Page 165 of Adam
Cain continues, “Judas?—”
“Father Gabriel,” he corrects.
Cain snorts, jaded. “Spare me the holy lecture.” He turns back to Adam. “Judas came. I came.”
Adam drops his gaze and lets out another sigh. The more I watch him, the more it’s obvious. He wants them close; he just won’t say it. Like needing anyone is some kind of failure.
He’s wrecked inside. Wrecked from a past none of them walked away from clean. Back then, they weren’t monsters. They were just kids caught in the fire, burned by the same hands. Now he wears that pain like armor, but it still bleeds underneath.
“The Mansons,” Judas mutters with a smirk.
Grayson and Katerina smile at the name.
Adam rolls his eyes again, the word dripping out like venom. “Fine.”
His eyes sweep the room.
“All right, show’s over. Everybody out. I need a little quality time with my brothers.”
The door closes behind them, leaving us three alone. Ah, finally. Time for some fun.
Cain drifts through the office like he owns every shadow in it, eyes skimming the walls with a lazy, haunted familiarity. His fingers slide along the wooden desk until they stop at the Rubik’s cube. He picks it up, turning it once in his hands, and lets out a low, quiet chuckle.
“Still keeping sainted mommy’s little souvenir?” I sneer, voice thick with mockery.
His hand freezes around the cube. Slowly, he looks over his shoulder.
“Watch your mouth,” he growls. “You don’t talk about her.”
I tilt my head, unimpressed, arms folding, bored of the warning.
“Touchy, huh? Guess it’s easier to snap at me than face the fact that you’re still chained to a dead woman’s shadow.”
He pulls the gun, points it right at me like it’s supposed to scare me. I just grin, calm, maybe even a little amused.
“Well, there it is. You always did skip straight to violence when your feelings got too loud.”
“Cain, back off,” Judas hisses as his hand presses on Cain’s chest.
“Come on,” I murmur, stepping just a little closer. “Do it. Shoot your baby brother. Put a bullet in the last mistake that woman ever spat into this world.”
“Hold,” Judas says, his voice low and steady. “Put the gun down.”
I scoff, venom curling in my words.
“Yeah, do what your ex-military saint of a cousin drilled into you.” I lean in just a little. “Go on. Let the biggest liar in the room walk you through calm, like he didn’t teach you how to break in the first place.”
Cain’s eyes flicker, mouth twitching, almost amused. He lowers the gun. I guess I’m not worth the effort. How generous.
“You’re still that idiot you used to be back then.” He scoffs.
“So,” Judas says, crossing his arms with a shrug. “What’s with the whole ‘everyone out’ thing?”
I take a few steps back and lean against the wall. “If you’re gonna help me, you should at least know what kind of monster you’re signing up for.”
“We’re all the same in this room,” Judas says quietly. “Broken by the same shit, just dealing with it differently.”
My eyes linger on him, unblinking. A low hum slips from my throat.
