“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.
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.
I shook my head. “No, I . . . I can’t.”
Remo sighed and walked to the driver’s side, his footsteps fading. “I’ll take you home. This will come back to haunt you, Alena. I know. I had my chance to deal with Santos, and I didn’t.”
I bit my lower lip, a warring mixture of anger and hurt flowing through me at his chastisement. “I have things I need to do. Without you.”
His eyes met mine across the space between us, concern thick like molasses in them. “At least keep Dahlia close. Will you do that much?”
I glared at him, and the snake that seemed to live inside of me let out a low hiss. “None of you think I can take care of myself.”
Dahlia snorted. “You’re getting there, but you aren’t there yet, my friend.”
“Yaya, I’m taking the Granada.” I strode away from Remo’s car and headed straight toward the baby-blue clunker Yaya so dearly loved.
“Only if I get to come with you,” she chirped. “Not like I’m going back in there”—she jerked a thumb toward the house—“before they get that place cleaned up. Gods, what a mess!”
Ernie floated up in the backseat of Remo’s truck, a yawn stretching his face as he rolled the window down. “What did I miss? Anything?”
“Grab the cupcakes, Ernie.” I amended, “Please.” He disappeared for a split second, then was through the window with my package of wicked cupcakes. One for Merlin, and one for Zeus.
“Got it.”
Yaya threw me the keys, and I caught them in midair as a thought rolled through me. Obviously the venom was strong enough to cause issues, but would it be enough to totally incapacitate Merlin? I had no idea how long the puke session was going to last in my parents’ house, and I didn’t really want to stick around to watch.
Remo and Dahlia pulled away in his car, and for just a split second I wished he’d stayed. That whole wanting him to want to stay, even though I’d told him to leave.
No, that was the old me. The one who wanted a man to help her feel like she was fulfilled. “Yaya, start it up. I left something inside.”
I sprinted toward the house, took a deep breath at the door, and plunged back in. The stomach rolling smell of regurgitated food tickled at me even though I held my breath. I grabbed the container with the last few cupcakes and then back
ed away to the door. Aunt Janice glared at me from the floor where she lay. “Horrid beast,” she whispered.
“Coming from a goblin, I’ll take it as a compliment,” I said, then gagged and backed away. Honey puffs, the smell was beyond atrocious.
Her eyes popped wide and her mouth opened as a slew of pale-green chunk-filled liquid flowed out.
I looked over to where Theseus and Beth had sat. Their places were empty and the back door was open. I put the cupcakes down and scooped up a knife from the table. Just a steak knife, nothing special. But if Theseus was down with the pukes, then it would do the job, and my mom wouldn’t see. He’d barely been able to hold his sword up.
I made myself walk to the sliding glass door and out into the backyard. The part of me that was Drakaina approved; Remo was right. Take your enemies out while they were down to minimize casualties.
Out into the backyard I went, steak knife held tight in one hand. My ears strained, listening for the staccato beat that was Beth’s heart. The shrieking cry of a bird shattered the night, and I jumped.
A metallic feather buried itself into the ground at my feet where I’d stood only a split second before. I backed up, staring into the sky. A whoosh of wings, another cry, and then the sound of her heart faded. And with her went my chance to end Theseus.
I’d blown it. I bent and scooped up the metallic feather. Gold and silver, it glittered even in the dim light. “You’re an idiot.” I wasn’t 100 percent sure if I was talking to Beth or myself.
Probably both.
Nothing to do now but move on and hope I could get some answers out of Zeus.
CHAPTER 16
Yaya drove us in the direction of Zeus’s place. Olympic Drive in the Highlands . . . if Smithy was being straight with us. “Are you sure this is where Zeus lives?” she asked.
I clutched at the container of vomit-inducing cupcakes. “It’s where Hephaestus, I mean, Smithy, said he was.”
“And he was helping you, why again?” There was a sly tone to her voice that I waved at with one hand, like batting away steam from a pot.
“Yaya, don’t go there. The last thing I need is some ex–Greek god deciding to take an interest in me. I mean, look at where that’s getting me with Hera. Look at where it got you when you messed around with Zeus. A curse, of all things! I have enough issues as it is.”
Fangs and Fennel (The Venom Trilogy #2) Page 17
