Ramon was halfway through pulling on his gloves when his brother's voice came through the comm: clipped with a familiar edge of surprise that he liked almost as much as he was annoyed.
"Gabriel," he said, dropping the pretence of formality. "What's up?"
"You're really on this on a school night?" Gabriel sounded incredulous.
"Since when do you accept missions on school nights?"
Ramon didn't bother answering. He could feel the aftertaste of the day in his mouth. He had seen it all. When Eli had tucked away his phone in his drawer before he got up to leave for the library. That small, deliberate distance had stoked something with a slow, private fury. Tonight, he needed to burn it off.
Gabriel's voice softened in the way only brother's could. Asking in a soft voice, "You okay, Ra? You don't sound like yourself.
The normal him would have snapped at him already.
"I'm fine," He lied easily. "Will be there in three."
