He goes quiet for a moment. “Justice. What’s going on?”
“Somebody wants either Ella or me dead,” I say, not believing anybody had aimed at Rosalie. This is about us. “I’ve got it handled. You’ve got more time on your honeymoon, and you have to stay there. I don’t need to worry about one more person taking on bullets.” If somebody’s after me, they’re after Thorn too.
“Is it Alexei?”
This is an answer I know for sure. “No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Rosalie was in the crossfire.”
Thorn is silent again.
I can’t blame him. This sucks. “I don’t think it’s Mathias, and I made it clear to Sylveria what I’d do to her if she attacked Ella or me again, and I blew up TimeGem Moments pretty good, so she knows I’m not fucking around.” I already texted him about that mess. “So it’s someone new trying to make a name.”
“Are we still finding ghost hints in our server?”
“Yeah.” I have Kaz trying to track whoever it is, but I’ve been dodging bullets in the meantime. “Whoever’s new isn’t a very good shot,” I mutter.
“Maybe you’re just good at avoiding death, brother.”
I smile. His voice is warm and steady, the way it’s been since we were kids. Bliss suits him. “How’s Alana?”
“She’s been on Aquarius Social posting videos all morning. We might be having a bit of a contest.”
“You might be?” I ask.
He snorts. “Yeah, I think I accidentally challenged her to see who could get more likes through the day.”
“You’re never on Malice Media,” I retort.
“Yeah, I’m losing.” He doesn’t sound too sad about it.
The least I can do is help him out. “I can call Kaz and have him get some of our influencers working hard today.”
“Hey, that’d be great.”
“We don’t have anybody as good as Alana,” I admit.
His chuckle rolls over the line. “I know, but still, I’d like to at least give her a run for her money.” He sighs. “I hope you know how difficult it is for me to stay here and not come home.”
“I do.”
“We saw Ella on the media during the shooting. Where is she now? Alana wants to know.”
I think through my options and then, since this is my brother, I go with the truth. “She’s here with me, where she’s staying.”
Silence beats across the line. Finally, he speaks. “So we go to war with Alexei?”
I blink, surprised, and watch a jay hop between a couple of trees. “It’s that easy?”
“If Ella’s who you want, then yeah. It’s that easy.”
I rub my chest. For so long it’s just been Thorn and me, and he’s always had my back. But to hear him say he’ll go to war with a Russian mobster because of the woman I’ve chosen—that’s something. “Actually, I think Alexei’s okay. We talked the other day.”
“You talked to Alexei?”
“Yeah. He wants to maybe forge an alliance with the next generation. I told him we’d be open to it.”
