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Whispering so the trio wouldn’t overhear me on the court, I growled at her. “There’s no way, Athena. He’s a damn human! Do you want to get him killed?”

“I told you, Azzy. You have a choice to make. Submit to the white tiger and find your freedom, or refuse and face your demise. He’s stronger than he looks. Let him help you.”

“Submit?!”

That came out a little louder than I’d intended and it drew the attention of the older brother. I turned away from them, hissing into the phone.

“Athena, you can’t–”

“I’m not doing anything to you, Azzy. It’s the fates that choose your future. I only deliver the message. Make your choice. And tell Dante to come see me this weekend. He’s a strong boy, and I missed having someone to help me at the shop.”

She hung up before I could argue, and I seriously considered smashing my phone. She knew. She knew when she gave me that message that the ‘white tiger’ was human. His association with me would get him killed. I was dooming him if I spent any time with him. I didn't want my salvation to end his life. It would make me just like the rest of my family, using weaker beings to get what they want.

“Everything okay?”

I’d heard him coming, but I was too in my own head to say anything to him. I needed to leave. Being near him was stupid. For all I knew, our family could be watching this place. The reminder made me straighten, and I looked around warily. I couldn’t see our family, but that didn’t mean they weren’t here.

“Dante! Time to go!”

He spun around, whining at me. “Aww, already? But we haven’t finished the game yet!”

“Dante,” I snarled. It got my point across because he stopped arguing, his head drooped forward in a pout. He waved at Ollie, trudging over to me as slowly as possible. The older brother frowned.

“If you need to be somewhere, I can bring him home. We weren’t going to stay much longer anyway. I’ve got clients in an hour. We can finish the game and–”

“No. We need to leave. Thank you for watching him.”

I didn’t give either of them the chance to argue before I grabbed Dante’s shoulder and teleported us away. We popped straight into my apartment, which I never did, proving just how thrown I was.

I’d trusted Athena my whole life. She never had an agenda. Her visions were always the truth. If I steered clear of the human, I’d be asking for trouble for myself. But I couldn’t bring myself to put his life on the line to save mine. No, I’d face whatever the second path was. I’d hurt either way, but at least I wouldn’t have a human’s life on my conscience.

I avoided thinking of the human all week. Dante didn’t make it easy. I told him to stay away from the human boy and he kept demanding to know why. I refused to tell him, and it pissed him off that I was keeping things from him. I tried to be honest with him after he showed up, since keeping him in the dark wasn’t going to do him any favors, but I couldn’t talk about this with him. He wouldn’t understand.

He pestered me about it until the family meeting on Saturday night. He knew better than to bring up the humans this close to my uncle, so he mostly grumbled under his breath as we teleported outside the giant mansion and headed inside.

I always hated this house. It was a mirror of the one in the Other Realm, with dim lighting and dark walls. Instead of books on the bookshelves, my uncle kept the skulls of his victims because he was a sick motherfucker. The staff who took care of the house were all human, and they weren’t welltreated. If they found themselves in the room when he lost his temper, they were his punching bags and there was no guarantee they’d survive the interaction. They cowered and hid as often as they could, and kept their heads down when they couldn’t. I hated being in this place.

Dante had his head down too, and I had to nudge him into lifting it back up. Showing fear in front of my uncle would only get him hurt. He needed false bravado at the very least until he could muster up a good enough mask to hide his emotions.

We stopped just inside the meeting room. I preferred to stick to the back of the room to not draw attention to myself, but when we arrived, all eyes swung towards us. My stomach clenched tightly, but I kept my face blank as my uncle beckoned us.

“Good. You’re here. Come forward.”

His tone was light and almost friendly, which was a big red flag. Trepidation slithered across my skin, my heart rate picking up as Dante and I moved forward through the crowded room. The sneers and dirty looks were normal for me, but they seemed more intense tonight and I was worried about what that meant.

Once Dante and I were standing in front of my uncle, the path we’d come through closed behind us so that a semi circle of family members surrounded us. With my uncle and his older sons in front, we were boxed in, and the unease only grew.

“Do you have news for me?” he asked pleasantly.

“Yes. The politician–”

“Not you,” he snapped, a hint of his normal venom coming out. He masked it quickly and shot Dante a soft look. “You. What do you have for me, son?”

Dante’s eyes widened at the word, and he looked wary as he took a half step forward. “I… I heard one of the kids in school talking about how her dad is the most important person in the city. Her last name is Donnatelli.”

My uncle hummed his acknowledgement, gesturing for him to continue. “Go on. Anything else?”

Dante’s brows furrowed a little. Usually, one bit of information was enough for my uncle. He expected little from a nine-year-old. The old man was fishing and I could make a guess as to why.