The main room was packed—her roommates, of course, all four of her brothers, and a profusion of faces that only ever seemed to come into her life when Kelly felt like celebrating.
“What are you all doing here?”
“What does it look like?” Ronun cried. “We’re celebrating!” He raised his glass and turned to the guests. “To the return of the hero!”
“Now, now,” Aurora said, waving them off with a smile. “Cut that out.”
“Nope,” Kelly laughed. “You cracked this thing wide open and landed those two rotten sons of bitches in jail. Don’t you dare say ‘language,’ to me because that’s what they are.”
“Fair enough,” Aurora conceded with a smile.
“And promoted to lead investigator,” Rhys piped in, looking as proud as his saturnine nature would let him. “In less than a year. I have to say, you beat me with that one, sis.”
“That’s not all.” Dane warmed the spot between her shoulder blades with the flat of his hand and looked down at her with immense affection. “Tell them.”
The entire room seemed to lean in at once. Ever since Aurora had carried her recording of Finch’s resurrected testimony into the OCJ, it had been a hail of announcements. The public scandal of murder and skullduggery, a flurry of arrests and interrogations as the overseeing authorities tried to find out just how far the corruption ran. All of it culminated in Aurora being elevated to her new post.
“It’s nothing,” she said, her habitual humility getting the best of her.
“Don’t be so modest,” Tiffany said, hovering just off Rhys’s side. “You’ve earned the room to crow a bit.”
“They’re honoring us with a ceremony,” she blurted. “Dane and I are receiving commendations for going above and beyond the call of duty. We just came from a meeting with the external review bureau.”
There was a moment of silence and then Kelly buckled over in delight.
“Ho. Lee. Shiiiiiiit!”
She stretched up to howl at the ceiling, and the room descended into a profusion of cheers and applause. For someone who had spent so much time living at the fringes of her own life, Aurora blossomed under the unmitigated attention.
“Can I just say one thing?” She held up her hands, and eventually the raucous glee died down enough that she was able to take the floor.
“Here.” Dane offered his hand, ushering her to step up on the coffee table. While she was reticent to put her shoes on it, she cast the fussy part of her nature aside and assumed her little stage. The house even dimmed the lights and threw a spotlight on her.
“You’re all being so nice, but I just want to say that I can’t take all the credit for this. I never could have done it without Dane. He sniffed out Paul in the first place, plus his faith in me helped me find the courage to make some really scary leaps.”
“Here, here!” Ronun clapped.
“But it’s not just him.” When she looked at her brothers, a thin sheen of tears crept into her eyes. “Rhys, Duval, Lock and Onyx, you were there when I needed you, and you came without a moment’s hesitation. I’m not always the easiest to get along with, I know that, so thank you for being patient and always believing in me.”
None of her brothers were particularly emotional men, but Aurora could see in their faces that if they opened their mouths, their voices might just crack. And there, in her usual hovering spot by tall, lean Rhys, was someone to whom she owed a lot.
“Tiffany. Um. I have so much to thank you for. When things were really dark, you shared that sunshine you always carry around inside you. Even if you dress all in black…” There was a light ripple of laugher, but Aurora held the room.
“Without you, I might have lost the man standing next to me, but you were resourceful, determined and kind. And that saved Dane’s life. So, thank you.”
“All right, enough with the speeches.” Kelly made her way to the coffee table, holding up a shot glass brimming with tequila.
Without hesitation, Aurora plucked the glass from Kelly’s fingertips and fired it back in one glorious toss. It was so far from the way she had been at the last major gathering, the room fell into chaos again.
The party broke out in earnest, and Aurora was swallowed up in a warm sea of hugs, pats and congratulations. Somehow, she found herself with wine in her hand, surrounded by Dane and her brothers.
“One little detail has been bugging me,” Dane said.
“Just one?” Duval laughed.
“Yeah, well.” Dane raised his eyebrows at the myriad of things that could be puzzling him but turned to Aurora. “What do you think Abernathy was trying to tell you? What were those gestures about.”
“I’ve been thinking about that. He kept pointing to me, and then the sky. The best I can guess is that he was trying to tell me the culprits were above me. It’s the closest I can make out.”
“Makes about as much sense as anything,” Onyx said, reaching out to top off her glass.
“Anyway, after resurrecting Finch, it seems to make sense. It fits with his testimony, anyway.”
“I’m glad you brought that up, actually.” Rhys reached behind him and picked up a white box from the table. “A party thrown by Kelly Holloway might be a bit much for Mom and Dad, but she did send this for you.”
Aurora’s heart stopped. The box was light in her hand, and she passed her wine to Dane so she could hold it with proper reverence. Even knowing what was inside, she was afraid to open it. She shook lightly and then summoned up the courage to tug away the ribbon.
Inside, under a note in her mother’s beautiful script, was her great-grandmother’s shawl. The fine black lacework looked every bit as tight and fine as the day it had come into being. With trembling fingers, she picked up the note.
“Read it out loud,” Lock said.
Aurora tried but her voice seized in her throat. Her eyes were so wet, the words blurred. She handed it to Dane, who cleared his throat.
“To my Darling Pet,
To say that you have earned this wouldn’t do you full credit. Your road to this moment has been a long one, but it has been yours. The power for all this and more has been living inside you, waiting for permission to be free. You needed something bigger than this heirloom to call it forth. A reason to conjure that benefited others besides yourself. You are generous and bright, and you have made all the women in our line proud.
Mom.”
First one tear came, then another. Her brothers crowded around her and wrapped her in a tangle of affectionate arms. When they drew back, she was so overwhelmed with it all, she found herself charging up the steps to her room, shawl in hand. Only there, in her little haven, did she give over to crying in earnest.
“Tell me those are happy tears,” Dane said, pressing the door shut behind him.
“They are,” she sniffled.
He came very close to her, spreading the shawl wide between his fingertips. “This is beautiful.”
“I’ve always thought so.” They stood in a moment of admiration, and then he found her eyes.
“May I?”
With a nod, she turned toward the full-length mirror by her wardrobe and stood as straight as she could. As if placing ermine on the shoulders of a newly-throned queen, Dane settled the hallowed garment on Aurora’s waiting shoulders. It was the only article of black clothing she owned, and her red hair blazed against it.