KEREN

He should have spoken out against the continuous chain of lies.

Bets placed on the table, Keren sat in his silence as the players played, with Thompson acting like nothing was wrong, that Keren hadn't noticed his own web of lies, but he noticed. He noticed and Ethan would too. Words tickled the back of his throat; all to call out a player on their bold move for a fleeting, worthless victory. Who am I to talk? Keren chewed on his tongue. They all have skeletons in their closet, what's one cheater compared to what I know?

Ethan's words rang through his mind. Words and promises. Promises and deeds. Opportunity. An opportunity to change this game. His stomach sank deeper, and Keren shifted for comfort, for consistency, for the shred of bravery Ethan carried to say something.

Anything.

If he didn't, someone would, and then it'd fall on his lap for not speaking out, for the utter failure he created. Celestials, where is Ethan? The rules of the family loomed over his shoulder with Father's disapproving glare. His urge to jump battled with the fear of losing it all.

Our rules, the family.

Whatever Ethan had to do with Chalen, it came first. It came before the casino. It came before the players. It came before him. Fists clenched, Keren echoed the truth of Ethan's priority.

If it is my decision, you're my priority.

Keren glared at Thompson, but prodded the tablet with his courage nonexistent. Safer to pretend, but no less dangerous than to do what he was told; without question.

Because if I say nothing, it'll be me facing the consequences. One mistake. One miscalculation. Agitation trembled his body, and Keren grit his teeth for the storm stirring through the air of the casino.

"Keren?" Ethan's voice jolted him out of the energetic tempest in his heart. "I'm back. Did I miss anything? I hope they didn't give you too much trouble."

Every player shook their heads, with Thompson's audacity rising higher than the peak of the presidential suite. "Nah," he lied straight through his teeth when he returned the card where it belonged.

Ethan turned his attention to him, then smiled.

Keren pinched his arm, then pointed at Thompson. "He's been cheating."

The words tumbled out of his mouth before he stifled the rage in his heart at her false happiness on his brother's face. He cheated and I did nothing about it. His heart sank into its own pool of shadows. Tension silenced the table, and Keren tried to hide in the chair when Ethan's smile dropped, a boulder in water when he twisted to the players.

"Tom's been cheating?" the older player asked.

Offense creased Thompson's brow. "What is the kid talking about? I know I'm on a lucky streak, but that doesn't mean I'm cheatin'."

Solar fire immolated the cheerfulness of Ethan. "Are you calling my brother a liar?"

"I'm saying kids fib a little. Everyone has done it," Thompson said with a dismissive shrug. "I thought when it came to the tables the house upheld its honesty policy."

Ethan folded his arms and scowled. "It is one thing to try and be slick in front of me, Tom. Quite another to pin my brother because you can take advantage of him." Keren flinched at the rage in his voice when he spoke the words, but Father's voice silenced the field.

"Enough, Ethanius, what did I tell you about your temper?"

Ethan refused to drop his scowl at Father's voice, then turned to him while Thompson folded his arms, confident in his win from the way he nodded. Father's shadow loomed over his shoulder, and he leaned over the table. "That's a bold claim to make, Keren."

"I'm not a liar." I am not like any of you.

"Well, I didn't cheat, kid." Thompson threw out his arms.

People at the other VIP tables twisted around to investigate, and Father checked around. "We need to handle this in private. If you two will come with me."

Horror swallowed his burst of courage, and the event horizon of terror consumed it. Keren dove out of Ethan's seat, who shoved Thompson out of his. Chalen hung on the edges and opened the door to the back rooms. One step over the threshold, and Keren tasted blood. His breath quickened in his chest, and he questioned what he saw at the table. No, wait, what if I'm wrong? Maybe I hadn't actually seen what I did! Maybe I was imagining it. If he didn't cheat—Celestials—

Ethan's hand grabbed the back of his collar, and Keren winced when he was forced to face his older brother. "Hey," he whispered and leaned closer. "Are you certain he cheated?"

