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He stopped in front of the door and sucked in a breath. There was a good chance Willa would be the one to open it, and Taylor wasn’t quite sure what he’d say to her if she did. He could probably just explain he was there to check on Twig. She seemed to accept that Taylor was a presence in her son’s life for now, which had made things easier for Taylor. Hell, knowing her, she might even be disappointed when he was assigned somewhere else. She was a little overprotective, which made sense considering what Twig had gone through, and for some reason, she seemed to trust Taylor more than she had Palmer in the beginning.

Taylor quickly knocked, ready to head back to his spot if no one answered, even though he knew they were in there. He waited, listening to footsteps coming closer. He wouldn’t say he recognized Twig’s footsteps, but Twig’s mother was smart, so Taylor wasn’t surprised when Twig was the one to open the door.

From the way Twig blinked, though, he was surprised to find Taylor there. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

Taylor gestured at the hallway. “I can go if you don’t want me here.”

Twig shook his head quickly. “That’s not what I said. I’m just curious.”

“Well, I have a job to do, don’t I? I was just going to check in on you before heading back.”

“But Pearl and Alatar have been arrested. There’s no reason to protect me anymore.”

“Killian will be the judge of that, and in the meantime, I follow orders.” Taylor leaned closer. He couldn’t hear Willa anywhere, which hopefully meant he and Twig had a few minutes together alone. “How are you?”

“I’m fine. Nothing happened.”

“Except that Pearl was exiled for poisoning you.”

“She was exiled for going against Killian. What she did to me was just his way of finally being able to get rid of her.”

“Maybe so, but I know this couldn’t have been easy for you.” For some reason, Twig’s half-siblings mattered to him, even though as far as Taylor knew he barely had any contact with them. It was like he wanted them all to be one happy family, something that probably would never happen, considering what Taylor knew of their history.

“I never thought Pearl liked me,” Twig said with a shrug.

“I also didn’t think she hated you.”

“I still don’t. I was just a way for her to get to Killian. I don’t think she hates me. I think I just don’t matter to her at all.”

Which would be an entirely different kind of pain. That was why none of this was easy for Twig, but if he didn’t want to talk about it, Taylor wasn’t going to push. “So you’re okay?” he asked in a murmur.

“Yes.” Twig grimaced. “No. Well, maybe.”

“That sounds like a lot,” Taylor said gently.

“It is. I honestly don’t know what I’m thinking. It feels like too much to process.”

“That makes sense. You need a little time.”

And now he could have it. Pearl had failed. She hadn’t managed to kill Twig or either of the other half-siblings she’d tried to poison. She wouldn’t be a danger to any of them for a while, which meant they had time to relax and figure out a better solution. They could afford not to think about Pearl for a few days, at least.

Taylor was pretty sure no one would actually manage that, though. Pearl’s name was going to be on everyone’s lips for a while yet.

He bet she wished it was for a different reason.

* * * *

TWIG WISHED HE’D BEEN allowed to stay home the whole day, especially after his conversation with Taylor. He’d thought that once Pearl was dealt with, he’d be safe, but now he wondered. Was that the reason Killian was keeping security on him? Was he really worried someone else might come after Twig? Would someone actually do that?

Twig wasn’t sure he liked this new life. He’d been perfectly fine on his own, but then Killian had asked him to be a council member, and Twig had stupidly said yes because he’d wanted their relationship to improve. Now here he was, surrounded by people staring at him, trying not to freak out about it. He couldn’t leave the room until the meeting was over, and it wouldn’t be over until Killian decided it was.

Twig just wished people would stop staring at him. Killian was talking, for fuck’s sake. He was who people should be watching, not Twig.

“Does anyone have questions?” Killian asked.

Thankfully, that was enough to distract the people watching Twig. Their attention snapped back to Killian, and several hands went up, including Ilias’s. From Killian’s expression, Twig was pretty sure he wished he could call on anyone but Ilias, but Ilias was an elder. He’d been on the council for many years, and even though, from Twig’s point of view, that was the only thing that qualified him, people respected him for it. Maybe Twig should too, but considering the way Ilias treated him, Twig was only going to give him the respect Ilias gave him in return.

Which was pretty much none.