Page 32 of Erik

“You’re doing a great job, though. That could’ve been a lot worse in there, you know. I’m really proud of you, Natasha.” His praise warmed my cheeks and eased the tightness in my chest, and I ducked my head as Erik squeezed my hand firmly. “It’s true, though, about Cathy. She’ll rat you out because it’s the ‘right’ thing to do, and it’ll intensify her halo.”

“Yeah, I . . . ” My words dried on my tongue when I saw a flash of long, brown hair flailing in the breeze, and I halted mid-stride. This little girl talking to a few other little kids, she lookedexactlylike me when I was twelve years old. She was a little taller than the other kids, and had a nose and mouth just like mine, even though her face was a little wider than mine. “Who’s that?”

“That’s Natalia. Why?” The blood drained from my face, and I whipped around on my heel to take a huge breath and cover my mouth to hide my frown.

“You said she’s a twin. What’s her twin’s name?”

“Valentine.” Dread burrowed deep into my gut, and goosebumps washed my entire body as Erik positioned himself right in front of me. Twisting to glance over my shoulder, my eyes narrowed to search for the faces I didn’t recognize when we’d rolled up. “What? What? I don’t get it?”

Holy shit, holy shit,holy fucking shit!A bark of humorless laughter burst from my throat as the music changed, and that little girl looked at me. She looked at me withmy eyes. Clamping my hand over my mouth, I turned back around as disbelief surged through my veins, and my heart throbbed painfully.

I was going to have a heart attack. This couldn’t be happening!

“What’s wrong?” My face heated until my cheeks threatened to melt off, and I hiccupped a shallow, ragged breath as I closed my eyes. Abruptly, my dazed mind caught up with what I saw, and I twisted again to peek at that girl, still staring at me in confusion. Even then, she looked so much like me, and she didn’t break eye contact until her sister came up to her.

33

Erik

Isaw it. I fucking saw it in her eyes, even though I didn’t understand it. Natasha straightened, a fury shaking her arms noticeably as she panted through flared nostrils. I saw the second she gave up trying to control herself, and I saw the shimmer of absolute apoplexy that rippled across her features. She let go of my hand to roll her shoulders, take a massive breath and hold it, and there was no point in asking any more questions.

She probably couldn’t hear me, anyway.

“Luke. Hey, Luke.” Gesturing my little brother over, I held a finger to my lips at his questioning glance as Natasha turned back to the crowd. Several people were staring at her now, and I licked my lips at the sudden, crushing tension in the air. “I might need your help in a sec.”

“I’m down to break up a fight.” Nodding in thanks, I didn’t have a chance to open my mouth again when Natasha strode forward. We followed at a safe distance, and I scanned the yard as more and more people noticed what was going on. If there was one thing I wasn’t dense about, it was violent intent, andeveryonefelt it. All the conversation stopped, the backyard eerily quiet and confused, and I pursed my lips thinly when Natasha made her way toward the patio. Mike and my dad manned the double grills, and my dad noticed her before Mike did.

Natasha didn’t say anything as she rounded the counter, and she moved so fast even I almost missed it. She smashed her fist into Mike’s face so hard thecrackof bones breaking echoed above the music pumping from the speakers. He fell back into the house’s siding, and Luke and I both leaped forward to grab her when she tried to advance on him again.

“What the fuck! Wh—" My words dried on my tongue when I glanced at Natasha’s face. I had never seen her soemotionless. Not when she talked about killing her mom. Not when she talked about her past. She was completely blank— there was no trace of that rage she just displayed. Maybe, it was the fact that she didn’t struggle, but Luke and I both lost our grip on her when she lunged like a fucking animal.

“Stop!” Before I could snatch her, Natasha was jabbing Mike in the face again, and I wrapped her in a bear hug to get her off him. Her sneakered foot flung up, catching him right in the chin, and Mike let out a pained cry that seemed to break the barrier in her.

“You . . . you fucking piece of shit. You think that hurts? I’ll fucking hurt you! You . . . you asshole! Youmonster!” Dragging Natasha around the house as she screamed and flailed violently, I hissed when she scratched my arms, and Luke had to wrestle her legs. Jason flew into my field of vision, and it took the three of us to pin Natasha on the grass. “L-let me go! Let me go! That fucker! I’m gonna fuckingkill you! You’re dead, you son of a bitch!”

“What the hell, Erik?” Holding both her forearms beside her head, I glanced up through narrowed eyes as Jason and Luke both held a leg, and Natasha writhed like a snake. “Not that I don’t get it, but—"

“I have no fucking idea, Jason. And we’re not gonna get anything out of her like this.” I didn’t like Mike from the moment I met him, but this . . . this was far beyond simply feeling off about the guy. Sniffing hard as Natasha’s bloodied knuckles stained the grass, I winced when she panted so hard that spittle and snot dribbled down her cheek. “She asked about Natalia and then fucking blew up.”

A cold sweat dribbled down my back, and my brain ran rampant trying to figure out what the fuck was happening. Natasha stopped struggling at some point, but that vast emptiness in her eyes made me not want to let go of her. Taking both her hands in mine, I squeezed and released, trying to get her to snap out of it, and Mark came careening around the corner of the house with my dad.

“I demand an explanation! What the hell just happened!” My dad’s booming, authoritative tone blanketed me in iron, and he glared hotly at me as he propped his fists on his hips. “Erik—"

“Idon’t know, okay. Can you just fucking give me a minute to figure this shit out? Back the fuck off.” Turning to Natasha as she spasmed weakly on the ground, I pursed my lips thinly as I tried to think. Everything was fine until Natasha saw Natalia.

Wait . . . Nat and Nat. Val and Val. Fourteen years ago, Natasha would’ve been twelve, and that’s when her dad faked his death.

“Mark, can you pull up a picture of that news report from Dallas fourteen years ago?” Dread sharpened my tone, and Mark pulled out his cell phone to type away on the screen. Expectancy thickened the air, and my elder brother tensed as his head whipped up and around.

“Oh, no. Oh, fuck no.” I could tell he didn’t want to show me the pictures, but Mark slowly turned his phone to me, and Jason gasped audibly. At twelve, Natasha looked exactly like Natalia. They could be genetically identical twins with their pictures side by side. “Erik, this is bad.”

“He replaced her.” Mike— which wasn’t even his name— had new kids and used the same names as his first. He abandoned Natasha and replaced her with a look-alike and treated that look-alike better than he had the original. Because he didn’t like her, her mother, because it was easier to leave and forget.

“Erik.” Caution thickened Mark’s voice, and blood droned in my ears as my heart thundered against its cage. “Erik, don’t do anything stupid.”

“I’m gonna kill him.” Grinding the declaration through my teeth, I panted as rage enflamed my lungs, and my vision spotted at the corners. “I’m gonna kill him.”

“Wait, wait, wait, okay. What about Natasha? Maybe she wants to kill him. Don’t make this about you, Erik.”