My mother clenches her teeth. “The awry are … different than us.”
“Different? As in somehow incapable of making true commitments?” Livi says disdainfully. “You think Armin and Mirth haven’t cared for us all these years?”
“They’ve done their duty to you both,” my mother says stiffly. “Their friendship is very valuable.”
“Valuable,” Livi mockingly echoes.
“That’s not what I —”
“And …” Sophia interrupts our mother with a firm whisper, “I don’t understand the man-and-woman thing? Some people don’t identify with a singular gender or even the gender they were born with. You … Mom … you think nonbinary people aren’t capable of making a true commitment?”
“What about queer people?” Emily asks, her tone harsher than her sister’s. “Where do they fit into your tidy little world view?”
“That’s …” My mother clenches her hands into fists at her sides, looking between all of us — except for Mirth. “That’s not what I meant. Don’t twist my words.”
Emily and Sophia glance at each other. Some silent communication passes between them, and they nod practically in unison.
“We’re heading over to our dad’s,” Sophia says.
“Don’t be silly,” my mother says. “Bolan just got home —”
I open my mouth, but Livi interrupts me.
“I’ll drive you.” My older sister eyes our mother pointedly, then says, “Just in case anyone is wondering where I stand on all of this, I’m currently fucking three people. My dance instructor, a mage friend from school, and the woman who runs the fucking dance academy. Yep, not only is she a woman, but she’s fifteen fucking years older than me.”
My mother’s mouth drops open.
Livi continues, “And after I drop the girls to their dad’s, I’m going to introduce them all in a group text and see if they all want to fuck me at the same time.”
My mother turns on her heel and walks out of the room.
After a moment, the front door opens, then slams closed. A beat later, a car engine engages.
Roz, Mirth’s royal guard, pokes her head into the kitchen from the direction of the mudroom. “Everything okay in here?”
No one answers her, so she nods, then retreats back the way she came.
Livi glances at me. “Did that go the way you thought it would?”
“Not remotely. But you don’t seem all that surprised. About the discriminatory shit.”
Livi sighs, opening her arms toward Emily and Sophia. They both lurch forward to be enfolded in her embrace. “There’s a reason I haven’t mentioned who I’m dating.”
“I had no idea.”
“You haven’t been here, Bolan,” my sister says. “I’m not blaming you, but …” Her eyes flick to Mirth for a moment. “You found your soul family at age nine.”
“You’ve barely lived here yourself,” I say defensively.
“Yeah, I missed it until I moved back. After I finally ditched Edward.”
Emily peers up at Livi, then over toward Mirth and me. “How cold do you think the pancakes are?”
“Do you care?” Sophia asks.
“Nope!”
Trust a wolf to default to the yearnings of her stomach in the middle of a family crisis.
