hand now resting on the car as if to keep her up.
“Is he still at home?” I ask the question I know she wants to.
“No.” Is the only answer we get before he gets back in the car.
We follow, both sitting in the back.
“Where’s Sam?” Ozy asks after a few minutes of silence.
“Sam’s not going to save you, Ozy,” Nate answers through gritted teeth. “He’s got places to be, people to kill.”
“Did Bianco do this to you?” she questions quickly.
She’s panic-talking, trying to get the gist of a situation we won’t fully understand.
I slide my hand to the middle seat and grab hers. I’m angry, but I’m not worried because there is absolutely no way she is moving to D.C. Bianco has power over us, he’s always ruled us with fear and blackmail, but he can’t make her move to D.C. That’s simply impossible.
“If only you had been so desperate for answers yesterday, maybe you would have stayed at home instead of running away and leaving me to handle him.”
“You were always so desperate to stay with him,” I snarl. “You don’t need us to hold your hand, do you?”
Fuck him, even if he’s right. Rose and I knew we should have been home yesterday. We were meant to have dinner with Chris and come back, make sure to be there before Bianco left. We fucked up.
“What does he mean moving to D.C.?” Ozy ignores my remark and keeps vomiting questions, desperate to understand.
“It means your old room is being cleaned and dusted as we speak.”
“But…you’re our legal guardian. Y-you won’t allow him, right? You can’t change my school and my…my,” her voice wavers, and I tighten my grip around her hand.
“I’m your legal guardian so Bianco can keep an eye on both of you. Had you not pissed him off, he wouldn’t want to keep a closereye.”
“Who did this to you?” I insist. Nate could kill Bianco with his bare hands if he wanted. Ifonlyhe wanted to.
“The kind gentlemen Bianco invited over to our house yesterday.”
“Why?”
“Because his peoplekeep fucking dying,” he hisses. “And he doesn’t fucking know who is killing them. He’s in a never-ending punishing mood.”
