Page 4 of Gabriel (Legacy of Heathens #4)
She looked away before she answered. “No, there isn’t. Although I’m not sure why I’m being interrogated at this hour.”
“It’s a brother’s job to worry,” I retorted half-jokingly.
“Uh-huh.”
Silence stretched between us while I considered my options.
There weren’t many. I’d have to change my priorities, and that meant shifting away from stalking Amara to protecting Anya.
Every fiber of me resisted at the idea of not seeing Amara, but I owed too much to my family, and I’d never forgive myself if something happened to Anya.
I shot to my feet, and Anya’s slim hand caught my wrist.
“What’s going on, Gabriel?” I paused, eyes locked on her hand. “If you need something, you know I’m here for you. Always. You’re not alone.”
I leaned in, pressing a soft kiss on her forehead. “ Gracias, hermana . I love you, you know that, right?”
She smiled. “Of course I do. And I love you, especially because I know you’ll back me up with our parents when I bring up my desire to travel to Albania again.”
I groaned, drawing a sweet, innocent smile from her.
“You don’t know what you’re asking of me. Why can’t it be Italy or Greece? Everyone’s flocking to those.”
She shrugged. “I don’t want to be like everyone else."
I tugged on my wrist gently. “I’m not making any promises.”
She stood up, the top of her head barely reaching my chest. “I know you, hermano , you’ll have my back.”
A sardonic breath left me, but I didn’t comment on it. “Good night.”
She rose on her toes and pecked me on the cheek. “Good night, my favorite hermano .”
I didn’t bother reminding her that I was her only brother as she vanished back into her dorm suite. Instead, I made my way to another building in search of my nephew, Nikola Nikolaev. If I was going to deal with one unhinged psycho, I might need to recruit another.
I found Nikola in his dorm room. Judging by the bloodstains on his dress shirt, he’d just come back from one of his own chaotic escapades, probably involving someone else’s untimely death. I didn’t ask. With Nikola, it was better not to.
I wasn’t thrilled about dragging him into my mess, but the list of people more unhinged than the psycho I was dealing with—and still marginally on my side—was short. Nikola topped it.
The room reeked of coffee and too many sleepless nights.
“I see you had a wilder night than I did,” I said.
Nikola flinched, turned, blinked at me, and then smiled. “All my nights are wilder than yours, old man.”
He yanked off the shirt and tossed it aside.
“Jesus. Couldn’t you have kept that on a little longer?”
He scoffed. “You’d rather look at a bloody shirt than my abs, Uncle ?”
“Now you call me uncle. It sounds perverted while you’re standing there half undressed. And by the way, I’d rather stare directly into the sun than at your abs, little nephew.”
He rolled his eyes. “Nothing little about me, fucker. What are you doing here? You look like you’re about to bury a body. Hate to break it to you, but I’ve got my own to deal with.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I really don’t want to know.”
Nikola grinned. “Didn’t think so.”
My eyes flicked to the bloodied shirt on the floor. “Where’d you get the suit?”
He shrugged. “Some asshole at Revelation. It cost me an arm and a leg, but it was worth it.”
“You were at the club too?” I asked, surprised.
Nikola tilted his head. “Judging by that question, so were you. Staking your claim, huh? Fucking finally. Any longer and you’d be limping around with a cane, staring at Amara like some old creep.”
“It’s a good thing we keep it all in the family, nephew, because nobody tops the creep label like you do.”
“Must be the Santos blood or some shit.” His grin widened. “Oh, by the way, Anya texted me. Said she’s worried about you. Mentioned some weird shit… Something about shifters, chickens, and blue aliens, and then that you’re worried? I figured she was drunk texting.”
I folded my arms. “My sister doesn’t get drunk.”
“Yeah, sure. Anyway, why are you suddenly worried about aliens and chickens?”
“I’m not,” I said in an exasperated tone. “I’m worried about Jetmir.”
That made him pause. “Amara’s Jetmir?”
God, how I hated hearing it phrased like that. I was Amara’s, not that smug bastard who had suddenly decided to sniff around Anya like she was his next meal.
“I ran into him at Revelation,” I said, skipping the unnecessary emotional detour.
Nikola blinked. “Jesus Christ. Revelation was the hotspot tonight, huh? What, was he into some orgy shit?”
“I wish,” I muttered. “No. He wanted to meet me. He made the most disturbing proposition.”
Nikola’s eyes widened. “Get the fuck out. He’s into your Colombian ass?”
I groaned. “Not like that,” I snapped. “He wants to make a deal: Anya for Amara.”
Nikola let out a long, low whistle. “Did not see that coming.”
“Yeah, neither did I,” I hissed. “Anya’s never even met the guy. I need help handling him.”
Nikola’s face shifted. The humor drained out of it.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” he said. “You don’t screw around with the Satan twins. You tell him ‘no, thanks,’ walk away, keep your sister close, and he’ll move on. Eventually.” He didn’t believe a word of it. I could tell, and so could he. Which is why he added, “We can only hope.”
I dragged a hand through my hair, frustration tightening in my chest.
“I don’t know, Nikola. I’ve got a really bad feeling about this.”
“Maybe he’s just screwing with you,” Nikola said, half shrugging. “You’ve been glued to Amara’s side for years. Maybe this is his twisted way of giving you a taste of your own medicine. I mean… if Anya’s never even met the guy, how could he possibly be interested in her?”
It did sound like something Jet would do out of spite, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling that there was more to it than just revenge for my interest in Amara. The dark obsessive look in his eyes unnerved me, because it told me he’d go to great lengths to get what he wanted.
“What if we ran this by my parents?” Nikola offered. “My mom loves Anya—we’re family, after all.”
I shook my head. “No. She’d tell her brother, no question. Raphael would blow a fucking gasket, and Sailor…” I exhaled. “Yeah, that’s a hard pass. Anything Tijuana-related still gets to her.”
Nikola tilted his head pensively.
“I mean, we could try and kill the bastard, but it will probably backfire, and I’m working really hard to get some shit resolved with Skye.”
I chuckled. “God, you’re whipped.”
He grinned. “There’re worse things than that. But once I get those things figured out, we can go after Jet and kill him. Until then, we’ll keep a close eye on Anya.”
I nodded, but a gnawing unease churned in the pit of my stomach. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen.