Secret (Elemental 4)

Gabriel shoved him anyway. Adam fell back another step.

That forced Nick’s feet into motion. He needed to stop this.

Now.

Cold air hit him in the face, carrying Gabriel’s voice, low and angry. “What the f**k do you mean, you’re sorry about last night? What are you doing to my brother?”

“Stop!” Nick said. Neither paid attention to him.

“It’s a misunderstanding,” said Adam, his voice careful.

Gabriel shoved him again, harder. “A misunderstanding?”

Adam fell back, but he kept his hands up. “Yeah.” Now his voice was edged with anger. “Just calm down.”

“Calm down? You want me to calm down?” Gabriel shoved him again.

Adam gave up the surrender position and shoved him back.

Gabriel drew back an arm to hit him.

Nick didn’t even remember moving. He had a hold of Gabriel’s arm and he was driving him back, until his twin hit the cinder block wall of the shopping center.

“Don’t you touch him,” he said fiercely. He might have been yelling. He gave Gabriel a shove against the wall for good measure. “You hear me? You keep your hands off him.”

Gabriel’s eyes were wide. Their breathing was loud, putting twin puffs of steam between them. Time seemed to hold still.

Nick kept seeing Gabriel’s fist drawn back, ready to smash into Adam’s jaw. Nick wanted to slam him into the wall again.

For the first time in his life, he wouldn’t back down from his brother for anything.

Gabriel’s eyes went from Nick to Adam and back.

Then he coiled all his strength to throw Nick off.

Nick had leverage—and while he couldn’t fight like Gabriel, he was every bit as strong. He slammed him back into the wall.

Harder this time. Gabriel’s head hit the cinder block.

“Hey. Hey.” Adam put a hand on Nick’s arm. “Take it easy,”

he said quietly. “Let him go. It’s a misunderstanding.”

Nick looked across into his brother’s eyes. He saw the exact moment when Gabriel put two and two together.

And Nick waited for his brother to swallow the aggression, to be decent, to take this horrible moment and make everything okay.

But Gabriel’s expression turned dark and furious. “So is this part of your big secret, Nicky?”

If he’d just said the words, Nick wouldn’t have cared.

But Gabriel said it in a high-pitched mocking lisp.

Nick couldn’t see through the rage. He lifted a fist to swing.

And that was all Gabriel needed. He twisted free of Nick’s grip and ducked under the flying fist.

Nick’s hand cracked into the cinder block wall.