He could still remember his father showing him the body, Sergei’s hand heavy on Ivan’s shoulder.“This is what happens to those who run, Vanya.”
Across from him, Sascha’s breathing turned jagged. He was panicking, not as adept at controlling his reactions as Ivan had always been forced to be.
Ivan sat still through it, watching his youngest brother gasp and choke. He remained still and calm. Nonreactive. That was the only way to be.
Eventually Sascha seemed to get a hold of his breathing. “And Alexei knows this?”
“I always assumed he did.” Ivan shrugged. He’d never discussed it with Alexei point-blank. Nothing good would have come of it. “Maybe I assumed wrong.”
Sascha cried some more, and Ivan waited it out.
“Okay,” Sascha finally said, meeting Ivan’s eyes. “Okay. So I guess the question is, How like our father are you going to be, Ivan?”
You need to be exactly like me, Ivan, if you want to survive. If you want those brothers of yours to survive with you.
Ivan didn’t answer him.
But apparently Sascha didn’t need an answer, and Ivan forced himself to focus as Sascha began to list his demands. He wanted to stay in Maine—wanted to get away from Ivan, more like. He wanted to run one of the legitimate businesses—not get his hands dirty with the rest, of course. And he wanted Ivan to visit only if he acted like someone other than himself. Human. Caring. Brotherly.
Finally, they got to the point of it all. To the Carusos and themeeting Ivan had scheduled that would allow Sascha’s demon to do away with key members of the family.
When Sascha realized Ivan had anticipated his arrival, he gave Ivan an accusatory look.“You planned this, didn’t you? For me to bring Kai and fix it for you.”
At least Sascha was finally paying attention to the game.
“Maybe I’ve grown tired of cleaning up our family’s messes all on my own,” Ivan told him.
“Yourmesses.”
“Alexei started it,” Ivan pointed out. It had been Alexei running like a coward that had been the turning point here. How exactly was that Ivan’s mess?
“Alexei just wanted out,” Sascha told him, defending their middle brother like he always did. “That’s all he ever wanted. To have his own life.”
Who the fuck didn’t want that? And why did his brothers think wanting something meant it could be a reality—without consequence, without bloodshed? “Some of us don’t have that luxury,” Ivan told Sascha.
Maybe it was the residual fatigue from having summoned a demon, but the rest of it was hazy. Ivan gave Sascha the Book so he could bond with his demon, whatever that meant. Kai burst in from the inner room and acted as if Sascha were a helpless, wounded puppy Ivan had kicked.
And then they were gone.
Nix turned around from where he’d been yelling after Kai. Teasing him about their time in the Void together. “Leaving without a goodbye? Does this mean you don’t want to spend another eternity together? I’m hurt, Kai!”
He really did tease everyone, then.
But Nix’s grin dropped quickly when he caught sight of Ivan’s face. Which was funny because Ivan’s face was a blank fucking slate. “What’s wrong?”
Ivan tapped his fingers on his desk. “Why would anything be wrong?”
Nix narrowed those striking purple eyes. “I have a piece of your soul in my chest, Ivan. I can feel when you’re hurting.”
Ivan grimaced. That was…inconvenient.
Or was it? The demon was obligated to help him, bound by the contract between them. For once, maybe it didn’t matter if Ivan showed his cards a bit.
What a novel thought.
“I told him our father murdered our mother.”
Nix cocked his head. “And was that the truth?”
