The dinner table groaned under all the food that Mom, Aunt Janice, and Yaya brought out. Who were they kidding when Mom said there wasn’t enough food for a couple of extra bodies? They could have fed three times the amount of people who were there.
Theseus sat at the head of the table, as far away from me as I could get. Beth was with him, her eyes never leaving his face as he spoke of his job as a private investigator.
“Tell us again how you saved Beth,” Samantha cooed. I glared at my buxom, doe-eyed cousin. The entire meal had been Mom, Aunt Janice, Beth, Samantha, and Barbie all but falling over themselves to get close to Theseus. Unable to stand it any longer, I pushed my chair back and strode to the front door.
“Cupcakes are there.” I pointed at the covered confections on the side table. “Good night, everyone.”
Yaya stood as if to follow me, and I waved at her. “Enjoy your dinner, Yaya.”
“Alena.”
I cut her off as I slammed the door behind me.
Remo caught up to me on the steps and took my hand. My heart pounded like an off-rhythm mixer. I put a hand to my head. “What kind of game is he playing?”
He pulled me into his arms and held me tight. “One he is currently winning. Your family is falling for his lies. You have to be there if you want to show him you aren’t to be trifled with.”
“I know, but I don’t know how.” I closed my eyes and breathed him in, letting my anxiety float away for a moment.
Remo tipped my chin up so he could look in my eyes. “He’s doing this to make you uncomfortable. To show you he can control your family without even trying. They aren’t safe, even now.”
I stared at him, my mind racing. “You think I can gain control? That I can play his game and win? All night he’s been nothing but sweetness and gentlemanly behavior. It makes me want to vomit.”
He tucked a strand of hair behind one of my ears, his fingers lingering at the side of my face. “At least in the conversation you could pull it off. You have insider info; use it against your family to make them leave. They may hate you for what you say now, but it will protect them in the long run. Especially if he sees you treat them poorly. They will not be as valuable to him if they are not valuable to you.”
I leaned forward, pressing my head against his chest. “Thank you.”
“It’s what . . . friends are for.” He kissed the top of my head, and it was as sweet as if he’d kissed my lips. Maybe because of the innocence behind the action. As if he truly had feelings for me. Everyone else was wrong; this was not how someone treated a person who was just a weapon for him to use.
I knew in my heart Remo cared for me. I just didn’t know if it would be enough to see us through the whole star-crossed species divide we faced. Not to be melodramatic or anything, but it felt at times . . . impossible.
I squared my shoulders and headed back inside, one thought rolling through my mind. To treat everyone as if we, my family and I, were at war. Then again, it wasn’t like I got on well with my Dad’s side. I knew that Samantha and Everett were angry that our grandparents had left me everything. And that was just one tidbit of ammo I had.
Everyone looked up as I came back in. “Changed my mind.”
Theseus all but glowed with pleasure. “So glad you decided to join us again. It wouldn’t be the same without your beauty gracing us.”
Beth glared at me with an intensity I felt on my skin like a slow burn. I took Remo’s hand deliberately, weaving our fingers together. “Remo thought it was silly of me to walk out. Especially when he doesn’t know much about the family yet. I mean, other than the fact that I was Grandma and Grandpa Austin’s favorite.”
Samantha and Everett jerked as if I’d slapped them both. I shrugged. “Don’t act surprised, we all know they left everything to me because you two blow through money like it’s water in your hands.”
Jaws dropped as I sat back down and spread a napkin over my lap. No one argued with me, though. I lifted my eyes to see my mother staring at me with an intensity she reserved for the moments she couldn’t yell. Like at a family dinner with guests. I smiled sweetly at her. “Would you pass the salt, please?” I waited until she had the salt partway across to me before I went on. “The souvlaki is seriously lacking in flavor. Did you get it from that cheap restaurant on Abigail Street again?”
Mom dropped the saltshaker, and I caught it in midair. Across from me, Tad gaped, and I gave him a wink. His lips twitched and he cleared his throat, giving me a slow nod. He was a quick study and jumped in with both feet.
“Everett, did you ever finish that degree at community college?” Tad asked, going into our favorite tag-team mode. A funny glow started in my chest.
We all knew Everett had been kicked out for hitting on all the female professors. Everett’s lips tightened. “You know I didn’t.”
“Well, just checking. Staying at home, then?” Tad queried.
Everett stared at his food. “Why are you being a bastard?”
Mom sucked in a breath. “No swearing at this table, young man.”
He shot a look at her. “I’m hardly young at twenty-eight.”
“That’s what I thought when I heard you didn’t have a job,” Tad said. The table sucked in a collective breath.
I nodded and took a bite of my now oversalted chicken. “Which begs the question as to why you are still at home exactly? Just milking Mom and Dad for all they are worth? That’s not very”—here it was, now or never—“human of you.”
Except that no one heard that bit. Aunt Janice must have seen it coming, since she stood, flipping her plate over her head to crash into the floor.
“I have never been so insulted in all my life! Your two children have truly turned into monsters, Beatrice.”
I couldn’t help laughing at that one. She had no idea.
At the same time, I decided to make sure Theseus didn’t have designs on Sam. We might not have been close, but I couldn’t let her just walk away with him. Which, by the way they were trading looks, was a distinct possibility.
“Samantha,” I said in an attempt to get her attention. No response, she just kept ogling Theseus. Could he not see she was a goblin under all that makeup? His lips twisted as he looked at her so fast before going back to a smile that I almost missed it. Maybe he knew exactly what she was.
“Alena, pass out your dessert and then you can leave,” Mom said, interrupting my attempt to get my cousin’s attention. I stood without question, walked to the cupcakes, slid the lid off, and handed them around. Everyone except Yaya, Dahlia, and Remo took one. I lifted an eyebrow at Yaya. “Are you sure?”
“I ate too much sweets yesterday. My guts are killing me. But tell me what they are anyway.” She smiled, a funny twinkle in her eye.
“Butter pecan, with a cream cheese icing,” I said.