Landon, on the other hand, drips with charm and beauty. Both are muddied by his beastly nature.
He’s definitely on the spectrum of either a sociopath or, worse, a psychopath.
My cousin Kill has antisocial tendencies as well, and if he’s anything to go by, then Landon is a worse menace than I predicted.
I realize now that he’s never really shown me his monstrous side before. Now that I’ve gotten a mere glimpse at it, I can’t help feeling the need to turn around and run.
But I don’t.
I really don’t want to risk being strangled to death right now. Not when I’m still reeling from the earlier panic attack.
He throws his mask to the ground and takes a few more steps back, then tilts his head to the side.
A slow smirk lifts the corner of his lips. “I can make a brilliant masterpiece out of you. I can freeze you and sculpt you from the finest stone that ever existed. What do you think? But then again, a statue doesn’t think.”
I need out.
Now.
I don’t ponder it as I calculate the distance to the car and run at full speed. I don’t stop until I’m inside and the door is locked.
A bang sounds on my window and I gasp as I slowly glance at it.
Landon appears on the other side, tall and intimidating as he mouths, “We’re not done.”
I hit the engine with a shaky finger, and it takes me two tries for the damn thing to work.
Another bang. This time a fist against the glass.
I can hear the scream building at the back of my throat, but I press the accelerator all the way down.
The car revs forward, but as I speed out of the parking spot, I catch a glimpse of Landon in my rearview mirror doing the ‘I’m watching you’ sign.
Or maybe now, it’s ‘I have my eyes on you.’
This is the second time I’ve been this terrified in my life.
* * *
“Baby?What are you doing up so late?”
I stare at my mother’s face on my tablet’s screen and physically force myself to hold in the tears.
Rai Sokolov is not only my mother, the most beautiful woman inside and out, but also my role model.
Maya and I have her same shade of blonde hair and a carbon copy of her eyes, nose, and lips.
She and Aunt Reina—Mom’s identical twin and Kill and Gareth’s mother—used to joke by saying we’re their mini-mes.
I’ve always known my mom to be a strong woman, undeterred and ruthless. Right now, however, there’s a furrow between her brows.
It’s late evening in New York, and I’ve caught her sitting at her vanity just after she’s finished her workday as a leader in the New York Bratva. That’s right. My mom is the only woman who’s climbed the ranks within a male-dominated organization and snatched a chair at the decision-making table.
She’s no less than my father in any way and made sure to teach us that being a woman isn’t a weakness—it should be a strength.
I used to think I was as assertive and powerful as she is, but after tonight’s incident, my confidence has taken a major hit.
Ever since I came back to the apartment I share with Maya, I’ve been blazing the lights in my room on the highest setting and lying in a fetal position on the bed, waiting for my parents to finish working.
My encounter with the new monster in my life has left a ball in my throat and a fire in my chest.
“What is it, baby?” Mom’s voice softens. “Is something wrong?”
Everything is wrong, Mom. The fear, the strange arousal, and my heart that won’t stop beating so fast.
Everything.
But I don’t say that and, instead, sign, “I just wanted to see your face and hear your voice.”
“Oh, baby.” She smiles, but it’s a tad forced. “I’m over the moon about being able to see your face after a long day.”
I let my lips curve the slightest bit. Most of my smiles are either forced or fake. The day I lost my voice, I also lost my smile.
“Has Aunt Reina been watering and taking care of Amun, Iris, and their family?” I sign.
“I don’t know what’s weirder. The fact that you name your plants or that the head of the family has a demon name. Besides, your Aunt Reina doesn’t need to come all the way here just to water them. The gardener or I could do it.”
“Don’t touch them, Mom. I don’t want them to catch a case of early death.”
“That’s rude.”
“Well, you really kill most plants you touch.”
“I’m sorry I don’t have the green thumb gene.” She smiles and leans closer to her phone. “What’s really wrong, Mia? Is there anything I can help with?”
Of course she’d know something is wrong. She always does.
“I feel a bit down,” I sign.
“Is there a reason behind this?”
“I had a panic attack in a dark place. I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t,” I sign, then hang my head.
