I have to wonder if this is why my mother was taken. Perhaps my dad was closing in on the man behind the scenes when his sister went missing. Taking my mother would throw off his trail and direct his focus elsewhere, and both of my parents were dead in the end.
If that were the case and my dad was as close to Nathaniel as I’m led to believe, why keep that information from him? My only assumption is my dad didn’t want to risk his best friend meeting the same end, because as my and Xana’s godfather—he needed to be alive to protect us all.
Of course, all of this is fueled by nothing but assumptions about the man I want to believe was my father; a man with a twisted morality and love for his family. Just like Nathaniel Olin. Sometimes I watch him, listen to him, and wonder how much he and my father were alike.
Nathaniel would skin a man alive just for looking at him, and do it with no expression whatsoever. No one matters to him unless they’re part of his circle or beneficial to him in some way. Everyone else is dispensable.
Lion and I exchange punches and kicks, while he dances around me in an infuriating way. It’s not often that someone is a better fighter than I am, but I guess there will always be at least one. Akila sticks to the outside of the mat, calmly watching us as though blood isn’t being spilled.
Fists and feet fly, and I whoop when I finally land a hit to Lion’s smug face. He stumbles back, swiping his thumb across his bottom lip and frowning down at the blood on his finger. His golden gaze flicks to mine and he smirks.
“Congratulations, Brenner,” he drawls. “Your balls dropped.”
Without another word or further pressing our fight, Lion stalks off, chuckling to himself. I roll my eyes and wipe the sweat from my face with my forearm. Akila walks up to me, clapping her hands in mock applause.
“I think your boyfriend just bitched out,” I tease, feeling more alive than I have in months.
Lion won that fight without question, with as many times he had me on the mat. Making Lion Castello bleed, even if it was just a little bit, will have my competitive ass taking that loss like a champ.
She quirks an eyebrow at me. “I can go repeat that to him, but I think that’ll leave you buried six feet under and with a pissed off girlfriend when she gets home.”
I chuckle, raising my hands in surrender.
“For Malia, please don’t tell your moody porcupine of a boyfriend that I called him a bitch.”
Akila smiles at me, then laughs. It doesn’t last long before she retreats in on herself, folding her arms around herself and I frown.
“Something wrong?” I ask, confused at the sudden change.
She gives me a tight smile.
“I miss Malia something fierce, and I can’t even imagine what you and Lion must be going through right now. He lost a piece of himself when she was taken and something just snapped,” she says, shaking her head in a way that reminds me of my sister.
Akila would be close to Xana’s age I imagine. I realize I missed her twenty-first birthday and I silently curse myself before I remember she hates me and it’s better for her this way. Why not live up to the man she believes me to be?
“I feel like half my soul was ripped from my body,” I admit, clearing my throat. “And the more time that passes, the more I fear we have to prepare ourselves for the worst, whether we want to believe it or not. Malia is human and she’s been in the hands of a fucking monster.”
I pause, swallowing the lump in my throat.
“As invincible as she makes herself appear, she isn’t.”
Akila tilts her head and fixes me with a look filled with sadness. “What do you feel, Liam?” she asks me. “Do you feel like she’s gone?”
I consider her question, then shake my head honestly.
“No, just lost,” I admit. “I’m only trying to be realistic with the circumstances.”
She dips her chin.
“Both you and Lion can still feel her somewhere,”—she gives me another tight smile—“that should be enough to keep you both fighting for her.”
Akila turns on her heels and walks out of the door and I cling to her words like a lifeline.
If Malia was no longer breathing some place on this fucking planet then I’m convinced the world would cease to exist.
At least I’m sure as shit mine would implode the moment she takes her final breath.
21