God of Fury (Legacy of Gods #5) by Rina Kent

I’m muting you.





I smile, imagining his flustered expression, then decide I’ve tortured myself enough for a while and stop texting. It wasn't a lie. I’m really hard now.

Bran



By the way, I noticed you had no food in your place, so I ordered you some Italian pastries for breakfast.





I grin.

He loves me. I just know he does.

Okay, he doesn’t, but he cares, and that’s a good start.





Turns out, everyone was worried about the way I disappeared last night.

I kid you not, Jeremy put out feelers with the police and shit because he took what I said about killing innocent girls seriously.

He can be dramatic.

Okay, so maybe when I was in that mood, I could’ve accidentally hurt someone if Bran did actually use them as a crutch.

Don’t blame me. It’s not my fault I only think in black and white.

Kill and Gareth were checking all the places I would usually go to—clubs, another fighting ring. The Serpents. No shit—they actually knocked on the Serpents’ door and were like, “Hi, I know we hate each other, but have you seen this massive idiot motherfucker who’s covered in tattoos?”

I didn’t make that up. Gaz relayed it back word for word.

My sisters were going crazy, calling me all night. Maya left a dozen VMs, screaming and then begging and crying.

Jesus Christ.

“Where were you really?” she asks as we sit in her favorite coffee shop downtown.

“Spill, Niko,” her twin, Mia, signs with more attitude than need be.

“Yeah, spill, cousin. What made you disappear all night long?” Killian, who’s sporting a black eye, asks, lounging back in his chair.

“Busy,” I say while sipping some disgustingly not-sweet-enough coffee, then add one more sugar cube. Make that three.

Maya gasps in outrage and flips her long hair over her bare shoulder while Mia stares at me with a concerned frown.

My sisters couldn’t be more different. Where Maya is a self-proclaimed diva with expensive taste and a thirst for attention, Mia is a little daredevil who couldn’t care less about people’s opinions and doesn’t shy away from flipping her favorite middle finger.

Even now as they sit on either side of me, they look nothing alike despite being identical twins. Maya wears a strapless top, a tight skirt, and high-heel stilettos. Mia is in a goth Barbie black dress, complete with lace and shit, a choker around her neck, blue ribbons in her hair, and gigantic chainy boots covering her feet.

Sometimes I forget they’re actually identical, because they have vastly different personalities. Guess that’s also the reason why I can’t fucking stand Landon but would fuck his brother to eternity all day, every day.

My dick twitches to life and I curse internally.

Seriously, Kolya. The fuck? My baby sisters are here. Behave yourself, dude.

“What made you too busy to reply to our texts?” Maya asks. “I had a mini breakdown.”

Judging by her begging for me to come back through sniffs and tears, I’d say it was a major breakdown, but I don’t tell her that.

I sip my now sickeningly sweet coffee and contemplate an answer that’s not “I was busy having the best fuck of my life.”

Not only is that insensitive when they really had a scare, but also, there’s that annoying tidbit where Bran said no one could know.

Still, I don’t have to identify him…

No. Nope.

It’s better I reveal nothing since I’m shit with secrets. If I reveal something, I’ll end up blurting out everything and that could seriously end things between us before they even start.

“I went somewhere to cool down,” I say and it’s not a lie. Although cooling down wasn’t the first item on my list.

“Sure thing, Niko. Kick my face in, then go cool down as if nothing happened.”

“Hey, you wanted that fight. Don’t go blaming me, Satan’s heir.”

“I told you not to hurt my face, you little fuck.”

“Yeah, Niko.” Maya grins mischievously. “That’s the only thing his girlfriend likes.”

He grins back. “At least she likes something. You, however, seem to be out of luck with the person you like.”

I narrow my eyes. “Who do you like, Maya?”

“No one,” she says, her voice a bit high-pitched. “You know how Kill likes to talk shit.”

He searches his surroundings. “Moi?”

Mia inches to my side, ignoring their bickering, and watches me closely as she signs, “Are you really okay?”

I ruffle her hair. “Never been better, baby sis.”

Her expression eases and she hugs me. I know not to take her affection for granted. I’m close to both my sisters—Maya because I let her practice her makeup skills on me when we were growing up. But Mia…Mia is special. We both deal with our demons in our own ways and know we’ll slaughter each other’s enemies if given the chance.

She’s badass like that, my sister.

“Incoming boy toy,” Killian says with apparent disdain.

For a second, I’m confused as to why Bran would be here and why Kill knows about him. Only to remember my lotus flower isn’t a boy toy and there’s no way in hell my cousin figured out things.