“Yeah, I guess so.” She hugged me again and sighed, her body relaxing.
For a time, we stayed exactly like that, soaking up the sun’s warmth and taking comfort in one another. Skylar stirred first, waking me from a drowse with light kisses against my jaw.
“C’mon, we never did make it to that voodoo museum,” she said, voice bright.
“You want to go now?” I blinked and glanced toward the setting sun.
“Yup. Let’s make the most of our last week here.” She bounced up, once again my bright and vivacious faerie. Her contagious enthusiasm swept away my worries.
“Your wish is my command.”
14
Confrontation is a Bitch
Blinding sunlight spilled through the passenger window, requiring Sky to adjust the visor while I flew eighty down the highway. An enormous sign to the right welcomed us to Texas as we crossed over from the Louisiana state line, bringing us that much closer to what could either be a disaster or a good time. I really hoped for the latter, but if my girl’s track record for trouble was any indication, we were driving into chaos.
For four hours, she’d hummed along with me while I sang to rock and roll classics.
“You know, as much as I enjoyed New Orleans, I’m looking forward to some quiet time with you in Texas.”
I risked a brief glance at her and raised a brow. “Quiet? You think my family is gonna be quiet? You think Rodrigo’s family is gonna be quiet? It’s gonna be tequila and salsa all day every day. You picked the wrong place to chill for summer if you want quiet.”
She laughed and swatted my arm. “Quiet compared to gunfights and ’round-the-clock partying tourists.”
Our last week in New Orleans had been an endless stream of tourism. After all the work we’d done, we spent our last days visiting museums, parks, and eating all the amazing things you could prepare with oysters, crawfish, and gator. Normal shit.
Whenever we left the hotel, we played Spot the Sentinel, a game we’d devised last year where we hunted for our undercover protection in the crowd. For once, neither of us took offense to the SBA looking out for us. Annalise’s interest in Sky hadn’t just freaked me out—she was petrified.
“You know, it isn’t too late to turn back,” I said, like I hadn’t been driving since we set out from Maison du Corbeau hours ago.
Sky twisted in her seat and leveled her gaze on me. “I have never seen you concoct so many excuses to prolong our drive. Are you having second thoughts?”
Busted. I guess my decision to park at every Pokemon gym had been suspect. “No. I want you to meet my family. I do. I guess I’m just nervous, you know? Mom wasn’t exactly welcoming when you joined us for dinner after my graduation.”
“She wasn’t mean either.”
“I know. Hopefully she’s come around some and won’t ruin your stay.”
Sky leaned over and kissed my cheek. “I’ll be with you. No way that can be ruined. Besides, after surviving both vampires and a valravn, I feel like your family is far less dangerous.”
“All right. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Her response was to flash me a big grin and plug her iPhone into the stereo system.
During the two remaining hours of our drive, we discussed the various activities to do for the complete Texas experience. I planned to introduce her to the best barbeque, take her to the county fair for the rodeo, and spend a weekend in Galveston at Moody Gardens.
After everything that went down in Louisiana, we deserved to enjoy the rest of our vacation.
“Wow.” Skylar leaned forward in her seat and peered through the windshield at the massive gate to the community where my folks lived. “This is bigger than I thought.”
“You’ve seen pictures though, right?”
“Well, yeah, but pictures don’t do it justice.”
The gates opened on their own, activated by a sensor on my keyring. We drove through, passing a horse pasture on the right and goats on the left. In Wildwood Creek, we had plenty of space and no one built within fifty yards of their neighbors if they could help it. Most of the homes rose two or three levels from sprawling stretches of green acreage. We passed horses grazing in open lots and kids riding ponies down the street.
“Do all of these belong to ravens?”
“Most of them, yeah. There’re two vampire families at the far end and a bear family set back in the wooded area. A few wolves scattered throughout.”
“No humans?”
“Only the ones married into the families. You can be yourself out here, Sky.”
“I’ve never been in a supernatural community before, except at school.”
“They’re all over. Your folks are kind of strange for wanting to live among the humans, to be honest.”
