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I’m surprised, though, when I get to Iris—the princess of Manhattan, but we don’t call her that. She reaches up to wrap her arms around my shoulders, and hugs me tight for a few seconds.
“You got this,” she whispers in my ear before stepping back.
“Thanks,” I whisper back, then I’m not surprised when Eli hugs me tight too.
The meeting we had when his dad and stepmom were in a near-fatal accident back in January was way more of an emergency than the next one is, but that’s because Eli didn’t have a plan in place for when his father would be unable to hold the Chair of Information.
Unlike Jim and me, Eli and his dad have always had a great relationship.
“How are the boys?” Eli asks, and it reinforces our friendship, at least for me.
Stupid Dan didn’t even ask how they were before offering to take them. More evidence that he doesn’t really care.
But Eli does.
“Surprisingly okay.” I let out a big breath and rub a hand down my face, letting my worry for them show for once. “I’m just hoping the judge sees the error of Jim’s ways and lets them go live with Avery,” I confess. “It’s what’s best for them. Not that I don’t— that I wouldn’t—” Fuck.
I drop my head forward, trying to think of how to articulate this properly.
“Hey, hey,” Eli says softly and grabs my arm. “I get it. You love them and want what’s best for them. I think you’re an awesome big brother, and I think they’d probably do better living with you than you realize, but it’s okay to want Avery to make sure they have a good childhood. I know you’re not doing that because you don’t want them.”
I sigh, and risk a quick look up to his face, though since he’s so much shorter than me, it doesn’t take much.
Why his belief in me has come to mean so much in the few months since we’ve become closer, I don’t know, but it does.
And it feels damn good to have someone believe in me.
I know my sisters do, I’ve never doubted that since they’re much better human beings than any of the people who brought us into this world, but it’s different.
Eli doesn’t owe me belief, he doesn’t owe me anything—
Well . . .
He does owe me a favor, since last season I did manage to convince the previous GM of the Demons with only a few sentences that Lex was worth having on the team.
A favor from Eli is worth . . . a lot, so I’m saving it for a time when I have no choice but to use his skills.
Liv doesn’t come say hello to everyone with me, and that’s honestly for the best, I think. She’ll get to know them well enough soon; today is not the day for that.
Besides, I can feel Dan’s eyes on my back as I stand here, and since he knows about the Turris, I know he’d put it together if she was standing next to me. I don’t want him to know who my Heir is. The less information he has, the better.
I make it a point to greet the unofficial captain of the Keys as well as Coach Richards, and then I also greet Nessy, the captain of the Demons and his wife, before moving on to the veteran point guard of the Knights and his wife.
I accept their condolences and ask them to pass my thanks to all their teammates, then take my leave and get back to my family.
I don’t miss how Avery’s eyes have narrowed with tension, but when I look around, wondering what happened, there’s no one of interest close by. Only our family is left.
I note Luna has the urn with Jim’s ashes already, and probably already spoke to whoever needs speaking to, so as discussed, only us, his six children, walk to the stairs that lead underground where the family crypt is.
It’s already open, and full of dead relatives’ urns and caskets, so Luna goes right ahead and places our father’s ashes in their spot.
I don’t know if the moment of silence is for the boys’ benefit, or if, like me, they all need it.
It’s a strange feeling, seeing that urn surrounded by so many others, knowing someone’s going to screw a slab of concrete in front of it so no light or sound will reach them.
“Rest well, Jim,” Liv says softly, and I’m surprised she’s the one to say something, that she’s the one to give him this sliver of respect.
I suppose we owe him only that.
