“No, I’m really not.” Traumatized? Very likely, but Cym hadn’t been a child for a long time.

Hester sneered. “His magic has been a bane to the Blaike family since he came into it. He corrupts the very nature of people. That’s the Guard’s main objective, isn’t it? To defend and protect the basic nature of sentient creatures? Well, this one is the biggest offender out there. You should see what he’s done to my family.”

“You’ve eaten your way through half the Blaike family, Hester. I wouldn’t be using this as part of your prosecution strategy.” Marshall continued to be large and imposing, and Cym would be halfway to shitting a brick if he hadn’t seen what a good man Marshall was on the inside.

He was at least eighty percent certain Marshall wasn’t going to kill him based on Hester's hurtful ramblings, so no bricks were currently necessary.

“It doesn’t matter what I’ve done,” Hester continued. “I’m still the matriarch until I die, and our laws claim that I have the right to protect my family before I go. I demand immediate sentencing for Cymbeline. After that, you can kill me. I don’t care anymore now that Sekt’s gone.”

Fourteen tightened his grasp on Cym and gave a low growl.

Jack sidled over to them and whispered, “Easy big guy. No one is going to hurt your man.”

“Except you’re not, are you?” Marshall asked Hester, ignoring the by-play going on behind him.

“Excuse me?” Hester seemed to gain more life and hauled herself off the ground shakily.

“I saw Cym’s thoughts when we shared a consciousness earlier. He was chosen by the Source to be the Blaike family patriarch. According to your own laws, that makes Cym in charge of your family. Not you.”

“It was a mistake. There’s never been a Blaike patriarch before. He’s obviously a remnant of twisted magic that never should have been allowed to make it out of childhood.” Hester gave Cym a horrible look that spoke volumes about her desire to drag him down with her.

Past Cym might have quivered under her wrath, but he wasn’t the scared child he used to be. He’d proven that over and over this evening. If he’d been able to go against her earlier when he’d been alone and locked in a cage, he could certainly do it when surrounded by some of the most powerful members of Other society.

Cym dug his fingers into the leather of Fourteen’s jacket. And a terrifying murder human. Cym couldn't forget him.

So instead of standing up to Hester because he was afraid she’d hurt Fourteen, he stood up to her for himself.

“Fuck you, you old bitch. I’m worth a dozen of you.” Cym knew he wasn’t actually much better than Hester and that he was probably something akin to what she claimed, but the guardians didn’t seem to be too alarmed by him, and he was supposed to be getting closure here, so he figured it was a good place to start. “And I plan on selling all of your stupid, ugly sunglasses as soon as you’re gone.”

There. That was sufficiently nasty, wasn’t it?

Cym peeked at Jack to see if he’d gotten it right and saw Jack suppressing a laugh. “Great job, kid.”

When Jack went to ruffle Cym’s hair, Fourteen sidestepped and dodged his hand and said, “He’s not a kid.” He sounded just as salty as he had the first time.

“You’re both kids to me, sport.” Jack waggled his eyebrows.

Fourteen hmphed and went back to watching Hester be a massive bitch.

“They’re not ugly. Some of them are worth more than you are, you disgusting little freak.”

Cym was halfway to deciding to hop down and engage in a vicious slap battle with a centuries-old woman but was stopped when Marshall said, “Enough.”

The authority he held in his voice had everyone but Fourteen freezing in place. Well, Jack hadn’t frozen, but he lost a bit of the sparkle in his eyes and he focused his attention on Marshall.

Cym was pretty certain Fourteen was busy calculating every minute motion Hester made by the way he was poised. Likely, he didn’t give one single shit about Marshall or his authority. A healthy indifference to authority was the vibe Cym had gotten from him during their short acquaintance.

Marshall stalked toward Hester and looked down at her. “What’s disgusting is the way you’ve treated this…” Marshall’s eyes cut to Fourteen for a moment and his mouth twitched in amusement. “This young man. The monster terrorizing your family is a rare, precious treasure you’ve done everything in your power to destroy. Everyone in the Other is lucky you failed to notice what you had in your grasp.”

The intensity of his words increased as Marshall continued, but there was still a strict sense of self-control about him. “Your family had the privilege of hosting the first Stillbringer in generations, and you neglected him, refused to allow him to learn his powers, and then tried to kill him. For that alone, I could destroy you, but you decided to double down by harboring a demon and stealing the lives of countless women.”

