Page 49 of Controlled Drift
Niko’s voice was rough.“And Poppy?”
“Poppy was the best thing that came out of it,” Ethan said, no hesitation there.“She was proof that something good could exist in the middle of all that evil.And when Cleo died ...she was all I had left to fight for.”
Niko slid fully onto his side, facing him, foreheads nearly touching.“You didn’t leave because you didn’t love me.”
“No,” Ethan said fiercely.“I left because loving you made you vulnerable.And my father knew it.”
The words finally cracked something open.
“He threatened you,” Ethan continued.“Threatened Marcus.Told me I could either come home and do what I was told, or watch the people I loved disappear.”
Niko’s breath hitched.“You should have told me.”
“I know,” Ethan said, voice breaking despite himself.“God, I know.But I thought if I stayed away—if I cut myself off completely—you’d be safer.I didn’t realize how much it would destroy both of us.”
Niko rested his forehead against Ethan’s.“You don’t get to decide alone anymore.You don’t get to be a self-sacrificing asshole.”
Ethan nodded with a smile.“I don’t want even to.”
For a moment, they just breathed together, the truth sitting between them—not healed, but named.Real.
Ethan reached out and brushed his thumb along Niko’s jaw.“Everything I’ve done since ...every route I burned, every account I collapsed—it wasn’t just about taking away his power.It was about erasing him.About making sure he couldn’t hurt anyone else.”
Niko’s eyes were dark, resolute.“We’ll finish it together.”
Ethan believed him.
The sound of his phone vibrating shattered the moment.
He froze.
The device lay tangled in discarded clothes on the floor, and when he scrambled and pulled it into his hand, the screen lit up with a name that made his stomach drop.
Vermont Preparatory Academy.
Ethan sat up so fast Niko barely had time to follow.
He grabbed the phone, fingers numb, and answered.
“Mr.Payne,” a trembling voice said.“There’s been ...an incident.”
Ethan felt the room tilt.
“Your brother,” the voice continued.“Your father arrived this afternoon.He took him.There was ...violence.”
Ethan couldn’t breathe.
“Two teachers,” the woman said, barely holding it together.“And the hostel manager.They—their dead, they tried to intervene.”
The phone slipped from Ethan’s fingers, clattering onto the floor.
Niko caught his face in both hands instantly.“Ethan.Look at me.What happened?”
Ethan swallowed hard, every muscle locking as reality crashed in.
“He’s taken Marcus,” he said hoarsely.“And he killed to do it.”
The past wasn’t just knocking anymore.
