Page 108 of The Games of Madmen

“Zahkar is my son, my fucking boy,” he bites out stabbing a finger to his chest, “who I raised and loved despite the pain it sometimes caused me to look at him. Daniel is an evil plague on the earth that I hold no regret about.”

“Was,” I correct him.

“What?” He blinks in confusion.

I lean in closer to make sure he hears me. “Wasevil. He’s dead now. It’s been long enough. Z suffered enough without knowing the details or time in which Daniel died.”

His head rears back. “You killed him?” There’s that shock and disbelief again.

“It was probably another heart attack. A lot of that is going around at the moment.” I raise a brow and turn on my heel.There was no way I was leaving the man who shared Z’s eyes like that. Even after learning what he did, I don’t regret ending his suffering. An air bubble injected into his drip line was easy enough. He’s the devil’s problem now, and Z never has to know. Some secrets are worth keeping.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Zahkar

There are no bad people, just bad things people do.

My biological father’s words ring in my mind until they form a chorus of alarms that become too overwhelming to bear. A roar erupts from my lungs, tightening every muscle, straining my vocal cords, and piercing the night air, causing birds to take flight from the surrounding trees. Daniel was every bit a bad person and he did bad things because of it. He deserved what happened to him, but I still can’t believe that of my mother. Did she really know what he was? And if she did, did she deserve the same punishment?

How the hell has Rodion been able to look at me after finding out it was my blood brother who hurt his mother that way and made her end her own life just to escape the memory of it? Myrealfamily destroyed his. I hate that Rodion knew, he fucking knew, and kept it from me.

“Z?” Rodion’s footfalls sound behind me until they hit grass. “I’m sorry.”

I feel his aura like it’s a physical part of him grazing over me.

Inhaling through my nose, I hold an arm out behind me. “Don't come near me.” I need a minute to sort through everything.

“Don’t let what Daniel did come between us,” he pleads.

“It’s not what he did. It’s what you did.” My muscles stretch over bones, my heart hammering deep in my veins, making my skin pulse with untapped rage. It is what Daniel did, but it’s also what Rodion kept from me. He knew the man I called Dad was the one who ordered the kill on my parents, was the man who cold-cocked me with a fucking gun when I was ten years old.

Dogs bark in the distance, and a soft breeze bends the tall trees surrounding our property as if they’re bowing to listen in.

“Z.” Rodion’s hand slides over my shoulder and I turn, shoving him backward.

“I said, don’t touch me.”

Alyona rushes outside, her face streaked red from crying, and the man I’ve called Dad for most of my life follows closely behind.

“Zahkar, you need to calm down,” my dad says, his voice steady but strained.

What nerve he has to think he can dictate to me right now.

“Don’t you dare tell me what I need to do,” I bellow, my frustration boiling over. As I speak, headlights suddenly sweep across the grass. The crunch of gravel under tires announce a car's arrival at the gate.

“It’s just my driver,” Dad says when my eyes zone in on it.

“You should leave,” Rodion informs him, stepping on the flower bed and crushing a few beneath his boot.

“Zahkar?” Dad says my name like I’m going to override Rodion and ask him to stay.

“You should leave,” I bark.

He straightens his shoulders, standing tall, and nods in defeat. “Okay, I’ll come back tomorrow.”

Alyona hugs her middle, trying to ward off the slight chill in the air.

“Go inside, Alyona,” I tell her.