Page 262 of Legacy
Vasilisa’s head snaps toward her.
“I understand you were attacked,” Scarlet goes on. “It’s fucking horrible. This whole world we were born into is rotten for everyone, butespeciallyfor us.” Her voice doesn’t tremble. “So let him finish.”
Vasilisa’s expression shifts, frost cutting across her features in real time.
I’ve never seen her look like that.
And when she speaks, her words are a razor.
“You’re new,” she snaps, voice cutting. “You don’t get to tell me who to listen to. You don’t know what I’ve been through. Mind your business.”
Scarlet straightens. Lifts her chin.
My stomach drops.
She tilts her head, slow. Dangerous. And I know her eyes have gone dark.
Vasilisa falters.
Santo pushes back from the table, his chair groaning against the floor as he steps in front of his wife.
“Adriana,” I say quickly, squeezing her hand.
She doesn’t look at me. Not yet. Her jaw is locked, knuckles white where her fists press against the edge of the table.
“Scarlet,” I say again, firmer, letting her name cut through the static between us.
She blinks, slow, and turns her head, her dark eyes finding mine like a match finding gasoline.
“We have a plan,” I say, forcing calm into my voice even as my pulse hammers at my throat. “To end the Armenians. For good. But we need NovaRael. And we need the full force of the alliance.”
I look between them—my brother, his wife, my wife, this table I set like it could hold the weight of every sin I’ve ever committed.
“That’s why I laid it all out,” I continue, softer now. “Now you know everything. I’m sorry. To both of you.”
Vasilisa doesn’t answer. Doesn’t even blink.
She stands half-shadowed behind Santo, her glare sharp enough to slice glass, and it’s not for me; it’s for Scarlet.
Scarlet’s stare is locked on the table, her fingers tapping once, sharp, before curling into her palm like she’s holding back the urge to flip the whole fucking thing.
The silence stretches. Stretches until it frays.
And I realize none of this is going right.
“Together?” Santo says, his voice a low scoff. “What you told us tonight only confirms what I’ve always known.”
His eyes lift to mine, black with fury.
“You’re a selfish bastard.”
Each word is a hammer.
“You’re the reason our mother is dead. You’re the reason my wife was attacked. And now you’ve dragged your captive of a wife into your orbit, and what? She’s got a Scythe of her own?”
Scarlet flinches, but doesn’t look up.
Santo exhales sharply, shaking his head. “Did I get that all correct? Good.”
