Page 51 of Black Ledger

But Nika was stubborn, and she wanted to do it alone. She wanted to prove she could be self-sufficient, which was understandable, given that she was the sheltered Morozov. But it was still utterly maddening.

After about an hour of this, I got up to try to help, and I walked in on my twin brother doing what looked like a handstand. Nika had called in Ilya for help… which was a choice. Granted, Ilya was much better with a tool belt than Nika, but he still would never be the person I chose to build anything.

I would ask Maks or Kaz to do it. They were both very good with their hands and could build anything.

But she chose Ilya, who currently had his head under the couch and his legs swung over it. My eyebrows drew together.

“Do you two need any help?” I asked, leaning against the door, my head cocked.

Nika’s head shot up from under the couch. “Not from you.”

“Fine.” I laughed, backing out. “But you should really know that’s not working.” I pointed at the way Ilya was trying to assemble the arm upside down.

“Get out, Xeniya.”

My cackle followed me to my room, where I sat on my bed listening to the drama across the hall. Oh, it was even better knowing that Ilya was helping, because those two were oil and water on the best days. Nika was lively and fun and full of energy, while Ilya and I were broody and quiet, but in different ways.

I brooded because I never knew what to say, and I had to hide myself to stay safe. Ilya brooded because he was, in fact, one of the grumpiest people I had ever met. Which was why it was extra hilarious that Nika would rather call the grump to help her.

Twenty minutes later, I came up from the kitchen with a bag of salt-and-vinegar chips in hand. I crunched down on a chip and said, “Are you sure you two don’t need my help?”

“No,” Nika snapped. “Get out.”

“Okay.” I held up the chip bag and one hand in surrender. “But I think you’re assembling it upside down.”

“Shut up, Xen.” Nika glared at me.

I laughed and walked back into my room. After a significant amount of banging, expletives, and even one scream of pain, Ilya appeared in my doorway. “I think we’re going to need your help.”

As I came into the mess, I asked, “Where are the instructions?”

“Nika lost them.”

“Shut up, Ilya.” Nika hit him in the shoulder.

“Ouch,” he said, rubbing where she hit him.

Nika glowered at him. “Oh, don’t be a baby.”

“I am not a baby. Take that back.” He threw a bag of screws at her, and she caught it. Nika hadn’t trained with us, but she had her own training and good reflexes.

I scratched my head, examining their mess. “How did you lose them?”

“If I knew that, don’t you think I would have found them already?” Nika snarled.

“Whoa, it was just a question.”

Honestly, it was one I shouldn’t have asked, because Nika misplaced everything all the time. At this point, I was a professional key-and-wallet finder. One time, she left her phone on top of her car and drove off. I called it, and someone had dropped it off at the police station. And the number of times she had to replace her credit cards and driver’s licenses should be studied.

We now affectionately referred to it as the ADHD tax.

After taking the couch completely apart and studying it, we were able to put it back together successfully. Nika was very helpful because she was good with patterns, but her impulsiveness often made her act before she had all the information.

It had taken her two hours to smash pieces together poorly, but it took all of us—with my help, of course—thirty minutes to assemble it correctly.

The truth was that together, we were just better. We complemented each other perfectly.

“Are you going to come with us to the Delta party tonight, Xen?” Nika asked as she dropped onto her couch and tested it.