It was the white onyx queen. The most versatile piece on the board. The protector of the king. I forced deep and even breaths through my lungs.

A soft sob reached my ears, and I turned to see Xander’s head in his hands, his shoulders shaking as he cried. As Simon and Milton both gave their closings, I stared at Xander. It took until the end of Milton’s speech for my brother to look at me.

When he did, he flinched.

I let it show—my anger, my loathing, and my utter disgust. When Judge Wilson dismissed us until her ruling, the crowd emptied out into the hallway.

“I’ll be there in just a second,” I promised Willow.

She nodded, squeezing my hand as she passed by on her way to where her family waited.

I finally opened the envelope Julie left.

With shaking hands, I read the three sheets she’d included and felt simultaneous relief and sorrow. Deep, gut-wrenching sorrow.

“You okay?” Simon asked.

“No. None of it is okay.” I slid the papers back into their envelope, then walked over to my older brother, my idol, the perfect example of love and forgiveness, and openly glared at him as he rose to leave.

“Cam,” Simon warned.

“I need a minute with my brother.” I kept my eyes on Xander.

“Alexander?” Milton probed.

“It’s fine. I’ll meet you out there,” Xander replied.

The courtroom cleared out until it was only us standing between the tables we’d gone to war at.

“No matter what happens, what she rules, I will never forgive you for what just happened. I’m ashamed of you, and Sullivan would be, too. How could you use him like that? Use the fire?”

Xander shook his head at me in confusion. “Forgive me? You’re the one who keeps trying to kill Dad even though the doctors have said he’s not mentally capable of making that choice. And you want to blame this on me? I have no choice but to stick to the decisions he made before he lost his mind, because that man we saw up on the stand is no longer our father!”

“He’s still Dad! He doesn’t want tubes and ventilators! He wants the dignity of making that choice, and you can’t even give him that? You have to shred what’s left of his pride in front of the entire town?” My voice rose.