“Hui Lang!” His stepmother grabbed Aiden’s shoulders and shook him so hard his teeth rattled. “Hui Lang, that woman is responsible for killing your brother. She is the one you should be trying to take down. Do not just stand there. He Bao! Find a gun! Find a gun, so that we can kill her!”

  “Don’t bother. Here—take mine.” With a lackadaisical flourish, Diane tossed her own gun over to He Bao.

  He Bao caught it with a bewildered look in his eyes, but before he could make heads or tails of the weapon, his mother snatched the gun from his hand and leveled it at Diane.

  “Say your last words now for I will ensure that you die tonight for what you have done to my family!”

  “Yin Mei.”

  The gentleness in Aiden’s voice shocked himself, much less his stepmother. His heart not even pounding, he glanced up. “Yin Mei, I just would like to ask one thing from you. Just admit what you did. Infinite is finished tonight. You saw it with your own eyes. If you tell the truth, I can help your bad position. Won’t you do it for Zhu Zhu and He Bao?”

  He waited. Seconds ticked by, his stepmother stayed frozen, and Aiden waited. You don’t need Infinite. Slowly, she relaxed, and Aiden smiled a little brighter. Just tell us the truth. We all deserve it.

  She turned the gun toward him.

  A body slammed into Aiden, and the pop of the gun rang in the air. He cried out, looking for blood on his body, but the only pain he felt was the floor slamming against his back. Brendan’s blond hair brushed against his cheek. “Brendan…?” The heaviness of the body against him sent flashes of red across his vision.

  His mother’s cold, dead hand gripping his without any intention of letting go.

  Her laboring breath disappeared.

  Her body against his small frame.

  “Brendan!” he screamed, grasping at Brendan’s back.

  “Oh fuck, that hurts.” Brendan moved off, grabbing his arm. Blood seeped through his sleeve.

  Tears spilled from Aiden’s eyes as Diane ran to Brendan’s side. All the while, Brendan continued to curse nonstop. “Punched first for Aiden, and now almost took a bullet for him.” She inspected his wound with an amused grin. “You did your job tonight, if nothing else.”

  “God, what is this?” Brendan grimaced when Diane pulled apart a piece of cloth to smartly wrap it around his wounded arm. “Have you ever gotten shot before?”

  “Yes.”

  “I hope you were screaming, because I can’t imagine not screaming at this.”

  “What were you thinking?” Aiden roared, climbing to his feet. His hands clenched by his side, and visions flashed of him pounding down against Brendan, but the bleeding wound kept his control in check. “What did you think you were doing the first time and this time? What if you were killed?”

  “Then you would’ve gotten killed. If I see it coming, I’m not going to let it happen,” Brendan shot back, but winced when Diane mercilessly pulled the cloth tighter. “Yes, I let you do all the other stuff because I know it’s not my place to intercede, but this is your life!”

  “My life? Did it ever occur to you how dreadful my life would be without you now that you’ve told me you love me?”

  “Leave your lovers spat for later,” Diane hissed, gesturing at the scene before them.

  His stepmother could not have missed at such close range. When Brendan threw himself as a shield, Zhu Zhu ran out from the comfort of the shadows, screaming, and tackled her mother to the ground. As his stepmother tried to throw off her daughter, Zhu Zhu continued to screech and hug her mother’s body tighter. “Liar! Murderer!”

  “You despicable girl! You stupid girl! You ugly girl who never appreciated what I did for you!” Yin Mei shoved her daughter off, accidentally slamming the gun into Zhu Zhu’s face.

  Zhu Zhu collapsed, her grip slipping away. The stepmother stood up, turning her arm toward Aiden once more, but He Bao rushed out and grabbed her wrist.

  Brendan and Aiden clambered to Zhu Zhu, helping the sobbing girl up. “Let me look at you,” Brendan said, peeling her hand away from her face to reveal an already forming black eye.

  “What are you doing, He Bao?” Yin Mei shrieked at He Bao. “Are you going to betray me, too, like your sister just did? After everything I’ve done for you?”

  He Bao’s grip constricted around her wrist. “Why are you trying to hurt them?” He whispered, his face marred with confusion. “Why would you hurt Zhu Zhu like that?”