“Easier to find people to help.”
I rolled my eyes and made a left, turning down a quieter street. “I can turn out onto the highway and reach human civilization in two miles. Not hard. Just, you know, it’s preferred to feel at home when we’re home. You know what I mean? Sure, you guys can prance around your yard while flicking your glitter wands when you want to, but you’ll never hear the end of it from people wanting favors and magic.”
Another left took us into my family’s horseshoe driveway. It curved around a three-tiered fountain surrounded by mom’s marigolds and colorful flowers.
Overwhelming anxiety swam over me all at once. I repressed the urge to throw up while staring at the three stories of pale gray brick and cobalt trim that made up my childhood home. Half of my family tree perched on the gutters, watching our arrival. There was nothing a group of ravens liked more than spectating gossip-worthy events. And me coming home after blowing off the family for an entire school term definitely ranked up there on the list of interesting family current events.
“Ready? Are you really okay with this? You look like you’re going to stroke out before we even get inside.”
Once I killed the engine, I groaned into my hand. “I guess so. You feeling confident about your Spanish? Abuela doesn’t speak English well. If she’s not at Rodrigo’s house, she’ll be here with Mom.”
“It’s decent. I won’t say anything dumb or embarrassing, I promise.”
The moment we slid out the car, numerous faces appeared in the windows on the lower floor. Before I could help Sky pull our luggage from the trunk, a feminine voice spilled through the open window beside the screened-in front porch. “Gabriel’s home!”
Mom hurried out from the house and met me on the walkway.
“Hi, Mom.”
“That’s all you have to say to your mother? What is this? Have you lost all of your manners over the summer? Look at this clothing, all wrinkles, and so much lint.” She plucked an imaginary something from my shirt, oblivious to Sky’s presence beside me.
“Sorry. Kind of tired from the drive,” I muttered.
“Which you must have had to do all on your own, my poor baby. It must have been awful doing all of that driving alone. Where’s my baby? Bring her inside and have a seat. I made your favorite.”
“Sky drove plenty.”
Forced to acknowledge my girlfriend, my mother finally turned her gaze to Skylar. Dad came out and stood beside her, his smile natural and warm.
“Oh,” was all she said.
Sky blew it off and pasted a big smile on her face. “Thank you so much for having me, Mr. and Mrs. Fujimoto. It’s an honor to be here in your home.”
“Hello.” Mom said it no less brusquely than meeting a stranger or acquaintance in passing. Or someone she wanted to get the hell out of her house, which I’d often seen when a vacuum salesman snuck his way inside our community.
“It’s good to see you again, Skylar. Please. Welcome to our home.”
Mom fixed her husband under a stare, his friendly words to the interloper in our home apparently too much for her to bear. When he ignored her, she yanked Ama’s travel cage from the car and strode inside at a clipped pace.
“Come
inside, please. I will send Alex for your bags.”
“Nah, we have it, Dad, but thanks.”
“Are you sure? I’ll use any excuse to get him away from the video games for a while.”
I chuckled. Alex would mainline sugar and live on Fortnite if Mom and Dad would let him. Taking both suitcases in hand before Sky could grab hers, I nodded toward the house and moved up to the steps onto our screened-in front porch. We paused long enough to trade our shoes for house slippers—a tall shelf kept dozens of pairs for the family and guests.
“These are so comfy,” Sky whispered. “How come you don’t wear these in your apartment on the campus?”
“I dunno. I like being barefoot in my own place.” That, and it was my own quiet way of rebelling, I supposed. “Also, get ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“You’ll see.”
We stepped inside and made it as far as the stairs before my youngest brother sprinted over and threw himself at me. I hadn’t even set our bags down. If not for Skylar’s hand on my back, the kid would have knocked me over.
“You’re home!”
“Hey, sport, miss me or something?”
“Yeah. This summer sucks without you. What’d you get me from Virginia?”
“A lot of things.” I set down the bags, and then tousled his black hair. “But you have to wait for them until later.”
