God of Pain (Legacy of Gods #2)(5)

“The fuck is that supposed to mean?”

Jeremy ruffles my hair one more time and gets out of my room with Nikolai in tow. Despite the fact that Nikolai is younger than Jeremy by a few years, they’ve been close friends for as long as they’ve known each other.

My brother is the silent strategist who only uses violence when absolutely necessary, while Nikolai is the unhinged, bloodthirsty monster.

As I watch their backs, I can’t help feeling a tinge of discomfort at knowing the type of future that awaits them.

One filled with blood, mafia wars, and brutal encounters. While Nikolai fits that image perfectly, and even strives for it, I don’t want to imagine Jeremy in that light.

Even if I know he can be much worse.

“Who was the fucker?” Nikolai asks Jeremy on their way out. “I’m going to fuck up his life, burn his corpse, and spread the ashes in blood.”

“I have a hunch.”

I subconsciously step to the door, but Jeremy flashes me a glance I can’t quite decipher, then closes it behind him.

Cutting off any chance I had to hear his hunch.

He couldn’t have possibly figured out it’s him.

Right?





Hushed whispers float around me with the perseverance of buzzing bees.

My name and Jeremy’s, as well as our last name, have been murmured a dozen times.

I still smile at whoever meets my eyes and even ask them how they’re doing. I comment on their fashion and tell them I loved their last TikTok or Instagram.

Every last one of them smiles back, and even if they still murmur about me, it’s all along the lines of:

I can’t believe she’s the Jeremy Volkov’s sister. She’s such a darling.

A doll.

A sweetheart.

A good sport.

I’m the people person, the PR of Jer’s reputation, and the number one candidate to be the family’s spokesperson.

They say the only way to be popular or loved is to stomp on others and be mean, but I believe in being nice.

I believe in being social for the greater good.

Now, if I could just not let other people’s opinions eat me up from the inside, that would be perfect.

I come to a halt when an arm wraps around my shoulder. “Oh. Em. Gee. You’re alive, thank the gods and all religions.”

Ava does a whole tour around me, and it looks kind of funny, considering the huge cello strapped to her back.

She inspects every inch of my body, even patting my face to make sure it’s the same.

Today, she’s dressed in a pink skirt and a white top with a fashionable cut. She’s the most elegant person I know, after my mom, and she resembles me in personality, too.

We clicked the moment we first met about two months ago when I first enrolled in REU. As a result, I became close with all her friends, too. She and the girls even allowed me to move into their private apartment in the dorm, despite the fact that I’m the ‘American’ who simply doesn’t understand their obsession with fish and chips.

I grin. “Hi, missed you.”

She hugs me and kisses my cheek. “Missed the shit out of you, bitch. What are the chances of your brother dropping the lame patriarchy and letting you come back to the dorm?”

“At the moment? Zero.”

She groans and hooks her arm with mine. “You really okay? Everyone keeps talking about the fire in the Heathens’ mansion.”

“I was dead asleep.” I lie through my teeth. “Until they woke me up with all the noise.”

“That must’ve been so scary. I can’t imagine waking up in the middle of the night at the news of an attack.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it an attack.”

“Totally was. They were probably after your brother or his heathen friends. Like, seriously, how does he think that place is safer for you than our little dorm?”

“No clue.” Due to the fact that he has all the guards there, probably.

“Let’s have Ces talk to him. She obviously isn’t scared of the whole dark lord aura mojo he has going on… Speak of the devil!”

We arrive at the cafeteria we often eat lunch in. We, as in, Ava, Cecily, Glyndon—the girls I stay with—and Remington, Brandon, and…him.

The boy with ocean eyes and an intimidating presence.

Though when we get to the table, Cecily and Remi are bickering over some fries and Bran is trying to mediate. I don’t see Glyndon and him anywhere.

I try to ignore the knot in my chest but fail.

Ava and I take the vacant seats and I smile at Bran when his eyes meet mine. “Where’s Glyn?”

“I’m surprised you still ask about that traitor, honestly.” Ava huffs. “She’s probably out there getting the D.”

Bran pushes his plate away, his nose scrunched. “Not the image I needed of my little sister.”

Ava throws a French fry in her mouth. “That’s why I said the D and not the dick.”

Remi slides over super smoothly and grins. “Did someone mention a dick?”

“Oh, look at this. Someone recognizes they are one.” Cecily crosses her arms over her shirt, on which there’s a cute cat with a gun shooting the words Pew, pew, mudafaka.

“One?” Remi’s lips pull up in a Cheshire cat grin, and it still doesn’t take away from his symmetrically handsome face. “Say the word, Ces. D-I-C-K. Don’t be a prude.”