What would Dad do? What would he expect Michael to do?
He’d expect you to get your act together and pretend it’s okay. Because if it’s okay for you, it’ll be okay for them.
It wasn’t okay. This would never be okay.
He wasn’t even sure he could fake it.
He looked at each of them and forced his voice to be steady. “This is temporary. I need you all to understand that.” His voice wavered, and he caught it. “This is temporary.”
“What’s temporary?” said Nick. A lick of fear had crawled into his voice. “Michael. What’s—”
“You’re all under eighteen, and we don’t have a house to live in.”
“No,” said Gabriel. “We’re fine. We can stay at Adam’s.”
“Please,” said Michael. “Please, listen to me.”
“You can’t do this,” said Chris. His voice was quick and frightened. “Becca’s mom said we can go there. We can—”
“I’ve tried,” said Michael. “I’m sorry. I tried. It’s already arranged.”
Gabriel was out of his chair so fast, it almost fell over. He glanced at the door. “What’s already arranged? What the fuck are you talking about?”
Gabriel’s anger helped steady Michael. This he could deal with. He strengthened his voice. “DFS has ordered emergency custody. You’re going to spend a few nights in a youth home, until I can get before a judge—”
“You can’t do this,” Chris said again. He was breathing like he’d run a race.
“We’ll run,” said Gabriel. His eyes were furious, and the lights in the room flickered. “They can’t keep us there. Goddamn it, Michael, I can’t believe you agreed to this—”
“I didn’t! I didn’t agree to any of it! Don’t you know I’d do anything—”
“Not enough!” Gabriel’s voice was full of fury, but his eyes were full. “You could have stopped this.”
“I tried. David tried. It’s already in motion.”
Gabriel looked at the door, then back at his brothers. “Then we can’t stay here. Nick. Chris. There’s a stairwell at the end of the hallway—”
“Stop it.” Michael had hold of Gabriel’s arms before he even realized he was on his feet. Nick’s powers had worked quickly—his body didn’t protest the motion. “Damn you, Gabriel, don’t you understand that I need you?”
Gabriel stared back at him, and under all that anger and bravado, Michael could see the little boy who was scared shitless.
“If you run, they’ll run with you. If you go along with this, they’ll go with you. Don’t you know that? I need you, Gabriel. They need you.”
His brother’s eyes were so full of fury and defiance that Michael was ready for Gabriel to jerk free and tell him to fuck off.
Instead, Gabriel’s face crumpled, and he threw his arms around Michael. “Please don’t do this. Please.”
“We’ll get through it,” Michael said. His brother’s grip made his chest ache, but this was a good kind of pain. “I promise. We can get through this. It’s just a few nights until I can get before a judge.”
“I can’t do this, Michael. I’m not like you.”
Michael’s heart broke a little at those words. “You can. I know you can.”
“What if the Guides find us?”
Michael’s greatest fear, spoken out loud. “Then you run,” he said, keeping his voice as low as he could. “You run, and you hide, and you keep your brothers safe. But that’s the only reason. Do you understand me?”
Gabriel drew back and nodded. “What if they come after you?”
“Then you stay hidden. No powers.”
“No,” said Nick. “What if they come after you?”
“Then you take care of each other.” Michael looked at Nick. His eyes were also red, his shoulders tight. “I need you, too. Someone has to keep Gabriel from veering off the rails.”
Nick nodded. “I know.”
Michael looked at Chris, who was still standing with his back against the side table. His fingers gripped the edge of the table so tightly that Michael could see white across his knuckles. “Chris—”
“We can’t stay with you anymore.” His breathing was shaky, and he wouldn’t look over. “Got it.”
“Chris—”
A gentle knock sounded at the door. The social worker was back. “How is everything going in here?”
His brothers shifted away from her, as if she were more imposing than a hundred-pound woman in a cheap wool suit.
“They’re fine,” said Michael. “They know.”
They didn’t look fine, but he kept his voice casual, and the grip of tension on the room loosened a notch.
She looked at her watch. “They’ll be finishing up dinner in the home, and from what I understand, it’s game night, so now would be a good time to head over, if everyone is ready.”
Gabriel turned steely eyes his way. Michael could read every word in his expression. Game night? Are you fucking kidding me?