Marek was not as afraid of their grandfather as a person as Melinda was; he was more afraid of the effect he had on Melinda. His faith in family was strong enough, and the fact that they had not actually been harmed by him in the past also made it less frightening. Of course, there was the possibility that he'd snap this time and actually make good on his threats, but he and Melinda united could defend themselves against anything, he believed that. He took a step closer to her, standing just behind her so that her arm and shoulder touched his. He wasn't supposed to be here, but their grandfather knew that he would be; he really should have learned better by now that insisting one of the twins come to see him alone resulted in him seeing them both. Not that Marek would have let Melinda come alone anyway.
Whatever trouble they'd been having with each other recently, they were together now. Whatever their grandfather did, that wouldn't be taken away from them.