“It was under James’s roof.” She leans closer to the papers, but I turn them facedown before she can read any of the headings. “Oliver says the baby can have a little dragon, but mine is still the biggest.”
“Yours can be the biggest.”
She relaxes against me and begins describing the wedding cake Oliver showed her at lunch. The dragon needs purple wings, the castle requires yellow windows, and Samuel is not allowed to add a training mat to the bottom tier.
While she talks, my attention returns to the covered page beside her knee.
My parents signed the first consent that sent me toward Hearthstone. They tried to contact me after Ember House became public, and I refused every call. They won't attend the wedding, and I am no longer waiting for an apology that would change nothing written inside the file.
Rosalie reaches for my hand and places it over her crown so I will hold it in place while she demonstrates how the dragon should stand.
“The baby gets a smaller one,” she reminds me.
“Yes, baby. Yours stays the biggest.”
Grayson appears in the doorway a few minutes later with Samuel’s abandoned dinosaur tucked beneath one arm. He bends to kiss me before telling Rosalie that Samuel has found the missing sparkly shoes.
She slides from my lap and takes Grayson’s hand, but he keeps his fingers against my cheek for another second before following her into the hall. Her voice continues through the house as she demands to know why Samuel had the shoes in the first place.
Blake sits beside me only after she is gone. He doesn’t look at the authorization until I turn it toward him.
“If I release this, strangers will read everything they wrote about me.”
His hand settles over mine. “Yes.”
“And if I don’t, Alastair can still be charged.”
“Yes.”
I look toward the office where Thane and Maceo are speaking quietly. “But the current sites may stay hidden.”
Blake doesn’t answer for me. His thumb moves once across the back of my hand and then stills.
I call Thane back into the room. Maceo returns with him, closing the office file before he crosses the threshold. I hold one hand out, and Maceo comes to me immediately, bending to kiss me before taking the chair on my other side.
“Ask the court to release it,” I say.
Thane sits across from us and reviews the authorization line by line. The form doesn't release the file immediately. It gives him permission to petition the sealing court, explains how the records may be used if the judge approves, and allows me to withdraw consent before the order is issued.
Luther stands behind the sofa with one hand resting on my shoulder. Grayson stays near the doorway, close enough that I can reach him without much effort. Maceo keeps one hand against my knee while Blake holds the other.
Thane places the pen beside the signature line.
Blake keeps holding my hand until I reach for it.
I signLuca Kellerbeneath the consent language and return the authorization to Thane. The pen leaves a small mark along the side of my finger.
Thane checks the signature before placing the form inside the petition folder. “I’ll prepare the affidavit and submit the request to the sealing court. Nothing is released unless the judge approves it.”
From the hallway, Rosalie calls that she has found both shoes and wants to know whether she can wear them before the wedding.
I rub once at the ink on my finger, but it has already settled into the skin. Then I leave the signed authorization with Thane and go answer her.
21
Maceo
The light beneath the office door is still on when I go upstairs. Thane left several hours ago with Luca’s signed authorization sealed inside the petition folder. The affidavit hasn’t gone before the court yet, which means Luca’s file remains closed, the sponsor codes remain inaccessible, and nothing has moved beyond the first procedural step. Knowing that should make the waiting easier. It doesn’t.
