God of Ruin (Legacy of Gods #4) by Rina Kent

My fingers dig into Mom’s back, probably harder than needed. But she doesn’t complain and even strokes my hair. “I missed you so much. I can’t believe I haven’t hugged my babies for months on end.”

“My turn.” Maya basically pushes me away so she can hug Mom.

Dad wraps an arm around my shoulder and I hug his waist, leaning my head on his chest. Since a young age, Dad has always had a smart, casual style and he rocks suits, like his current black Armani, better than a model. Whenever he and Mom are in public, they attract more attention than celebrities.

It’s part of the reason why I prefer not to go out with them much. Maya, however, is all over that crap, considering she needs attention as much as air.

I crave my parents' company in private, though. Being surrounded by them offers me a much-needed escape from my head. So I tighten my hold on my dad. He smells like cedarwood and safety. This scent reminds me of when they first found me in that basement. As Dad carried me in his arms, I hid my face in his chest and remained so still, I don’t remember even blinking.

It took me a few minutes to fill my lungs with him and realize it was finally over.

Or was it really?

It wasn’t over. Not then.

Not now.

Mom pulls away from Maya to stroke her face. “You girls have grown so much. You look absolutely radiant.”

“Of course.” Maya flips her hair and then smooches Mom’s cheek. “We take after the best.”

“Where did you get the sweet talk from, I wonder?” Mom gives Dad a knowing look.

He grins and winks. “Proud of it, princess.”

Maya physically swoons. “You guys are goals! Come on, I want a selfie.”

“You can’t post my face on social media, Maya. You know that’s a hard rule,” Dad says.

She releases a dejected sigh. “Okay, fine. I’ll just keep it to myself. Come on.”

Dad starts to push me toward her, but I shake my head. He throws me a look, but then he gets in the shot for a selfie with Maya.

After she takes it, she pouts. “Are you going to stay mad at me for long?”

I cross my arms and look at the elegant, modern interior of our entrance area. This used to be a lake cottage, but Dad renovated it into this extravagant mansion at the edge of the lake.

Elegant pillars lift the three-story house and provide high ceilings and a symmetrical architectural structure. Tall French windows offer a direct view of the lake and illuminate the space with natural sunlight.

The luxurious mansion is crafted from premium rocks and enjoys an elevated, charming position in the middle of nowhere. Large balconies provide a front-row seat to mesmerizing sunrises and sunsets. Before we left for college, it was our family ritual to watch them together.

Nikolai, Maya, and I often played outside by the garden and swam along the shores of the lake, then splashed each other until we were giggling and out of breath. My twin and I usually conspired against Nikolai, but he often won. And whenever he didn’t, it was only because he felt sorry for us and let us beat him.

He’s often been our knight, but yesterday, he definitely didn’t act like one.

I understand his animosity toward Landon, and I get his need for revenge, but the fact that he shut me out so cruelly still hurts.

I texted Landon on my way to the plane.

Mia: I’m going back to New York to visit Mom and Dad. Maybe this is a good opportunity to put some distance between us.

Landon: Nonsense. The word distance doesn’t exist in my vocabulary. It’s for cowards who don’t know what the fuck they want. I know exactly what I want. The question is, do you?

I didn’t reply to that text.

I couldn’t.

My mind has been a mess since the whole encounter with the Heathens.

“What’s going on?” Mom studies me and my sister closely.

“It’s nothing.” Maya throws her hands in the air. “She’s just being unreasonable.”

I glare at her and she glares back.

She wasn’t supposed to come home with me for this long weekend that coincides with a bank holiday, but she likes to think that we’re twins attached at the hip.

“It’s not nothing,” Dad retaliates. “You weren’t speaking on the ride here, which is unusual, to say the least.”

“Well, Mia is being unnecessarily dramatic.” My sister releases a long breath.

I narrow my eyes on her, but I refuse to reply when she doesn’t even want to admit what she did wrong.

“What’s this all about, girls?” Mom asks. “You know it’s a house rule to talk about our problems so we can resolve them.”

Maya sighs and lets her phone with some fashion design case drop to her side. “Well, Mia has a crush on this British guy who’s more notorious than Satan himself, but she wouldn’t listen to reason when everyone—Niko, Kill, Gaz, and I included—told her that he’s bad news. Like the worst of news, Mom. Imagine Kill on steroids. Yeah, it’s that dire. So Niko decided to take matters into his own hands and teach the prick a lesson, and rightfully so. Kill and Jeremy joined in because, well, remember the part where he could give Satan a run for his money? He actually caused shit with the two of them as well, including hurting Kill because he just wanted to date this guy’s sister. Mia is illogically mad because I didn’t tell her about their plan to teach him a lesson he desperately deserves.”