“You’re a pretty shitty bad guy, Hester,” Jack said with a laugh. “You and your lover could have fucked off to the demon realm ages ago if you’d spent more time in the library and discovered you had unlimited access to the Source instead of sucking face with yourself. How did that even work between you and Sekt? Like, I’m trying to imagine it, and it’s beyond me.”

Hester looked away, refusing to acknowledge Jack’s existence. Cym didn’t. He was a huge fan of Jack’s ridiculous commentary. It gave Cym a much-needed buffer from the howling insanity Hester was starting to inspire inside him.

“Shut up, pervert.” Adelle rolled her eyes, but her tone held more fondness than censure like it was something she’d had to tell him a thousand times, and it had become a reflex.

Stillbringer… Marshall made it sound like Cym was someone special. As if he was someone worth protecting and cherishing. What a wild idea.

If Cym had been allowed to pick his own family, these were the people he would have chosen. Having Marshall and Jack as big brothers would have assured that Cym had never gone through what he had. Adelle was a glorious force of nature, and if Cym wasn’t gay, he’d probably be bowing down before her in supplication in the hopes of capturing her attention. As it was, she’d make a kickass older sister.

And Fourteen?

Cym’s face heated. Fourteen was definitely not someone he wanted as a brother. Especially after they rolled around in the grass inside Fourteen’s dreamscape together.

“You’re an idiot if you think that thing over there is the Stillbringer,” Hester scoffed, but the look in her eyes showed uncertainty.

“Do you really think I could have done what I did to your lover and his army if he wasn’t?” Marshall asked. “Guardians are impressive, but even we have our limits.”

“Speak for yourself, boss. I’m easily that impressive. I just didn’t want to embarrass you by outshining your moment.” Jack put on a humble air and leaned an arm on Marshall’s shoulder. “I’m wonderful like that.”

Marshall huffed and gave Jack an indulgent smile. Somehow he managed to continue to come off as a leader rather than the cat-herder Cym was beginning to suspect he was.

“He can’t be the Stilbringer," Hester whispered, and she stumbled backward with an expression of dawning horror. “If he was… no… he can’t…”

Hester seemed to collapse into herself.

“I can assure you he is. Which means your lover died because you’re an idiot. You could have siphoned off enough magic from Cym to fuel your sweetie enough to dethrone the demon king if you’d known what he was.” Jack all but crowed with satisfaction. “I love a happy ending. Thanks for existing, Cym. This evening turned out to be fucking amazing.”

“I’m sorry Hester, but Cym won’t be joining you on your trip back to the Source. I’m sure you can understand,” Marshall said, cracking a small triumphant smile. He turned to Cym and asked, “As the patriarch of your family, you have the right to decide her fate. Do you want me to execute her now, or would you like her to face your family first before she goes?”

Adelle came over to Cym and Fourteen and put a gentle hand on his arm, ignoring the warning in Fourteen’s eyes. “She’s going either way, Cym, so you don’t have to worry about having her death on your shoulders. The Guard has a zero-tolerance policy for people who deal with demons. You do have the right to bring her before your family, though.”

Cym having the right to ask for anything was blowing his mind, so he couldn’t even begin to come up with an answer.

“It’s not a bad idea,” Marshall said. “It could go a long way toward getting your family to accept you as their patriarch.”

“What if I don’t want to be the patriarch?”

“Then we’ll help you discover what you do want to be, but don’t dismiss the idea right away. You’ve had a lot of terrible things to deal with, and you need time to process it all before making any big decisions.”

“That’s advice, Cym. Not an order,” Adelle said, shooting Marshall an irritated look. “He might be our captain, but he’s not in charge of you.”

“Yet.” Jack cut in. “If he becomes your teacher, he’ll be in charge of you until you stop being his student. And you should really let him teach you. Unless you enjoy people randomly flipping out around you all the time.”

“You want to be my teacher?” Cym blinked up at Marshall, who gave him an encouraging nod. “And you can teach me to control my power?” Cym didn’t even know it could be controlled.

“Marshall’s the best there is at controlling a shitload of power. No one else can even come close,” Jack bragged like he’d created Marshall himself.