Astrid answers her children, her words soft and sad. “Cameron was married to my best friend. Of course I know him.” She pauses. “William is like you, Callie. His Elvin heritage from his mother is Magical. And his father is . . .” She bites her lip, her smile so bittersweet. “Human. Kellan? Don’t let me hear you say non like that again, like it’s an insult. Are we clear?”
Kellan rolls his eyes, which clearly rubs Will the wrong way. He snaps, “Métis. We half-breed freaks have a fancy name all to ourselves, or do you not know? Oh, wait. Obviously, by the fucking disgusted tone of your voice, you don’t care, right?”
That clearly pisses Kellan off, who’s off the couch in a flash. Jonah’s there to block him, though.
This cannot be happening. Not now, not like this . . . not after so long. I grab Will’s arm and shoot him a meaningful look that tells him to lock down whatever latent anger he’s got percolating inside. He has every right to it, but just not in this moment. “Stop. He—he’s not—Kellan didn’t mean anything by that.”
Which, I think, pisses Kellan off to hear me say, since I definitely don’t have a right to speak for him, but the last thing we need is a fight between all these people I love. Before Kellan can counter me, Will turns to his father. “So, not only did you and Mum keep me in the dark about being a . . . an Elf”—he sneers, turning the word into an undeserving curse—“and her being a Magical, but apparently the entire universe knows about it except for me?”
Well, so much for trying to stop the deluge from coming.
Cameron stays silent. Suddenly, both twins, plus Callie, are riveted on what’s unfolding around us. Me? For the zillionth time in my life, I wish I could rewind time.
“Plus,” Will grinds out, “you also conveniently forgot to tell me that I have a godmother?” He shoves tight fists under his arms. “Do I have a godfather, too?”
Cameron sighs. “Son—”
“Yes.” Astrid’s regained some of her composure, even though her hands are full on shaking now. “Callie, darling, I didn’t mean to hide this from you—”
Callie’s off the couch now, too. “Hide what? What is going on here?” She looks at me. “I thought—this is Chloe’s homecoming! We’re here because of her! Because—and now, there’s—WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?”
“Astrid, I really don’t think this is the time,” Cameron says, which only infuriates Will further. He fills his shot glass again and downs it in one gulp.
“We have nothing to hide.” Although her voice is unsteady, it’s clear Astrid is feeling more than a bit defiant. “I’ve . . .” Her spine straightens. “I’ve missed you, Cam. And I’m tired of keeping all this in. It’s finally time to let it go.”
“Fuck. Me,” Will groans, grabbing the tequila. I toss out a quiet warning of, “No more,” but he throws my hand off. “Luckily for me,” he says, glaring now at his father, “I hold my liquor loads better than you, Chloe. It must be the Scottish in me, unless, that’s been a lie, too.” He chugs the shot. “And as much as I’d like to get plastered so I can erase all of this shite, I highly doubt we’ll be doing a replay of your stint in the hospital.”
Both Jonah and Kellan’s eyebrows shoot high. Heat rushes my cheeks. I so did not need that crack right now.
“William,” Cameron warns, his voice sharp. I’m hoping he’s referring to both Will’s crack and the drinking. In either case, Will pours himself another shot anyway, ignoring us both. I attempt to wrestle the bottle of tequila away, but the look he gives me stops me dead in my tracks.
I remind myself he’s hurting, that his world has been turned upside down, so I try a new tactic. “I’m not cleaning up after you,” I whisper harshly when he downs the next shot.
“Yes you will. You’ll remember how I did the same for you when you spewed all over my truck.”
I CANNOT EVEN. I refuse to look over to where Jonah and Kellan are. The silent questions will be far too humiliating. Instead, I snatch the bottle away for good this time and lean in, hissing under my breath, “I know you’re upset, but Will—please!”
He closes his eyes and bites his lip hard, like he’s centering himself, which has to be hard with all that tequila. And then, eyes once more open and the anger thankfully gone off his face, Will motions to where Callie and Astrid are. “Enough about our drinking ailments. I believe this woman here was about to also blow the lid off of her personal Parents Hide Shite From Their Kids box. It’s apparently an epidemic. Please feel free to proceed.”
Well, I suppose bitter sarcasm is far better than blatant anger.
Callie stares at Will like he’s lost his mind. I think she might be right.
“Astrid, you don’t need to do this,” Cameron says, but Astrid shakes her head.
“No. He’s right. I’ve . . .” Steely resolve flashes in the lavender of her gorgeous eyes. “Callie, your biological father was William’s godfather. Molly and I grew up with Ben—that was his name.”
Gorgeous, unshakable Callie Lotus’s mouth drops open and stays that way.