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The Venom let me go, moving away so fast it was almost as if he’d never been in front of me.
I remained where I was until Nyx called my name. The second I stepped back, Annie was instantly at my side, much closer than usual, practically becoming a second skin.
I couldn’t blame her, she had never been unable to protect me if need be, and her personality would have berating herself over it. I, on the other hand, didn’t mind. I would always try and protect her when I wasn’t supposed to.
The hallway filled with four more Venom, all trying to get to the man behind me. I made my way to my brother and friends.
I ignored the way they all stared at me as we passed one another.
Butcher stepped forward and offered me his hand, to which I happily accepted.
I held onto him and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. It wasn’t enough to block out what Luce did next, and I wish it would have been because it revealed something about him I should have already been aware of.
“What are you doing here, Zane?” Luce asked.
I looked up confused, wondering who he was speaking to. The name he spoke went right over my head. He sounded almost exasperated as if this were a common conversation he’d had one too many times.
Butch tightened his hand around mine in a way I could only take to mean as reassuring.
My confusion grew.
“I imagine the same thing you’re doing here, Luce. Looking for someone,” the Venom—Zane— replied.
“Is it that obvious?” Luce asked, this time with an air of familiarity.
“How do you know who that is?” I questioned, finally reaching him.
“Did you hear that? She doesn’t know who we are, Z. I think someone needs to tell her,” A different voice spoke from down the hall, a humorless laugh following their statement.
“By what I see right now, Malik. I think you’re correct.”
The sudden change in his tone didn’t sit right with me, none of this did.
I lived in my bubble a lot of the time but I was far from fucking stupid, and I clearly was missing something.
“What is going on here, Luce?” Nyx asked, taking the words right from my mouth.
She must have gotten the same vibe as I did because she stepped forward and pulled me away from Butcher. Sandwiched between her and Annie, I waited for someone to start speaking some facts.
“You know who he is, Adds. He was never supposed to be this close to you,” Annie stated, directing the end of her statement at my brother.
She never called me Adds unless she was trying to comfort. And that usually took something drastic, for example when I found out my pet bull was merely a food source the day my Dad instructed me to kill him.
I wasn’t aware how big the current bomb was in the room was until just then.
“I don’t know him. I don’t know anyone named—.”
“Zane Belial,” a feminine voice interjected irritably from the other end of the hall. “His name is, Zane Belial and that’s his brother, Maliki Erebus. You know, the beasts from your worst nightmares?”
No, she had to be spewing bullshit. Lucifuge wouldn’t have any reason whatsoever to have associated with these men on a friendly level.
But he had.
The truth always resonated loudest in silence. That’s all he gave me, that and a look so unapologetic and empty I could see our father standing in his place.
It hit me then. I’d always known to a certain extent, but this proved just how alike the two of them were. While I adored our father, I had never agreed with the secrets he kept from mom and the way she learned to accept it. I would never be on board with that bullshit.
Staring at my brother, I had so many questions and none I could bring myself to ask but one. “Are you going to tell me what you did?” It was the only one that mattered because the answer related to a dozen other questions I wouldn’t need to ask.
