“If she hadn’t said yes, I wouldn’t have met you.”
“She still didn’t think anything of sending you to Hell on your own without protection or preparation.”
“I don’t think she cared. It’s not like she’s my friend or anything like that. She just wanted to get paid, and she did.”
Which meant she could have sent Justin to his death for money. Mynor liked her even less now.
“I’m just saying that we’ll find a way,” Justin said. “I don’t want you to worry. I promise that Calyx will be more than happy to help you. I haven’t told him and the others the entire story, but he’ll understand once I do. I just don’t want to crowd him now, you know? He and Griffith just got together, and it’s Christmas tomorrow. He’s been yearning for this for an entire year. Hell, I have, too. That’s okay, isn’t it? We can have tomorrow, and the day after that, we’ll talk to Calyx about Alphan.”
Mynor nodded. He’d give Justin anything he asked for, but he didn’t think it mattered, anyway. Alphan hadn’t known what was happening to him when he was still in their cell. He probably didn’t realize that Mynor wasn’t there anymore. There was no way Anya would want anyone to be aware of the fact that Mynor had found a way out and had taken her son with him.
No, one day wouldn’t change anything for Alphan, but it looked like it would change things for Justin, and Mynor found that he was powerless not to give Justin everything he wanted.
He kissed the top of Justin’s head. “We can wait,” he said.
“But not too long,” Justin promised. “You and Alphan miss each other, just like me and my brothers. It wouldn’t be fair to wait longer than one day. I want you to be as happy as I am, and you can’t be without your brother.”
And that was one of the reasons Mynor had fallen for Justin.
Epilogue
The Christmas designs were gone from Justin’s skin when he woke up on Christmas morning. He was sleeping naked, and it was one of the first things he noticed. For a moment, he stared at his chest, mourning them.
When they’d started to appear, he’d known Calyx was involved. The designs had been a sign that his brother remembered him and cared about him. That wouldn’t change just because they weren’t there anymore, but still. Justin was going to miss them. Maybe he would go and get them tattooed. Maybe he could ask Calyx to find a way to make them permanent. He wasn’t sure it would be possible, but it was worth a try.
It wasn’t something he needed to think about today. No, today, he got to think about his brothers and spend the day with them. Now that he and Mynor had had a couple of days to rest, Justin felt ready to face whatever the world threw at him.
He just hoped it wouldn’t be too much since it was Christmas Day.
He pushed the blankets away, disturbing Mynor, who grumbled. He opened one eye, took a look at Justin’s face, andsighed. “What kind of strange tradition do we have to follow now?” he asked.
“Christmas breakfast,” Justin told him, beaming. “Calyx and Caitlin always took care of it. Caitlin died before Christmas last year, so we skipped last year. I want to make this year good for all of us, but especially Calyx.”
“I’m pretty sure that just you being here is making it good for him.”
“I know, but I want to do more. He saved us. He pulled us out of that cell.”
Mynor rolled his eyes, but he also nodded, which was all Justin needed. He knew that Mynor would follow him anywhere, including downstairs to the kitchen.
To Justin’s surprise, they weren’t the first there when they entered the room. Shelby was standing in front of the stove, staring at it as if he expected it to cook on its own. From the looks of it, he was trying to make breakfast, but since he was even worse than Justin at cooking, it probably wasn’t a great idea.
“What are you doing?” Justin asked.
Shelby squeaked and turned around quickly. He bumped into a metal bowl he had on the counter, and the thing fell to the floor, making enough noise to wake up an entire cemetery of dead people.
Shelby grimaced and picked up the bowl. “I was going to cook breakfast.”
“Were you, or were you going to set the kitchen on fire?” Yancey asked as he walked in, Travis trailing behind him.
Shelby glared. “That’s not funny.”
“It’s not supposed to be. I don’t think anyone wants to spend Christmas in the hospital. Maybe it’s best ifIcook breakfast.”
Shelby snorted. “No, thank you. I remember all too well what happened the last time you cooked.”
They’d all ended up with food poisoning, so Justin agreed. Thankfully, reminding Yancey of that experience seemed to be enough. He flopped into one of the chairs, looking unhappy but not arguing. Travis had questions about the food poisoning episode, and it was funny to watch Yancey try to explain it in a way that didn’t put him in a bad light.
Breakfast was in the hands of Justin and Shelby. Justin wasn’t sure it was a good thing, but he was going to try his best. How hard could it be? “What were you planning on making?” he asked Shelby.
