Kevin dragged his blank stare to Wymack, and Wymack gestured between Neil and Matt. "You see these two? If I look your way tonight and you're not within five feet of at least one of them, I won't let you play a single damn game this spring. Get me? They're your shields. Use them. Use me, if you have to. Now give me a 'yes, Coach'."

"Mm," Kevin managed.

"Don't worry," Matt said. "He can't do anything with so many witnesses."

"He got to Neil at the last banquet," Allison said.

Kevin looked at Neil. Neil met his stare without hesitation and didn't let his nerves show on his face. They gathered their clothes from the undercarriage and followed a security guard inside. Neil changed in one of the bathroom stalls and considered his reflection afterward. The others were out of sight in the main room, so Neil leaned close to the mirror. He slid one contact out of the way for a moment, needing to see the chilly blue of his real eyes, and took strength in that.

He'd told Andrew he would stand with Kevin no matter what. He didn't intend to break that promise. "Neil" might be an easily-spooked runaway, and "Nathaniel" was a hunted young man, but "Abram" was the one shielded from and untouched by his father's bloody business. Neil would pull on every murder he'd seen and every endless, desperate night, and he'd face Riko unflinching. It was the least he could do. It was all he could do.

The court was decorated for Christmas. Poinsettia followed the walls all the way around, and a massive tree stood in one corner. Neil assumed it was fake, because there was no way they could have gotten a tree that size through the door unless they'd brought it in pieces. Heavy blankets under the stand ensured it wouldn't scratch up the court floor, and small presents were piled under it. Neil wondered for a moment if they were fake as well or if they were the Jackals' gifts to each other, temporarily loaned out for decoration.

Whoever organized the seating chart was smart enough to keep the Foxes and Ravens away from each other this time. The Foxes sat down opposite the Wilkes-Meyers Hornets, and Neil ended up between Renee and Kevin. The Foxes and Hornets hadn't seen each other since late September. Neil half-expected aggression, since the Foxes had won that match, but with the season over the Hornets were laid-back and rowdy.

After all of the teams had arrived, Tetsuji Moriyama tapped on a cordless microphone to call them to attention. Someone cut the cheery Christmas music off and Tetsuji surveyed the collected teams with a stony expression.