I never hated him more than when I struggled to recall anything of Mom or Dad but found nothing.
Nothing beyond the stories I had been told, the pictures I had been shown, the memories I had spun from wishes and slivers of truth.
“He paid Aedan in gold for sitting in the creek, really?” Clay’s eyes bulged as he read over Asa’s shoulder. “Forget Black Hat. I’m buying a float, tethering it to a tree, and saving up those coins for retirement.”
As if the director would ever cut him free.
But it would take someone crueler than me to remind him of that.
“You’re already filthy stinking rich.” I admired his financial savvy, though at his age, it would be a shock if he hadn’t managed to amass at least a modest fortune. “How about save some for the rest of us?”
“You’re going to mate a daemon prince, who will one day be king. I don’t want to hear it, Princess.”
Acid burned a path up the back of my throat, but I locked down my muscles to avoid flinching.
“Would I look sexier on a red float or a gold one?” Out came his cell, and Clay started shopping online. “I have a red wig that’s to die for, but it’s so hard to color match online. Yellow isn’t my best color, but you know I’m a sucker for a theme. I could always use that shimmery bronzer, the one with a hint of mica.”
“Now that we’ve solved the mystery—” I cut Clay off as he used voice controls to search for speedos, “—we should get packing.” I reclaimed the note. “I’ll update Aedan, if you guys want to get a head start.”
Happy to wander off, nose to the screen, Clay made his way into the house.
The last mutter I caught was gold lamé, and that was traumatic enough for me to ignore the rest.
“You guys are leaving again?” Aedan met me halfway. “You’re barely home these days.”
“Re-upping has been like clearing a backlog of cases after a vacation.” I rubbed my face. “A long one.”
Ten years’ worth, not to split hairs.
“Is it always like this?” He tried for a joking tone. “Or are you guys just special?”
“We’re something, all right. I’ll tell you what after I figure it out.”
“You don’t have to tell me.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I don’t have to know.”
“It’s mostly family drama,” I attempted to explain then stopped myself. “Not your side of the family.”
A wide smile blossomed when I included him in my family grouping, and I hated we came from people or situations that made even the most tenuous connection swell our hearts with gratitude to finally belong.
“You mean your dad.”
“Yeah.” I wished he wasn’t burdened with the knowledge Dad was alive, but there were no takebacks in the information game. “I’m still absorbing the latest implications, but I’ll share more when and if I can.”
“Almost forgot.” He flipped me the coin. “That’s worth about two grand. Keep it. For room and board.”
The coin, having been spelled to pay Aedan, flipped itself right back to him.
“I think it likes you.” I chuckled. “Besides, you don’t owe me anything.”
“Your dad sent this to me, right?” He smoothed his thumb over the design. “For playing mailman?”
“That,” I allowed, “and I think he feels guilty about the whole kidnapping thing.”
“Can you ask him not to pay me again?” He closed his hand over the coin. “We’re family too, right?”
That I expected nothing from him in return for allowing his continued existence, let alone that I provided him with supplies to camp on my property rent-free, had been a revelation to him. That’s what family does, I told him, and it was a lie. I wanted it to be true. I knew, for a lucky few, it was. But not for him. Or me. Be that as it may, the person I wanted to become felt that family, blood or chosen, wouldn’t set a price on their help when it was needed the most.
As much as I based my ideal better self on those who embodied the qualities I wanted to share, I viewed those people as innately good. I wanted to copy them, yes, but I wasn’t sure I could be them. For Aedan, who had known kindness only from his younger siblings, to model his ideals after me in any small way…