Barbie took a cupcake and fed it to Roger while they stared at each other. I hoped he choked on it. Dad gave me a look that said it all. This whole night was beyond disastrous.
When everyone was served, I sat back down and stared at the little cake in front of me. Remo pressed his thigh against mine. “You aren’t done yet.”
He was right, I had more ammo. Years of it.
I thumped my hand on the table hard enough to rattle everyone’s cutlery. “SAMANTHA.”
Okay, now everyone looked at me, including my glowering cousin as she chewed the last of her cupcake. I smiled at her. “Last time you were here you had been struggling to get over that infection you had. Did the doctors finally figure it out?”
Her face flared bright red, and for a split second I saw beneath the veneer of human skin. Wide green eyes and a huge mouth with rows and rows of teeth snarled at me. I had to fight the urge to pull back.
“What are you talking about?” she bit out. “I had no infection.”
“Yeah, I remember,” Tad said around a mouthful of food. “Something about a burning sensation when you pee.”
“I didn’t.” She choked on the words.
Yaya’s shoulders shook, and Samantha shot up from the table, her whole body quaking as she stood and glared at me. “I hate this family.”
I spread my hands. “Join the club, Sam. We all hate this family. Roger hates it. You hate it. I hate it. My parents hate me. I mean, what else have we got?”
Yaya grabbed at Samantha and tugged her back into her seat. “Just sit.”
Mom’s eyes filled with tears, and for just a second I felt bad. But then I recalled exactly how she’d turned from me, all because I wasn’t human anymore. Still her daughter, still Alena, but none of that mattered. I leaned back in my chair. “Right, Mom? Isn’t that a true testament to being a Firstamentalist? Judge everyone until they feel as though they are as small as a helpless puppy being kicked for being born ugly?”
She stood up, her knuckles on the table, and opened her mouth, then stopped and pressed one hand to her stomach. A loud rumble emanated from her and she belched.
Uncle Robert licked his plate clean of icing as he took a second cupcake. “Tastes a bit like ouzo in this icing. You put liquor in it?”
I shot to my feet, horror flickering through me. Oh no. When Remo had met me at the bakery and kissed me, we’d banged into the table. The thump must have moved the two bowls of icing. I’d been so distracted by his presence I’d not noticed . . . “Oh no,” I breathed.
“This is more than ‘oh no,’ Alena, this is the most atrocious thing you’ve ever done to this family. Worse than marrying Roger, even,” my mother snapped.
“Hey!” Roger protested. “I was a great husband.”
“Shut up, Roger!” we yelled in tandem. At least we agreed on one thing.
Mom pointed a finger at me, opened her mouth, then clutched her stomach and vomited to the side, narrowly missing Theseus. He leapt up and backward, knocking his chair over and dragging Beth with him. He couldn’t, however, avoid the projectile vomit from Samantha on his other side. She nailed him right in the crotch, chunks of food running down his pants.
My eyes shot to Tad. He was green and gagging. “What the hell did you put in those cupcakes?” he managed to get out.
“Venom.” I looked back to Theseus, who’d paled considerably as he swallowed over and over as if that would keep his dinner down.
“You bitch, you poisoned your own family to get at me?”
Everyone who wasn’t currently heaving their dinner out in a stream looked at me. So, pretty much Dahlia, Remo, and Yaya. Now or never to convince Theseus my family had no place in my life or my heart. Anything to keep them safe. “What do they mean to me? If I can finish you off and them at the same time, all the better. A whole flock of birds with one single batch of cupcakes.”
Cold, that was cold, and I knew it. But if it kept my family safe from Theseus . . . then it was worth it. Remo grabbed me and pulled me back as my dad heaved, the splatter just missing me. My dad reached for me, his eyes pleading. “Alena, don’t be like this.”
“It’s the truth,” I snapped, even as my heart broke with the grief in his green eyes. “Why would I care what happens to you? You all turned from me when I needed you most, left me in the hospital to die on my own and acted like I was a leper when I survived.” I fought the tears because there was truth in my words.
Dad’s shoulders shook, and I didn’t think it was from the heaving. I had to look away to stop the tears from pooling. I had to make Theseus believe I truly didn’t care.
Speaking of the hero, Theseus pulled a sword from I could only guess where and pointed it at me, the tip wavering as his arm trembled. “Time to end this—”
I held my breath and braced myself. This was it, the battle between Theseus and me. The one that would decide which one of us lived and which one died.
The sword wobbled and his lips twisted. “Monster.”
“Summer’s Eve,” I retorted.
He frowned and Dahlia burst out laughing. “You mean douche?”
“Yes.” I didn’t take my eyes from Theseus. My experience with Achilles had taught me that heroes were not to be ignored. Beth rose to her feet beside him, vomit splatter down the front of her shirt, but that didn’t slow her. “You won’t be facing just him; I will not let you hurt him.”
“Don’t do this, Beth. This is what he wants.” I pointed a finger at him. “He’s trying to divide us.”
“I love him,” she said as her whole body heaved.
“Enough!” Theseus roared. “We—”
He bent at the waist and puked all over Samantha, who was down on her knees next to him.
Dahlia guffawed, then gagged. “Oh my God, this is brutal.”
As all the people who’d eaten my cupcakes lost their supper and what looked like their last week of meals, the smell of vomit filled the room like some horrible incense. I couldn’t take it, my own gorge rising. No need to add to the mess. I scrambled away, Remo, Dahlia, and Yaya right with me as I escaped out the front door to the sounds of retching, crying, and cursing behind us.
Hurrying, I all but ran to Remo’s car.
“Alena, stop. Theseus is vulnerable right now,” Remo said. I slid to a stop, my fingers wrapped around the door handle of the car.
“What are you saying?”
“Kill him while you have the chance,” he said. “He’s unable to defend himself. Beth is incapacitated. Though you may not have planned this, the timing is right.”
I gripped the handle, the cold metal biting into my fingers. “I can’t.”
“Why not?” Dahlia asked. “He’s right, this is the time to do it. End this before he uses the fennel on you.”
Yaya touched the top of my hand, drawing my eyes down to her. “Dahlia and Remo are right. This is war; you can’t turn away from this chance. You could save your life right here.”
I closed my eyes, hesitating. Fighting with my desire to indeed end things with Theseus, but not like this. Not in cold blood. Not in front of my mom.
That was the real reason. A small part of me still wanted her acceptance. If she saw me kill in cold blood, there would be no hope, no convincing her ever that I wasn’t a monster.