“Dimitri,” I realize, imagining what they were like as boys.
Ms. Crane tells me, “Mean little fucker. Almost told Killian not to bring him around anymore. But then they came one day, and the night before, my old man had gone on a tear. Left me black and blue something awful. Wasn’t anything new to me, but Rath—Dimitri—took one look at me, got real quiet in that way he does, and you know what he said?” She laughs at the memory, downing her shot. “He offered to shoot him.” Her fingers come together in a sharp snap. “Just like that, real adult-like.”
I smile, thinking of a little Dimitri offering to murder someone. “When did you meet Tristian?”
“Oh, I met that shit-for-brains later on down the line, right after I shanked my old man.” She flashes me a dark smirk, winking. “Still working on breaking that one.”
My eyebrows shoot up my forehead. “That’s why you’re so hard on him?”
She scoffs. “I’m hard on him because he deserves it. When the day comes he doesn’t, I won’t be.”
“He’s right,” I say, head shaking. “You really are diabolical.”
The wicked delight drains from her smile, flattening her smile into a hard line. “It’s hard to make a mark on this world—you know that as well as I do. But those little shits were the hill I planned to die on. I swore to myself twelve years ago, crouched down on that grimy motel carpet, that I wouldn’t let him become another monster.” She jabs the tip of her forefinger into the counter. “Not this one. Not this boy. Not if I could help it.”
I cover her hand with mine, feeling the rough, papery texture of her skin. “You’re a good woman, Ms. Crane.”
She shifts uncomfortably, eyes sliding away. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t let it get around. I’ll deny it.” She waits until my hand falls away to go on. “Anyway, that’s your job now. I’ve done what I can do. To save him.” She levels me with a long, significant look. “To save the girl he ends up falling for.”
I put all this together, and the big picture is a rich tapestry bearing more than an obligation. “You love him,” I realize, keeping my voice low.
“If you want the truth?” She tips her head close, eyes glassy with the liquor, and quietly confesses, “I love them all. Even that steaming tower of blond excrement.”
I give her a sad, understanding smile. “So do I.”
“Good.” She straightens, capping the bottle of sake. “That’s what it’ll take.”
I’m in Killian’s room when the men leave, watching their departure from the window. They file down the front steps in their dark suits and expensive haircuts. Killian’s among them, shaking their hands as they descend the steps. These are the men behind the machinations steering Forsyth, and now Killian is a part of their circle of thorns. Ms. Crane is right. He’s going to need someone who loves him just as much as they’ve once hated him. He’s going to need someone that strong. Someone who doesn’t flinch away from the hard reality of what he is. Someone who, even if he’s down, can rise up and carry on.
“It’s weird for us, too.” I turn and see Tristian leaning against the doorjamb, his blond hair glinting in the light of the lamp.
I smile feebly. “You also get kicked out?”
He shrugs, looking around the tidy space. “They were learning the secret handshake and fitting ring sizes.” It’s a joke, but there’s a truth hidden in the lackadaisical tone that he’s missed the mark at hiding. There’s a reason Killian and Daniel were the only ones with the LDZ skull rings.
Kingdoms are passed through blood.
He gives me a dry, weary grin. “We’ve always been equals. I mean, we always fought to best one another, but it’s always been evenly matched.”
“And now he’s the King.”
“That, he is.” He pushes off and approaches me, plucking the drawstring from my hoodie off my chest. “Are you mad he didn’t let you in the meeting?”
“Not mad,” I insist, watching him wind the string around his forefinger. “More like…hurt. Excluded.”
He kisses the tip of my nose, and then my cheeks, working his lips to my mouth. “He’s worried about you. We all are. If anything happened to you—”
“Nothing is going to happen,” I say, trying not to melt under his touch. “I appreciate the concern, but Daniel is gone. Ted is through. Killian has a top position.”