"I—Yes—No... I think—"

"Only one answer, Keren."

Keren gulped through the bubble in his chest. "Yes."

Ethan tightened his grip on his shoulders. "Stick to that answer like your life depends on it."

"What are you saying?" Keren shook. "Do you not believe me?"

"It doesn't matter what I believe, Keren," Ethan said with a firm hiss. "I don't need to know, do I? None of them do. You know what you saw. Stick to your answer and dig your feet in."

The music of the casino faded into the silence of their foundation of crime. A ringing vacuum. All the adults gathered around him, with Ethan in his shadow and his hands on his shoulders, steadying him as the balloon in his lungs expanded. Father sat down in the chief seat and indicated to him, an acknowledgement of his existence.

"I know what I saw," Keren stuck to the answer. "Thompson was palming cards and had an extra deck."

"Tom?" Chalen mused. "You deny his claim but what reason would he have to lie when he gains nothing from it?"

"I have no idea what the kid's talking about," Thompson dug his feet in with his own reply. "I didn't cheat. Maybe he was seeing things. Kids have overactive imaginations."

"You keep telling yourself that, jackass," Ethan hissed under his breath.

Father glanced at Ethan, then said, "Overturn your pockets, Thompson."

Thompson opened them without argument. Keren's nerves spiked at the lack of evidence. Lint and scraps of money fell into his hands when he pulled what he had on his person out for all to see. Fire tore open his throat when Thompson looked down on him.

Stick with your answer like your life depends on it.

"Does that settle things?" Thompson asked Father, who remained unmoved. In a single second, Father glanced at Ethan, then bobbed his head in reply.

Keren's shadow lurched forward with viscous clarity, and Thompson screamed.

Ethan tackled him without a hint of his previous anger. Father made no move to stop his son, nor did Chalen, who lowered his gaze to the floor as if trying to ignore the sight himself. Keren drew closer to the wall when Ethan wrestled with Thompson and wrapped his elbow around his arm. Through long seconds of someone else's alarmed, panicked breathing, Ethan stood back up with a disgusted huff and his dark brown, wavy curls all over the place. He released a tight huff, then tossed the extra deck right into Father's lap. "You don't need an entire deck to cheat, too damn obvious." He switched his attention to Thompson, and loomed with Father's force. "He knew what he saw. You were just either foolish or bold enough to take advantage of my little brother. Maybe you've forgotten yourself a little." Ethan drew his foot closer. "You think you can fuck with my brother and not have to deal with me after the fact?"

"I have connections—"

Keren flinched when Ethan lowered his foot onto his stomach, and Thompson squeaked like a dog toy. "I do not give a flying fuck about your connections. You don't fuck with someone's family—"

"There's no need to swear, Ethanius." Father broke the tension. "Get off him. You and Chalen can handle him. Keren—"

Keren winced. I want to run!

Without an escape, there was no running.

Rain pattered along the windows from the storm. Gorgot jaws crunched bone when he followed Father's imposing figure through the casino. Away from Chalen. Away from Thompson's noises of pure panic of the consequences.

Away from Ethan.

Keren swallowed silence and readied himself for punishment.

Water slicked through his hair and stuck his bangs to his brow when Father led him back to the house. Thunder rumbled the walls of his broken family, and Father came to a stop in the foyer.

"You refuse to learn the obvious," Father commented and faced him. "What am I going to do with you?"

"He cheated—"

"Obviously." Father's nose scrunched.

"Well, he wasn't cheating when—"

"You are stating the obvious, Keren Malakai."

Tears dug at the edges of his eyes and slicked down the windows. "Look at you," Father growled with the storm. "Quivering because you experienced one misstep and couldn't handle the pressure. I don't need to wonder why Thompson felt compelled to cheat. Here's the obvious, Keren Malakai, when people bet all they have, cheating is a too sweet temptation to ignore. They didn't respect you." Keren drove his teeth into his tongue to stop the shattering scream rolling across his spine when Father grabbed his arm into a vice grip. His own bones threatened to crack when he dug his fingers into his tendons.