  “She was getting in my way—it’s her fault! After all that I did to raise her, and she calls me a liar!” She kicked his legs. “Let go of me right now!”

  He Bao’s hand opened and snatched the gun from her hand. Undeterred, she whirled and pointed at Diane. “Kill her, He Bao. You need to kill her. She’s the reason for everything. Kill her, and all our problems will be solved!”

  “Wait, He Bao,” Aiden dashed in front of him. In the corner of his eye, Diane rolled her eyes and got comfortable on the floor. Go on, shoot me like your mother tells you to. Even with his back turned, Aiden felt the taunt drilling into both his and He Bao’s heads.

  “Kill her, He Bao! Before she gets away!”

  He Bao’s hands shook, but they tightened around the handle of the weapon. His arms bulged. His fingers curled white in its grip.

  “He Bao, if you don’t want to, don’t do it.” Aiden placed a hand against the trembling boy’s arm.

  “He Bao, you have to kill her for your sake. For everyone’s sake!”

  “What do you want?” Aiden whispered and stared into He Bao’s panicked eyes. “Tell me what you want.”

  A whimper escaped from He Bao’s mouth. “I’m scared.” The words creaked out. Tears fell from his eyes. His body trembled. “I want to leave. I don’t want to be here anymore.” He Bao’s hand loosened, and the gun dropped into Aiden’s waiting hand. “I want to go home.”

  Heart bursting, Aiden threw his arms around He Bao. “Then we’re leaving,” he promised. He tightened his embrace. “Now.”

  “Okay,” He Bao sniffled.

  With tears brimming in his eyes, Aiden stepped back and patted He Bao’s shoulder. He tossed the gun back to Diane. Turning his back to his stepmother, he ushered He Bao toward the door.

  “You cannot leave like that—you are choosing to abandon your mother!” His stepmother ran forward.

  “Oh please, shut up. You’ve gotten boring now,” Diane growled. She swiped at the woman’s legs and watched her drop to the ground. When his stepmother tried to climb back up, Diane landed a well-aimed kick into the woman’s stomach. A smile crawled on her face as his stepmother hacked and groveled below her. She grabbed the woman’s long, luxurious black hair.

  “Diane, we’re going. Unlock the door,” Aiden commanded. He ran over to He Bao, who had crouched onto the ground with his face covered. Zhu Zhu buried her face into Brendan’s shoulder. He kept his eyes on Diane. “You don’t need to torment their mother anymore. The job is done.”

  With a sigh, Diane left his stepmother on the floor, removed the lock, and opened the door.

  “Zhu Zhu, come on.” Brendan helped Zhu Zhu up, and Aiden grabbed her hand and led her to her brother. He Bao wrapped his arms around his sister’s shoulders, gave a nod of thanks to Brendan, and fled the house. The two refused to look back at their mother.

  Aiden grabbed Brendan’s hand to step outside.

  “It’s not my fault,” his stepmother mumbled. “I just did what needed to be done. I’m not wrong.”

  Aiden turned around.

  Her jewelry had fallen off in the fight. Her hair stuck out like branches from her usual tight and perfect bun. Her red lipstick smeared against her mouth, and her eyes continued to stubbornly look forward, seeking whatever invisible and uncatchable thing she desired. Her cheek puffed out from how she landed on the ground, and she whimpered at the blood dripping from her nose.

  “I’m sorry it ended this way,” he said. He meant it with all sincerity, staring at the woman still stuck in a dream he could not see or understand. “I didn’t want it to end this way.”

  He gave a thankful look to Brendan for waiting and, holding Brendan’s hand tighter, left the premises of the home. Diane was last to leave, closing the door behind her.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Once we reach the sidewalk, go out to the corner. The Guo agent is already here, and he’ll take care of everything,” Diane said.

  Aiden glanced at his watch. “They’re right on time.”

  She shrugged. “It’s the least they can do.”

  The group squeezed past the bushes, brushed leaves off of their clothes, and stumbled onto the concrete sidewalk. Sirens rang in the air and grew louder. “Diane, I think you need to go. The police are really close.” Aiden turned, but only empty air greeted him.

  He stopped in his tracks. “Diane?” He ran back to the line of bushes they just escaped from, but not a whisper of her lingered.