“Hey, Alex.” Skylar stepped up beside me and smiled.
I squeezed Skylar’s fingers and led the way toward the living room.
Alex followed along, his gaze darting around and his lip caught between his teeth. “Um, Gabriel, you should probably know something.”
“What’s that?”
“She’s here.”
“Huh? Who’s—?”
“Hi Gabriel.”
My heart stopped. My ex-girlfriend occupied a high-backed chair near the windows, wearing a sundress that hugged her slim body. The worst betrayal of all became apparent when my gaze reached her shoulder. Ama sat there, preening Jada’s hair and warbling gentle noises. She turned her head and gave the sun conure a kiss.
My bird had forsaken me for the enemy.
Jada’s parents wore matching suits—which was a little disturbing the longer I looked at them—and sat on the adjacent loveseat. Those two always looked put together, even for casual outings.
Creepy. Was this the future I’d dodged?
“Oh, um, hey Jada,” Skylar said.
Jada flicked her gaze to my girlfriend, her smile tight. For the first time, she actually looked uncomfortable to be in my home. “Skylar. I heard congratulations are in order. Baby sister, right?”
“Brother,” Skylar said, prompting a rush of color into Jada’s cheeks.
“Sorry. Still, congrats.”
“Thanks. I, uh, didn’t expect to see you.”
“I live next door.”
She did. I had fond memories of climbing through her bedroom window to play video games at midnight while her parents worked with their respective wards. Before we’d been expected to be a couple, no friendship had been stronger. Now I could barely look at her. “Nice seeing you all. Anyway, we’re going to head upstairs—”
Mom cut me off with a stare. The kind of look that sliced through my words sharper than a knife before she even opened her mouth. When I was younger, that stare usually preceded her grabbing a chancla. To this day, I still cringed when I saw her reaching for a slipper. “Don’t be rude to our guests, Gabriel. Sit. I’m sure Skylar can manage to get upstairs on her own.”
“I’ll help her.” My sister appeared as if by magic at our side. “C’mon, Skylar, I’ll take you up to my room. You have to see the new eyeshadow palette I just bought. There’s a color in it that reminds me of your hair, and I bet it would look amazing on you.”
Alex hurried upstairs after the girls, which left me, my folks, and the Harringtons.
“Sit, Gabriel,” Mom said, patting the sofa cushion between her and Dad.
I sat. What the hell else could I do?
“So…” Mrs. Harrington said, tapping her French manicure against one thigh. Her husband shifted in his seat and studied me with dark eyes, pinning me with a murderous look.
“You hurt my daughter,” he began in his sophisticated, British accent.
“Daddy—”
Mr. Harrington sliced the air with his hand, silencing her. She flinched. “We trusted you with our daughter, Gabriel. You made a promise many years ago to both her and us that you would stand by her side.”
“I was fifteen.”
“And a rather mature, bright young man at that age,” her father countered.
“With all due respect, Jada and I are adults now and we can make our own decisions. Decisions that don’t include each other.”
“Gabriel, please. Consider your choices, darling,” Miss Sophia said. I’d grown up calling her that most of the time. She’d been kind, almost a second mother to me throughout my childhood.
“I have.”
“You may be dazzled by her now, as most are when they conduct business with fae as closely as a sentinel must, but that will end in time. Especially once you’ve seen her true colors. Fae care only for their own kind. You know this.”
My back stiffened. Tension rippled down my shoulders and spine, making my shoulders ache. I didn’t realize my nails had cut into my palms until I felt the blood trickle. “Really? Is that why King Oberon personally visited campus last year?”
“To help a fae student,” Sophia argued. “What did he do for you? For any shifter there?”
“Nothing, but—”
“Fae look after their own. And years from now, when she’s become bored with you, you’ll wish you had respected our daughter. Jada loves you.”
Jada hadn’t uttered a word since their tag team tirade began. When I glanced at her, she broke eye contact and looked away, mortified. She looked like she wanted to shrink into a hole somewhere, never to be seen again.