Keren refused to scream, to cry. Solar flares sparked in his skull when Father drew closer. "Do you understand me now?" he chided. "Why you never turn your back? There are consequences—"

The door opened with the bolt of thunder, and quick footsteps sounded behind him.

Ethan shoved himself between them, and Keren held his arm from its escape from the jaws of death.

"We dealt with Thompson," he said and matched Father's cold tone. Lightning cracked along the clouds, and Ethan nudged him out of reach of the rainsoaked shadows. "He won't be returning to the casino." Ethan held himself straighter. "There's no need for this. Keren caught him."

"If your brother refuses to learn, it will get him killed." The lance of lightning pierced Father's cold grey eyes.

"It's over, I handled him," Ethan snapped. "Keren did nothing wrong! You could stand to—"

Father struck Ethan in time with another clap of thunder. He stumbled, and the electricity drove into his spine at the sickening crack resounding through his eardrums. Ethan slumped onto his hindquarters with his back against the island counter, where he had come close to hitting his skull off the sharp corner. Father's shadow pooled into the kitchen when Keren knelt for Ethan and placed a hand on his head.

"The only person more foolish than him is you, Ethanius." Father lowered his hand. "Fine. Act on your one-track impulses where your brother is concerned and see where that gets you in the end." His shadow expanded with the lightning, and Keren chewed on hate when Ethan held the side of his head. "Those who don't learn quickly in this life become useless, get others killed or pinched, and die."

Keren choked on the rain when Ethan hauled himself up with a soft, stuttered breath. Against the current of the storm, he tipped his head. "We'll see."

Ethan rounded them both and hurried up the stairs, gripping onto the banister with his free hand.

Ethan... Kellzoro... Keren went to chase after him, but slammed to a stop when Father got in his path.

"For how much you cower in his shadow, Keren Malakai, you're going to be the death of him," Father spoke with a disappointed shake of his head. "I honestly don't know what worth he sees in you. He has everything you do not, the know-how you fail time and time again to retain. He's perfectly capable without acting like a shackle on his leg. With your inability to adjust, don't be too surprised if one day he ends up dead, and it's his blood on your hands." Father huffed. "What a starsdamned waste."

"I-I don't make him..." Keren stepped back when his gaze hardened. "I-I don't want him to die for me."

"Then do something about it. You're a disappointment enough already." Father's heavy footfalls echoed through the kitchen when he went deeper into the house, and left him in the patter of rain.

You'll be the death of him.

Kellzoro... Miama...

Thunder roared and drowned out his soft sob when he buried his face in his hands.

Lightning snapped him into a rush up the steps and to Ethan's room, where he hung onto the wall and held his head tight. "Kellzoro, maybe you should—" Keren reached out and held his arm, but jumped when Ethan flinched away from him. "You should go see a doctor."

"No."

Worthless, a waste. Keren chewed on his own liability. Useless when it mattered, he drew closer. "Please, Kellzoro, you hit your head so hard..." Bile burned his throat when Ethan tried to wave him off with a limp hand. "Please?"

"I'm fine."

He's going to die protecting you, and it'll be his blood on your hands.

Keren came closer when Ethan sat on his bed with a shaky slump. "You're not," he pleaded. "Please, Ethan? Just go make sure?" Tears slipped down his cheeks, and he wiped them off. "You hit your head off a counter..."

He hit you...

Ethan scratched the top of his head with a wince. "Will it make you feel better?"

Keren nodded.

"Okay." Ethan lifted himself up, his fingers grazing the mattress. Keren held out his arms, and Ethan took the support. "Okay, the doctor isn't too far from here."

You're going to be the death of him.