It took an hour to stop Will from going after his father, and another hour after that to get him to sit down and shut up. Nico understood his rage, even shared it, but landing himself in jail on an assault charge wasn't going to help anyone.

"I can't just do nothing," Will ground out. "She's still with the piece of shit."

"We'll have her come live with us," Nico offered. "And if he comes around here looking to hurt either of you, I've got my gun."

"Do you really think she's going to agree to that?" Will asked.

Nico sighed. "No. But you can talk to her. And maybe you can talk to those twins, ask them how they got their mother out of it. Her boyfriend after Apollo was an abusive shit, wasn't he?"

Will nodded. "But Mary hates me. She's not going to help me with anything."

"You don't know that until you try," Nico said, sounding too much like his dad. "See if Kayla or Austin knows their address or number."

Will buried his head in his hands for a good minute before grabbing his phone. "Hazel's going to keep Bianca?"

Nico nodded. "And you know she'd be so excited for your mom to move in."

Will sent a text to both Kayla and Austin before laying back on the bed. "I always thought they were so happy. I just...I can't believe this."

Nico laid next to him. "Do you remember him ever hitting you?"

Will shook his head. "I don't remember anything. Was I that blind?"

"Will..." Nico rolled onto his stomach and propped his chin up on his hands, looking down at Will's face. "If you even dare start blaming yourself..."

"How can I not? I didn't notice that my father was beating my mother. How can someone not notice that?" Will laid the phone on his chest. "I could have stopped it. I could've, I know it."

"They kept it behind closed doors, Will. There was nothing you could do." Nico ran his fingers through Will's hair. "Just trust me on that, okay? I'm a cop, I've seen these things. If you honestly can't remember him hurting you, you were either too young to remember or you blocked it all out, which means it had been really bad. You're as much of a victim as she is. He's the only villain."

Will didn't look like he believed him but stayed silent, his eyes on the ceiling. Nico just stayed silent with him, waiting for one of Will's half-siblings to respond. Eventually, Austin did with an address.

"Will, here we go." Nico showed him the text. "Let's get going before it's too late to just pop in."

Will glanced at the phone. "I still vote on just killing him."

"I know you do." Nico pulled him to his feet. "But we aren't doing that."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not having either of us go down for murder." Nico led him to the car and typed the address into the GPS before driving, his hands gripping the stirring wheel tight. "Think of Bi. She wouldn't last long with you in prison."

Will just stared out the window, and Nico couldn't blame him for the silence. His life had been turned upsidedown.

When they finally got to the apartment, Mary's male counterpart let them in after their introductions. They were just alike in every way you could see. But it didn't take long to notice the differences in personalities.

"I'm Milo," he introduced. "And I apologize if my sister's been a bitch to you. She gets a little too feisty. Has our dad's anger issues."

Will glanced around. "Is she here?"

Milo shook his head. "She should be back soon, though. Want a drink?"

"Non-alcoholic," Nico cut in. "He's pissed off and I don't need him killing anyone."

The living room and kitchen were connected, only separated by a half-wall. Milo gestured to the couch as he grabbed a couple bottles of water from the fridge, his head disappearing behind the wall while he ducked down. Nico took the quick two seconds to give Will a soft look.

Nico and Will sat on the couch. Milo eventually came back and handed them the bottles before sitting on the coffee table across from them, his own water in hand.

"What can I do for you?" he asked.

Will didn't look up from his water bottle. "I, er... I had a couple of questions."

"What about?" Milo asked.

Will went to talk but stopped, his hands clenching the bottle for dear life. He looked up at Nico, gave him puppy dog eyes he knew he couldn't resist.

"We just recently found out that Apollo abuses his mom," Nico explained. "We want her to move in with us, at least for the time being until we can find her her own place. But we don't know how to convince her to leave him. And you- you have experience with this, don't you?"

Milo's resting face turned dark. "He does? That's... Well, it would make sense. Men like him never change, and all of us here were wondering how he did."

"I just want to help her," Will mumbled. "If I can't get revenge, then fine. But I need to get her out of that situation."

"My mom was with her boyfriend until Mary and I were ten," Milo remembered. "Ten years of that shit. And the only reason why she finally got the nerve to leave him was that Mary had a miscarriage and wound up in the hospital."

Nico and Will both looked to him. "Your mom's boyfriend...raped Mary?" Nico asked.

Milo's face looked older as the memories came from his lips. "Lots. But it was the miscarriage that finally got through to mom."

"A miscarriage...at ten..." Nico shook his head in disbelief. "That's horrible."

"It was our normal." Milo ran a hand over his face. "Just don't mention it in front of Mary, okay? She still has nightmares about that baby dying."

"We won't," Nico promised. "But- if I can ask- How did your mom actually leave him?"

"We moved while he was on a 'business trip' and told the police." Milo did air quotations with his hands. "But all those business trips were really fucking with his other mistresses somewhere upstate."

Nico looked to Will. "We can talk to her tomorrow while he's at work. He'd never know."

"And if she says no?" Will asked. "Nico, it's her husband. There's a reason that she hasn't left him yet. It's not going to be as easy as talking to her."

Nico blew some hair out of his face. "I know, Will, but we have to try. Or this'll never get better."

Mary walked into the apartment before Will could respond, taking the time to take off her shoes and throw her bag on the ground before finally noticing who was in the room. When she did, her face turned red.

"Why the hell are you here, Solace?" she growled.

"Woah, woah, no anger." Milo ran to his sister's side. "We aren't being angry with them today."

"Why the hell not?"

"We're helping them. Now go get a drink and sit down."

Mary looked at her brother as if he had grown a second head. "Helping Will Solace? Why?"

Milo leaned down and whispered in her ear. Nico grabbed Will's hand and watched awkwardly, while Will still stared at the water bottle.

"So he hasn't changed," Mary declared. "How the hell am I not surprised?"

Milo rolled his eyes. "Stop cursing and apologize."

"For...?"

He elbowed her before lowering his voice. "I don't know, maybe the many times you cursed Will out for being alive?"

Mary glared at him before walking over to Will. "So, your life isn't perfect like I thought."

Will shook his head. "Guess not..."

She sat on the table where Milo had previously been sitting. "Like it or not we have his blood, and you've seen my anger issues. I get it from him. So keep an eye on your anger, don't let it get too bad. From sister to brother."

Will gave her a small smile. "I think you're handling it well, and that's not sarcastic. You've must have made progress."

Mary blinked. "I...How could you tell?"

"I've seen him get angry before," Will admitted. "It was never physical, or so I remember, but I've definitely seen him get angry. And it was ten times worse than what you have. You're beating the shit he gave you."

Mary smiled. "So...forgive me for being a bitch?"

"You weren't a bitch. You were pissed. And for good reason." Will held his hand out. "Let's start again. I'm Will Solace, your half-brother. I hope we can be friends, or even siblings."

She shook his hand. "Siblings would be nice."