Page 6 of Switching Graves

Graysen doubles down on his argument. “Let me ask you something . . . When has Sonny ever caused any problems for you? For anyone?”

“You know the answer to that,” she replies bitterly.

“Then, it’s settled. We’ll take her in because she’s our niece and her parents trusted us with the most precious thing they had. Because she needs family and stability right now, and that’s something only you and I can give to her.”

Rolling her eyes, Aunt Divina crosses her arms across her chest. “Fine. Then it better stay this way. She better not make any waves within our family or come between me and my daughter, or else all this . . . ” her hands flail around the office.“The job, the house, the cars . . . It’ll be taken away from you like that, Graysen.”

Poppy’s mouth pops open at the same time my heart drops. Uncle Graysen’s scoff tells me this isn’t the first time she’s used her family’s wealth against him, but that doesn’t make the weight on my chest lessen.

If I step out of line, I could cost him everything.

“Don’t threaten me, sweetheart.”

“It’s not a threat, darling.”

There’s a long, pregnant pause as they lock eyes with one another in a battle of wills.

Leonard clears his throat. “As I said, the decision doesn’t have to be rushed?—”

“I think we’re through here, Leonard,” Uncle Graysen says dismissively. “You can email me if you need anything else regarding my brother’s assets. I’ll get with my real estate agent to have their home listed as soon as possible. Thank you for your time.”

Poppy and I wait in silence for them to leave, a mix of nerves and excitement crackling in the surrounding air. I can tell she wants to celebrate, but I’m not sure if that was a victory, or a new burden placed upon my shoulders. I’m grateful for the mask of darkness as I sort through my feelings.

“You can come out now,” Graysen grumbles from the direction of his desk.

We both stop breathing, turning to stare at each other through the dark with wide, glossy eyes. Poppy is the one who pushes open the cabinet door and crawls out first while I cowardly follow behind.

We wait for him to speak first. Poppy never launches into explanation without gauging their anger beforehand.

“You shouldn’t have heard that,” he addresses me first, his face somber. Then, he turns toward Poppy and she practically withers away beneath his angry stare.

“She tried to send her off to a bunch of strangers,” Poppy whines, shoving a violent finger toward the door her mother left from.

Graysen shakes his head. “She’s just scared. Everyone is. We don’t know how to navigate this.”

It’s so odd, watching him defend her after the way she just threatened his entire livelihood.

All for me.

“We’re happy you’re here, Sonny,” he assures earnestly.

I swallow down a large gulp, then mumble my understanding into my lap.

Uncle Graysen cuts our conversation off before Aunt Divina realizes we were in the room the entire time. He sends us off to Poppy’s room with the promise that he’ll convert a spare room into mine by the end of the week.

After witnessing what my presence here puts at stake for him, I’m not sure it’s worth it to stay anymore.

2

Raze

Eight years old

“We need to get going soon, Bane,” I remind my brother for the third time. He’s been standing in a crouch beside the river for over an hour now, gently plucking bugs from the mud and examining them beneath his portable microscope.

He insisted on coming out here this morning after we had a downpour of rain last night, and Mom forced me to tag along to keep him company. Our parents always do that—put me in charge even though I’m the younger one.

Bane doesn’t have a strong sense of danger, especially when he’s focused on something he loves, like mushrooms and bugs. Mom and Dad worry more than they should. He just has a hard time paying attention to his surroundings sometimes.

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