Sullivan Siblings

XVI

"You are all ready to go?" Ivan asks. His Adam's apple bobs as he swallows, his body stiff with tension. It's the day of Lukas, Emmett and Hollis's fights against men who will definitely beat them. Ivan conveniently has work to complete so he is the only one not going.

"Yes." Odin claps his hands and rubs them together in glee. He's in his usual jeans and long sleeved shirt, rosary and scapular visible on his chest. His bracelets jingle together from his movement. I try catch a glimpse of the new saint medal, but it's a no go.

"Yeah," Simon replies. He shares a guilty look with Silas. Both were in the fight, but managed not to get caught and are escaping the consequences. A brutal fight that has them concerned for Luke, Emmett and Hollis' safety.

Hollis doesn't answer Ivan's generic question to everyone. He is too busy shadowboxing against Lukas, because Lukas is tall like a tree, Hollis's words. Luke ignores him, neck bent downward as he scrolls on his phone.

"Odin!" I whine, trying and failing, to slap his hands away from my head. He'd pulled my hood over my head and tugged the strings, making my hood tighten around my face. I wipe staticky strands of hair out of my face, knocking my knuckles against Odin's. He refuses to let go of the strings. "You suck!" I whine. The reason I act like a child is because they treat me like one!

"Haha!" Odin crows. He drops his hands. I groan when the hoodie strings don't loosen. He tied them and with my luck, he triple knotted them!

"Lu!" Hollis groans. He throws his head back and glares at Luke. "I hate it when people take pictures of me when I'm not ready!"

"We need memories," Luke retorts. He shuts his phone off with a click and stuffs it in his front jean pocket. He quickly looks at Odin and Ivan. Their reactions are vastly different but both tell the same story: pictures aren't wanted. Ivan swallows stiffly but doesn't comment, leaving us to our own devices. Odin stares at Lukas, rage rippling across his face. Both he and Hollis square up to Lukas.

"As long as you don't post them, it's fine." Ivan speaks up. He squints at Odin, watching him intently until Odin backs down.

"I better look good, at least." Hollis huffs, stepping back. He flicks his head to get his shorter hair out of his eyes.

"Sure, yeah. Yeah, you do." Luke quickly agrees. I hide a laugh at how unconvincing he sounds.

"I'd prefer paper copies." Ivan studies Lukas. Secrets hide in his haunted eyes. "Please, print them and delete them online. I know just how easily phones can be hacked."

"Yeah, okay." Luke replies. His eyes meet mine because his slow brain is finally putting together why I was so adamant there was something wrong with our lack of family pictures.

"Simon, Levi will take you, Lukas, Silas and Hollis." Ivan orders, informing us of the seating arrangements. It's always a hassle in a family as big as ours. Personally, I think it'd be cool to get a small school bus for us all. Hollis thinks it's a dorky, dumb idea. "Odin can take Emmett and Huxley."

"Shotgun!" I dibs with a squeal, tapping my nose with my pointer finger. Because Odin has a motorcycle, Emmett will be driving us in his car.

"Nice try." Odin grins and wraps his arms around my waist. My urn wound is completely scabbed over now, with no need for gauze and it doesn't hurt unless I twist my body a certain way. Ugly green, yellow and black bruises cover the skin surrounding it, mostly faded now. "I'm sitting shotgun, love."