Page 72 of Feral King

LYRA

It’s a little before 2 a.m. I’m totally spent at this point, my eyes constantly flicking over to the double doors and willing them to open and see the doctor striding through with an eager smile, telling us that the surgery was a success and that Dad’s fine.

“You can go home, Ly,” Mama says. “No sense in waiting here. We’re only fifteen minutes away, and I can call you when the doctor comes out.”

“Not a chance. I want to know the second you know.”

Mama opens her mouth to speak, likely to protest, but then closes it. She knows well by now that there’s no talking me down when I get my mind set on something.

Julian hasn’t left my side since he came back from the billing department. He’s just sitting in an uncomfortable chair in a hospital with me.

It’s exactly what I need.

Mom’s trying to watch TV, a Styrofoam cup of coffee in her hands that she hasn’t taken a single sip from. She’s been stealing glances at Julian with all the subtlety of a woman who taught kids for thirty years and never needed to develop a poker face.

“So, Julian,” she says finally. “Lyra tells me that you just starting running the company.”

He nods. “That’s the simplest way to put it.”

“And you flew down here tonight with her on no notice?”

“It wasn’t a difficult decision, Mrs. Thibodeaux.”

“Sam.” She studies him. “You paid for my husband’s surgery. That’s not something a boss typically does for an employee.”

An uncomfortable silence follows. There’s so much my mom doesn’t know about Julian. It’s easy to tell she knows something is amiss about this, but she’s only feeling around the edges.

Julian turns and meets Mama’s gaze in the way he meets everyone’s gaze—directly, without deflection. But this time, his expression softens a bit.

“Lyra is important to me,” he says. “Therefore, the people who are important to her are important to me. That’s as simple an answer as I can give.”

Mama nods, then sets down the coffee she was never going to drink. “Tell me about your family, Julian. Do you have siblings?”

I shift in my seat. Luckily, my parents decided that they didn’t like Alexander right from the start and barely got toknow him after that. But still, do we want to disclose that Julian is Alexander’s brother?

He glances at me, silently asking permission. I take a moment to think it over, then nod.

“I have a half-sister,” he replies, “Anya. She works with us. And my brother, I believe you know him already. Alexander.”

Mama’s eyes go wide. “Wait…Alexander? As intheAlexander? The one you almost married, Ly?”

“That’s the one,” I say.

Mama sits there for a moment with her eyes wide. I can sense she knows this isn’t something to get into at the moment.

“Okay,” she says. “Let’s table that for now. Your parents?”

“Both have passed,” Julian says. “My father died of heart failure several years ago. My mother passed when I was ten from cancer.”

“And how did they meet?”

“My mother moved to Moscow after university, met my father, and spent the rest of her life making him a better man. By most accounts, she succeeded.”

“She sounds like a strong woman.”

He nods. “She was the strongest person I’ve ever known.” He rubs his thumb over his knuckle—a gesture I’ve never seen from him before. “She started a foundation for children before she died. Orphanages, education, foster caresupport. It’s the main reason I came back to the company. Alexander didn’t give it the attention it deserved.”

Mama leans forward. “That’s the foundation Lyra works on.”