“Jada doesn’t love me. She loved controlling me. She loved dictating what I did with my free time and who I did it with. She loved the connection between our families. And maybe she loved my friendship, but she didn’t love me.”
“And this fae does?” Sophia countered.
“I don’t know that. What I know is that Skylar cares about me and I care about her. She doesn’t go behind my back, she doesn’t issue ultimatums, and she accepts me for who I am. The same way I accept her.”
“Look, son,” Mr. Harrington cut in. “This is a mere crush. What you and Jada have is real.”
None of them were listening. I sucked in a breath then let it out with the only admission that would break through their thick skulls. “I initiated a claim on Sky.”
Mom gasped, hand held to her heart like I’d stabbed her. “Mijo, no.”
“Yes. If I have my way, I’ll complete it this year. It’s up to her to accept it.”
Her face hardened. “I won’t allow it.”
“I don’t need your permission, Mom. I’m sorry. I love you, but this has got to stop.”
“You’re throwing away your potential,” Mr. Harrington spat.
Miss Sophia sniffed. “Disgraceful.”
“I’m done with this conversation. Dad, I’ll come back for the reunion. Sky and I will get a hotel room.” I didn’t even look at my mother, because loving her didn’t mean I had to like her right now.
The moment I took a step toward the foyer, she hurried from her seat and scrambled into my path, wringing her hands together. Me visiting Texas without actually sleeping under her roof would be sacrilege. “Please, think about what you are doing.”
“Thought about it. Decided. I’d rather pay for a hotel than stay one night in this house. Thanks.”
“Your mother didn’t mean anything by it, son.”
Jada’s father stood. “You need us. One word from me will guarantee you’ll never find a worthwhile job in this state. More than this state.” The man stared at me with hard, black e
yes broiling with fury. “Your career will be rubbish from here to London.”
“Wait a minute.” Dad stepped in, rising from his seat. Shit. Now both of them were about to go head to head, and I didn’t want that. But fuck, it felt good to see my father stand on my side. “Don’t talk to my son that way, George. None of this has anything to do with his career.”
“Your boy—”
“My boy is a man, and he is quite capable of making his own decisions. Meddle with his career, and I assure you, it’ll be the last regrettable choice you make for Harrington International.”
George Harrington stiffened. If our fathers had laser eyes, they’d have scorched each other to the bone. I had to diffuse this shit fast, before it reached the point of no return.
“It’s all right, Dad.” I squared my shoulders and raised my chin, ignoring that Jada’s father had as many, if not more connections than my own father. But Dad would fight for me. He would. “I’m capable of making a future on my own without your help. I don’t need your favors or your connections. Or your advice, Mr. Harrington.”
“Think about your cousins who are happy to see you,” Mom said. “They flew from Osaka.”
“Guilting me isn’t going to fix this. I’ll see them at the reunion. Jada, good luck at your new job. I mean that, I really do. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get a few things from my room before we leave.”
Mom was too shocked to block my path again. I moved around her and stalked across the entrance hall toward the stairs. Her footsteps thumped behind me as I ascended.
“We accepted your fae, what more do you want from us, Gabriel?” she demanded.
Accepted? She called this acceptance?
“My name is Skylar.” Sky charged out, appearing beside me in a flash of faerie light and solar sparkles, catching me by surprise on the middle landing. “Forgive me for intruding in family matters, but you should let your son make his own decisions.”
Everyone had gathered below us at the stairs, and for once, all of them were silent, staring at her. Sky took my hand in hers and laced our fingers together.
“Not only because you’re going to lose him, but because he’s brilliant. He’s brilliant, so loyal, and he is the best partner I could ever ask for out in the world when it comes to looking out for my charge or running down a rogue supernatural. I trust him as much as I love him, and that’s what really matters.” Sky’s gaze darted to Jada. She stood a few paces away beside her mother, picking the lace hem of her sundress. “He’s even loyal to people who don’t deserve it.”
Birds of a Feather: The Paranormal University Files: Skylar, Year 2, Summer Page 13