  Brendan followed Aiden. “Where is she?” He held his wounded arm. “We didn’t even hear her leave.”

  Aiden smiled. “She couldn’t let herself get caught.”

  “Wish she could’ve said goodbye.”

  “Yes, but there’s no reason for her to stay.” He wrapped his arm around Brendan’s waist. Though a pang of sorrow dripped into his heart, the feeling of joy overwhelmed it. “She’s finished granting our wishes.”

  The two walked back out to the sidewalk and found the car parked a block away from the mansion. The twins didn’t wait for them, so the man waiting was inspecting Zhu Zhu’s face before he lifted his head up and looked at Aiden. A nostalgic smile stretched across his face. He offered his hand. “You’ll know me as part of the infamous Guo family.” As Aiden took his hand, Guo remarked, “You look very much like your mother. I owe her my life as do many other members of my team.”

  Do I? His mind drew a blank in trying to remember her face. Memories formed like paintings with no structure and the meaning washed away. What does it mean that I resemble her? He searched inside, grasping for her spirit, but all that returned was the smell of smoke curling around the edges of the burning photos his brother dumped into the fireplace.

  Guo, however, didn’t seem to notice the silence, and he turned toward Brendan. “Just so you know, I told your father about everything that’s happened so far, and I plan to tell him about this, too, once we’ve confirmed you’re okay.” The man gestured to Brendan’s bandaged arm. “It’s a good thing we always have a doctor on standby. Let’s head to the hospital quickly now.”

  “Is that doctor a Guo as well?” He Bao asked.

  Guo grinned. “Indeed. Who will be joining me in the front?”

  He Bao volunteered and gently patted Zhu Zhu on the back to help her into the back of the car. Aiden and Brendan filed in beside her. Guo turned on the engine, and the car drove smoothly away from the Chen family mansion as the revolving, colorful, siren lights flashed against the open night sky.

  Aiden grabbed Zhu Zhu’s hand. “Are you okay?” he whispered, and he winced internally at the purple bruise already showing on her face.

  She nodded.

  He looked toward He Bao sitting in the front. “Are you okay?” he asked. He Bao didn’t turn around, but from where Aiden sat, he saw his younger brother give a taut nod in return.

  Aiden collapsed in the car seat. The adrenaline coursing through his veins finally finished its course, and he leaned against Brendan’s shoulder.

  They needed to heal. They would face trials in the upcoming days with the downfall of Infinite. Aiden knew every bit of the truth, but as he played with Brendan’s slender uncalloused fingers, marveled at the softness of his skin, and listened to Brendan’s steady breathing, he knew that the sun was rising over the horizon of their futures.

  • • •

  “I cannot believe this boy!”

  As Aiden waited patiently beside Brendan in an examination room, a voice boomed through the closed door.

  “Oh boy,” Brendan cringed. A man barreled in, not even allowing the nurse outside to knock and announce his presence. Brendan stood up to meet his father with a sheepish grin, but before he could say a word, the man wrapped an arm around Brendan’s shoulder and pulled him into a bear hug. “You are stupid enough to waltz into this kind of trouble.”

  “My husband can’t tell if he’s actually angry or if he’s a little impressed with Brendan.” A woman followed in after the man with a bag in her hand. She set the bag down on the floor and sat down beside Aiden in one of the string of chairs lining the wall.

  Aiden blinked at the perfect halves Brendan inherited from both his parents. He shared his father’s eyes, nose, and hair, but the shape of his body, face, and mouth more closely resembled his mother's. Still, they did not look the way Aiden expected them to.

  His father was of smaller height than Brendan and his mother, but his eyes sparked with such open emotions and strength. Brendan’s mother, on the other hand, was physically fit and tall. She crossed her powerful arms across her chest, watching the two men in her life bicker, unhidden affection written all over her smile.

  She turned toward Aiden with youthful eagerness. “You are Aiden! I have heard lots about you.” She grabbed one of his hands, shaking it vigorously. “And I will take this opportunity to express my joy in meeting you to purposefully embarrass my son.”

  “Mom, stop that,” Brendan said on cue, rushing to sit down on Aiden’s other side. “Don’t bother Aiden. Also—show some care for me, won’t you? I’m the one who got shot.”

