God of Malice (Legacy of Gods #1) by Rina Kent

Sometimes, he’ll be a dick and refuse to, so she’s teaching us sign language now.

Despite his wanker behavior, I like Killian when Mia’s around. He treats her like his little sister, just like Nikolai does. Her twin, Maya, told me that he once broke a high school boy’s jaw because he kept bullying her for being ‘mute.’

Nikolai was offended that he was the last to hear, so when the boy healed, he sent him back to the ER for other injuries.

And while the recounting of events had me shocked for a while, I’m more touched about his involvement in Mia’s life.

It’s a side of him that shows he can care. That, under the right circumstances, he can consider something precious.

Or maybe I’m just deluding myself.

One more shot.

“Seriously, Glyn, aren’t you going too far?” Cecily and her doppelgänger frown.

“When did you get a twin?” I slur.

“When you’re drunk.”

“Pfft, I’m not drunk. Come on, guys. Let’s play a game.”

“How about an I’m ghosting my friends for dick game,” Ava grumbles, probably drunk herself. She can’t hold her alcohol to save her life.

“Didn’t need that image.” Bran grimaces and she winces, then hugs his shoulder.

“Ugh. Sorry about that.”

“Apology accepted. Now, can you please stop touching me, or I’ll be in worse trouble if Eli finds out about this.”

Her cheeks turn red. “Eli can go fuck himself.”

Everyone but Creighton gasps. I giggle. “You go, girl.”

It’s her turn to bow to me, “Thank you, my lady.”

“For public record and life insurance reasons, my lordship did not hear that. I recommend that you all do the same if you plan to live for more than a few days.”

“As much as I hate to say this, I agree with Remi,” Cecily says. “Let us all pretend Ava didn’t say that.”

“But I did say it, and I’d say it again. Fuck E—”

Cecily slaps a hand on her mouth. “You’re drunk, you little shit. When you wake up in the morning, you’ll remember this and thank me and your lucky stars.”

“You’re too young to have a funeral, Ava.” Bran passes her a cold glass of water. “Drink this and start to develop amnesia.”

Ava grumbles some more about how we’re all fucking cowards, among other colorful words.

I slap my hands on the table. “Game! Game! Game!”

“God, this is my lordship asking you to make a permanent drunk version of Glyn. Amen.” Remi grins at me. “What type of game?”

“Dunno. Never have I ever?”

“Let’s do this!” He holds an imaginary mic. “I’ll go first.”

“You always go first,” Cecily says.

“That’s right.” Ava puffs her chest. “Glyn wanted this, so let her play first.”

“Play what?”

My spine jerks and I think I’m definitely drunk, because my reaction is delayed as hell. It takes me some time to realize that the voice isn’t in my head.

I become aware of the thickening of the air, and how it mixes with his cologne. How his presence slowly but surely eats up the atmosphere and leaves no oxygen to breathe.

This isn’t fair. I’m supposed to be trying to get him out of my head tonight.

“What are you doing here?” I slur, then place a hand on my mouth.

There’s a single tap of his index finger on his thigh, then he physically pushes his company to the forefront. “Nikolai was bored, so I took him out for a stroll.”

“Eat shit, motherfucker. I’m not a dog. Also, he was the one who was so bored that he started vandalizing shit,” Nikolai tells me. “I was dragged out against my will because he refuses to admit he misses you.”

“Semantics,” Killian says casually. “Can we join you?”

Careful silence has fallen over the table.

They’re used to Killian, but Nikolai is a different story altogether. They think he’s terrifying, and I agree.

He was bubbling with the need to avenge Killian after the kidnapping and torture Lan performed. Killian, however, waved him off and said he’ll deal with it himself.

I know he did it for me, because he realizes I don’t want Lan hurt, but that barely dulled Nikolai’s need for vengeance.

He’s brutal, and it shows in each of his actions.

But I’ve been seeing him every day and listening to his entertaining retellings of his childhood adventures with Killian, so I don’t really view him in that light. Much.

Everyone at the table most definitely does. Probably because of his permanent scowl and all the tattoos.

Annika has physically distanced herself from sitting opposite Creighton’s side and sneakily changed seats so that she’s beside Ava.

And for the first time since we got here, Creighton raises his head, flips his phone facedown on the table, and looks between Annika and the two newcomers.

“Yeah, sure!” It’s Ava who announces, definitely high on liquid courage. “The more the merrier.”

Killian drags a chair from a nearby table and glues himself to my side, and Nikolai joins him, appearing solemn-faced.

I poke Killian, squinting so I can have a better look at his handsome face. “You said to have fun on my night out with friends.”