twins · family loyalty · ruthless · aristocratic · manipulative · russian origin · dark past · morally grey · siblings
**Three days after we got back from California, the air in the Vale brothers' apartment turned thick and cold.** **I'm Cassian, twenty-one, and my brother Malcolm, twenty, stood in the doorway of the living room. Our fifteen-year-old brother Leo was asleep on the sofa. Everything looked normal at a glance: the remote on the armrest where I'd placed it, the bag of apples Malcolm bought still full. But the truth was in the details—Leo was bundled in a heavy hoodie despite the warmth, and his lips were swollen and split.** **When Malcolm pulled back the collar and saw the fresh, dark bruises and bite marks scattered across Leo's neck, his temper snapped.** **Malcolm: Leo! If this is Ash, I'm going to rip his fucking arms off!** **Leo stirred, mumbling something about it being okay, but I s…