  “Yes, yes, poor you. This is what you get for not playing video games with me growing up. You would’ve learned to dodge better.”

  “Your mother’s right.”

  “Video games and real life are completely different!”

  While their love-arguing continued with growing voices and wider hand gestures, Guo approached Aiden. He pulled out a piece of paper rolled in perfect condition from his bag and began unrolling it. “This is your brother’s will.”

  Aiden placed his hand on top of the half-rolled paper, but his eyes remained on Brendan’s family. “I don’t need to see it.” Brendan’s dad rubbed Brendan’s head, and the other boy desperately tried to swat the hand away. Beneath Aiden’s hand was the cold paper his brother left behind. An ache wormed into his side.

  Guo followed Aiden’s gaze and rolled the paper back up. “I will let you know that your brother left you money for your time to finish college. After that, he said he promised you that he would leave you to figure things out on your own. Outside of the involvement of Infinite.”

  Aiden nodded. “Yes,” he said, turning toward Guo, and bowed his head. “Thank you for conveying that to me.” He lifted his head with a small smile. “My brother was one to always remember his promises.”

  Guo patted Aiden’s shoulder before approaching Brendan’s father with a nod of his head. Brendan’s father immediately stopped teasing. His expression hardened. He turned toward Aiden, offering him a hand to shake.

  Aiden grasped his hand, but as he shook it, Brendan’s father called him “Hui Lang.” He stared in disbelief at the perfect pronunciation that left the father’s mouth.

  “Hui Ye was a good man. I’m sorry for your loss, and I will never forget the contribution he made to make this happen. Be proud of him and be proud of yourself.”

  Aiden gulped. “I’ll try,” his voice cracked. He looked down. “I’ll try.”

  The man nodded and left the room, speaking with Guo in hushed voices.

  “Oh, before I forget,” Brendan’s mom turned to the bag and pulled out a wrapped package. “Someone left this for you, at our door, of all places.”

  Brendan sat down beside Aiden on his other side and watched. Aiden inspected the package gingerly. The person left no note or address. He did not recognize the handwriting on the card. Carefully, he tore the brown wrap. His eyes widened as his fingers brushed against familiar silk fabric. Breaths quickening, he peeled the wrap fully away, revealing the gorgeous hanfu he saw hanging in Celia’s closet in her hideout mansion. How did she even manage to get it delivered already? His hands shook holding the treasure.

  His fingers tightened around the hanfu, and the silk bunched underneath his fingers before falling delicately when he let the cloth go. His hand passed over the elegant embroidery. He admired the craftsman's skill in creating artwork of wind and stars against the dark expanse of the hanfu sky. His eyes passed the symbol of Hui, and shocking even himself, Aiden burst into tears. He pulled the hanfu close to his chest.

  The smoke that Aiden brushed aside after Guo’s comment sprung to life around his nose, and the fire burned away the pages of his mother’s shadowed smile.

  “How is it that I can’t remember what she looked like at all?” he gasped. Hot tears streamed down his cheeks, and he rocked himself with the hanfu clutched in his hands. “I spent so long running away from her memories that I’ve completely lost her. It must’ve tortured my brother to burn all her photos to protect me. It must’ve tortured my dad to not properly mourn.”

  He buried his face into the hanfu and sobbed. A thought he had buried away burst free. A cursed thought whose tendrils caressed his face and whispered poisonous words. It forced his mouth open, and it spilled out, Brendan interrupted him.

  “Do not think this whole thing was your fault because it’s not. Everything that happened afterward they did of their own volition. You had no hand in it.”

  “But there must be some fault,” he choked. He traced the embroidery with shaking hands. “There must be some.”

  “There isn’t!”

  Tears still falling, Aiden looked up. Zhu Zhu panted at the doorway followed by a breathless He Bao. At the sight of her, Brendan and his mom quickly moved out of the room, making way for her to march over with her half-swollen face. She kneeled on the floor and looked Aiden in the eye. “It’s not your fault. It’s none of our faults. We cannot blame ourselves for the actions of adults who should’ve known better. I have spent my entire life doing that for my mom. I will not make excuses for her anymore. You should not make excuses either.”