There’s no way I can tell her about Landon. If I do, she’ll come here herself and rip off his dick, and then she might get in trouble with his influential family.
Besides, if she fixes my problems for me again, doesn’t that mean I will forever be weak?
“I’m so sorry, baby.” Her face, tone, and demeanor drip with love. “I wish I were there so I could give you a mama bear hug.”
“I’m fine.” Lie. “I’ll forget all about it in the morning.” More lies.
“It’s okay if you can’t forget about it, Mia.” She scoots closer. “Listen, I’ve been planning to broach this subject when you come back for a visit, but how about you give therapy another go?”
I link and interlink my fingers, then shake my head. “Therapy doesn’t work. I can’t speak.”
“Of course you can, baby. You just have to find the will to do it again.”
No, I can’t.
That part of me is trapped in an unremarkable capsule that’s hidden deep in the forest.
I’ve forgotten what my voice sounded like. But even if I do speak, puberty has already changed it. Sometimes, I think it’s probably like Maya’s, but deep inside me, a distant memory of it tells me there were some differences.
“We don’t want to push you,” Mom continues. “But have you considered that maybe you gave up on therapy way too soon?”
“We talked about this. Therapy was doing nothing for me and I hated it there. I hated dissecting myself in front of strangers and not getting any results.” My movements are jerkier, angrier, and more disturbed.
Like everything inside me tonight.
“Fine, I understand. I just want you to know that the option is always on the table.”
She’s about to say something else when a tall figure appears behind her and says in a soothing British accent, “What’s taking you so long, princess?”
My father’s face comes on the screen and I’m struck by how much I miss them both. I’m eighteen going on nineteen, but I still want to hug my parents for comfort.
Kyle Hunter is tall, dark, and classically handsome. Where Maya and I take after Mom and Aunt Reina, Nikolai resembles him. But while Dad appears sophisticated and elegant but is secretly a menace, Nikolai is openly a menace. He’s rougher around the edges and definitely doesn’t have Dad’s discreet modus operandi.
A wide grin illuminates his features when he sees me and speaks in a subtle British accent. “Mia, is that you?”
I wave.
“What a fantastic surprise. Wait. Isn’t it late over there?”
“Yeah, but I just miss you guys,” I sign.
“Which is why you should’ve stayed here instead of flying to the other side of the ocean,” he says for the thousandth time since we got here. “Now I can’t hug my baby girl whenever I want to.”
“I’ll have Niko hug me on your behalf,” I sign.
“Doesn’t count.”
“Leave her alone.” Mom swats him teasingly. “She’s old enough to decide where she wants to be.”
“Which should be beside me. Just saying.” Dad leans forward. “Is there anyone bothering my little Mia? Should I go there and perhaps erase them from the records?”
“Kyle!” Mom protests.
“What? That’s the least I can do to whoever is causing the perturbed look in my little girl’s eyes.”
He knows, too.
Of course he does.
My parents have always been the best and have made me feel loved from a very young age, but ever since that incident a decade ago, they’ve become more attuned to me.
To the point of overprotection.
That’s part of the reason why I wanted to leave New York and join Nikolai here. Maya also needed to do her thing without being supervised every step of the way.
“I’m fine, Dad. I’m feeling so much better now that I’ve talked to you guys.”
“We love you, Mia,” Mom says.
“I love you, too,” I sign, and as I hang up, I catch a glimpse of my father kissing the top of her head.
I’ve always admired the fierce way they love and protect each other. They’re a power couple and clash sometimes, but they still have each other’s backs. Their relationship is one of my favorite memories from home.
As the screen goes black, the sense of safety that I got from talking to my parents vanishes.
The lights in the room are still on, but I can feel the darkness creeping in from the corners, about to suffocate me.
I grab my pillow and phone and sprint to my sister’s room.
I fling her door open and flick on the light.
“Ugh, what?” Maya groans from the bed and covers her head.
I go to her side and she removes her glittery eye mask, grumbling. “Don’t mess with my beauty sleep or I will cut a bitch…” she trails off upon seeing what must look like terror on my face.
She doesn’t probe or push. She doesn’t even ask.