Page 107 of The Games of Madmen

Z looks at me in confusion, like he didn’t expect to hear my voice. His scar seems more prominent when his brows pull together.

“Right?” I say to Andru again.

“Yes,” Andru finally spits out hesitantly, a fleeting brow furrowing in my direction. “He’s dead.”

Watching Zahkar nod his head, processing all the information, I finally manage to slip past Rodion and go to him, brushing a palm cautiously up his arm.

His hand comes to the side of my neck, his forehead resting against mine. “That’s my family, Alyona. A fucking rapist and parents who covered it up.” His voice catches in his throat and my eyes weep for the man who’s the strongest person I know.He was a boy who witnessed the worst parts of humanity and survived it.

“That’s not who your family is, Z,” Rodion says, pain staining every word. “We’reyour family. Have been since I found you that day.”

Z’s brows pull down further. “You didn’tfindme, though. You came there looking for me.”

Rodion flinches and my muscles coil tight.

“You knew, didn’t you?” Z accuses him.

“No.” Rodion shakes his head, his jaw ticking. “Not then.”

A ragged exhale blows from Z’s lips. “Not then? So, when?”

Silence.

“When, Ro?” Z snaps.

Brushing a hand through his hair, Rodion bites his lip and then says, “I had memories of that time. My mom was so broken, ranting about what happened to her, the scars left on her body. She changed before my young eyes and then I started having these nightmares in my teens about her.”

“I remember them,” Z says in a whisper, turmoil flashing across his eyes. Moving closer to Rodion, his palms frantically clench around Ro’s face. “I remember them. You were fifteen. They kept us both up, and I’d talk to you for hours to soothe you.”

Ro’s eyes trace every pained line on Z’s face. “I told my father about the dreams, and he told me what happened.” Rodion’s voice cracks.

“Zahkar,” Andru says his name but it’s useless.

Z is wholly focused on his brother, his best friend, his soulmate. “Since we were fifteen you fucking knew?”

“I’m sorry. What good can come from knowing that?” Rodion looks desperate for Z to understand his reasoning.

“That’smyright to know. It’smy fucking history,” Z roars, his spittle spraying Rodion’s face.

Andru moves and stops me when I attempt to intervene, he gently coaxes me out of the way and grasps Z’s arm.

“Zahkar,” Andru warns.

Flinching back, Z shoves at Andru’s chest and storms from the room. My heart plummets when the front door slams shut.

He’s left us.

Rodion takes off running after him and I attempt to follow but Andru grasps my upper arm halting me.

“What do you know about Daniel?” he demands, searching my face for the answers.

I pull free from his grip and sneer. “I know you kept him in Yuri’s basement, tortured, and barely alive. Does Rodion know about him?”

Please say no, please say no, please say no.

Surprise flashes over his face but he masks it quickly. “No. And Daniel deserves every fucking minute of it,” he says with conviction.

“Does Zahkar deserve it, though?” I say the words thickening with my emotions. “How can you love him so much and still keep Daniel like that?” My lips twist in disgust.