“I have earned the right to know what I have been involved in,” Jonathan said more forcefully. “You have already made me one of you by default. I demand to know what war I am now a soldier in.”
The two brothers seemed to come to some sort of conclusion. Titus nodded, then Brutus turned to Jonathan and Charlie and spoke.
“My brothers and I were raised in the worst part of London’s slums,” he said. “We were the sons of a whore and God only knows who. We have had to fight for every scrap of bread and every meager joy in life we were granted.”
“Thomas told us,” Jonathan said stonily. “I am not inclined toward pity, so you may skip the sadness of your youth and advance to the part of the story where you and Hammond formed your first criminal gang and the club that accompanied it.”
Brutus and Titus exchanged another look, this one surprised.
“How much did Thomas tell you?” Titus asked just as Valentine returned to the room with a tray laden with tea things and cakes.
“Not much more than that,” Jonathan said, his tone softening as he watched Valentine set the tray down and pour tea. “There was not much time for more. He merely said that the three of you are criminals, you began a club, which I am certain was a brothel, together, but that Hammond had selfish aims, whereas the two of you are supposedly Robin Hoods.”
Brutus laughed quietly. “I suppose you could describe us as Robin Hoods.”
“Thomas was correct to say that Charles wants only to advance his own interests,” Titus added. “I cannot say that our interests are entirely pure, but we are more interested in giving advantage to the sort of young people that we were and the people from the world that birthed us rather than hoarding everything for ourselves.”
Charlie smiled. He understood what they were saying. He had seen how healthy and happy the young men of The Zagreus Den were. He understood now what Valentine had meant during that first visit when he’d said the young men were given an education. Brutus and Titus were trying to make their world a better place, whereas Hammond was out for no one else but himself.
Jonathan still wasn’t convinced.
“You expect me to believe that you lot are a good sort of criminal? That you obey some higher law of community and morality?” he asked.
“Yes,” Brutus said with a shrug. “That is precisely what I expect you to believe because it is true.”
“We have never pretended to be saints,” Titus said. “The activities of the Den are diverse, and most of them are not legal.But the people we help and the lives we seek to save mean more to us than our own self-interest.”
Jonathan’s mouth continued to hang open as he stared at the two men in utter disbelief.
As he did, Valentine stepped quietly up to Charlie, handing him a warm cup of tea. He then flicked a look at Jonathan.
The moment should not have made Charlie grin and hold a giggle in his throat, but it did. Because he knew what Valentine was asking of him.
Without pause, Charlie cleared his throat, nudged Jonathan, and when Jonathan turned his head to look at him, he smiled and handed over the tea.
Jonathan’s eyes widened. “You accept all of this?” he asked, his voice wavering on the edge of defeat.
Charlie nodded, moving the teacup closer to him.
“You think I should drink tea, eat cake, smile, and forget our lives were nearly forfeit in someone else’s family feud?” Jonathan asked, taking the teacup without looking at it.
“This is a good place,” Charlie said quietly. “I felt it the first time we came. I feel it now.”
“You could have died.” Jonathan’s voice was hushed and strained, and his eyes turned glassy. “You could have been taken from me like Fabian. How can I forgive anyone for that?”
Charlie shrugged. “I am safe now. Safe with you.”
“We can keep you that way,” Brutus interjected gently. “You have earned your membership in The Zagreus Den, and we care for our own.”
“You will be given rooms here, if you’d like, until all danger from our brother and his allies has passed,” Titus added. “We are prepared to give you anything you ask for as compensation for the troubles we did not expect you to encounter by assisting us.”
He glanced to Brutus, who nodded in agreement.
Jonathan ignored them. He lifted his eyebrows slightly at Charlie, as if asking if this was what he truly wanted.
Charlie had never wanted anything more in his life.
“I do not know what to say,” Jonathan said sullenly, then drank his tea. He even accepted a piece of cake when Valentine handed it to him.
