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He cliainst it Hisstiff when she greeted hilad you’re here," she said, voice quiet "You look good, Nicholas Your father’s been asking for you"

Nick lance up or in the direction of his father’s study He was closer to forty than four, but he still felt that flash of anxiety and outright fear when he thought of walking down that hallway

They stood in aard silence, not really looking at each other, not really wanting to This was the first time Nick had been in his childhood home since he’d told his parents he was bi He hadn’t been welcome after that

Nick cleared his throat

"Katherine and Erin are here," his et here before they go up to see hi out of his snow-covered coat He and Kat and Erin shared s hadn’t been subjected to

"They’re down--"

"I knohere they are," Nick murmured, and headed for the creaky old door to the cellar

The light at the top of the staircase didn’t turn anything on, but then, it hadn’t since Nick had gotten old enough to figure out how to cut the wires inside the switch He descended in darkness, hoping hishis damn neck His footfalls were silent on the concrete steps When he reached the bottoht emitted froe concrete pillars partitioned off a piece of the cellar

His two sisters were together on an old sofa in the corner A battered coffee table with a duct-taped leg, braced with a broken hockey stick, sat before theht They were flipping through a photo book, both alternately sniffling and laughing

Nick shoved his hands into his pockets as he approached the for a sht I’d find you tn here"

Kat smiled weakly and cleared her throat "Do you reather all of us together and bring us down here?"

Nick fought to s past the tightening in his throat "I reao to sleep" Kat wiped at her eyes

Nick stepped around the table, and they both moved over so he could sit between them He spread his arms on the back of the couch, and both woain "I was never afraid ere down here Not when you ith us"

"Neither was I," Erin whispered She hugged Nick close "We knew you would protect us You always did"

Nick closed his eyes, his ar around them

The three of them hadup after he had been gone for so long But this was soan to cry softly She shoved the picture book away and pressed her face against Nick’s chest "These pictureswe never realized how young you were My God, Nick, you were just a baby You were younger than Patrick is now" Her oldest son He’d just turned ten last week "Who stood in front of you?"

"It’s okay," Nick whispered

They sat in silence, listening to the house creak, to theiraround upstairs, to the occasional voice of one of their two youngest sisters asking where the hell they were The young ones didn’t re the the them to sleep so they’d be safe They didn’t res down here when the thought of facing their father was too much for them

"Nicholas!" their mother called fro to see you"

Nick took a deep breath The three of thelance Both his sisters looked like they wanted to hang on to him for dear life, just like they’d done when they were little

"Let’s go to tell him to kiss our asses," Erin said as she stood

Nick stared at the rectangle of light near the botto on this couch, his arms around Kat and Erin, their baby sisters asleep on their laps, listening to the sound of theirHe re the silhouette of his father appear in that fra the man would try to storm down the steps Nick had booby-trapped with his sports equip he’d just trip and break his neck on the concrete floor when he landed

He’d never grabbed one of those sticks or bats on his way up the steps after being su the veritable minefield would keep his sisters safe

That didn’tthat hockey stick and watching it crack his father’s skull He’d grabbed a baseball bat one ti for Basic It had been the last time his father raised a hand to any of them

A shadow appeared on the floor, different than the one that haunted hi," Nick called Kat and Erin trailed behind hihts to his father’s bedroom

He stood in the doorway, Kat and Erin still behind hiest sisters, Alana and Nessa, sat in chairs beside the bed, where Brian O’Flaherty lay propped ast several pillows, jaundiced and weak All three of the there

"Son," his father said He pushed hihter He didn’t quite ave hi Nick held onto her, flooded byher out of her bassinet, wrapping her up in her blankets and hugging her to his chest as he and Kat scraet down to the cellar before their father hit the front door

He let her go, and she and Alana moved to let him sit beside the bed His father’s eyes stayed on him, and Nick didn’t look away Eye contact had always been soht for When he’d been little, it had pissed his dad off He’d seen it as a challenge, like a fucking junkyard dog

It had been worth a backhand to meet the man’s eyes

"You’re hoood"

Nick nodded

"You didn’t even tell us you were leaving We’d have come to see you off"

Nick snorted "You hadn’t spoken toto hell"

Brian’s eyes hardened "I’ht, Nicholas"

"That’s a first," Nick said through gritted teeth

"Nick, he can’t handle stress right nohy don’t you try to be civil," Alana spat She was standing by the door, leaning against the ith her arms crossed

"Why don’t you shut your lanced over his shoulder at them, then back to his father "I’ood-bye What do you want?"

"I want to h road But now I’ And I’m scared"

Nick narrowed his eyes He knehat sort of changes the thought of ih the retribution or forgiveness He wanted soive him And it wasn’t peace