guard dragged me toward the hidden back door that hadn’t been there before.
Surprise, anger, and a little fear swirled inside me. I’d gotten the job. I’d be able to support my siblings now. I should be elated.
So why did I feel like I was dancing toward my grave?
Chapter 12
I changed to a pair of spare pants in the SUV and went straight to school to pick up my siblings.
While they all shouted in the van, making my head spin, I kept replaying today’s events—from encountering a Nightling to stripteasing for a Fae mob boss. Oh, they called him king as well.
That meant I had three kings and one queen on my hands.
I’d pinched myself a few times to make sure I hadn’t fallen into the rabbit hole. I wished the whole thing was a bad dream, right from the moment when my parents had vanished.
What had I gotten myself into this time? Even the bad guys, who preyed on college girls with date-rape drugs at the frat parties, weren’t on par with these Fae “kings.” After I’d felt the power from all of them, I was certain they would consider rapists as nothing more than prey.
How could I survive in the Fae world when everyone but me was a predator?
And then there was this astral projection of an oddly dressed Fae female claiming the queen wanted to hurt me. I had never known these people in my life before this day. Had the queen sent the Nightling to go after my family?
This so-called queen would be sorry if she’d had a hand in that.
Adele also said that Rydstrom now recognized what I meant to him. I hoped he didn’t believe I was his fated mate as well.
How could I be a fated mate to all three Fae dudes? I snorted. What a mess.
They were all going to be disappointed when they finally realized that they’d come for the wrong girl.
My head pounded from the little brats still shouting in the closed space of the van. I finally shouted back, “Shut up and let me think for a second!”
“The bitch’s back,” Safiya murmured.
“Right, and you don’t need to hitch a ride on this bitch’s car next time,” I said.
“It’s Dad’s van, and Mom won’t allow you to treat me like this!” she yelled back.
Pain hit me again. “Try me,” I said, my heart going softer but my voice only turned harsher. “Keep staying on my bad side and you’ll get what you ask for.”
“Uh, Evie, you haven’t answered our questions,” Emmett said. “The twins especially wanted to know what’s for dinner tonight.”
“Uh?” I said. “Oh, the usual, meatball tomato spaghetti, with egg salad, pickles, and mozzarella cheese on the side.”
That was almost the only thing I knew how to cook. I learned it through YouTube on an All-in-one spaghetti recipe.
“No!” my siblings shouted in sync.
“All right then,” I grated. “You’ll get steamed broccoli too.”
“We hate broccoli,” they said.
Ungrateful brats. Didn’t they know how hard it was for me to get my ass to the kitchen? I hated cooking. And I was sorry that for a week, my cooking skills hadn’t improved.
“Can we have pizza tonight, Evie?” Asuka said quietly.
The twins and I barely exchanged words. Usually, they didn’t talk to anyone else but each other. And that puppy-dog look on his face got me. Even though I was the villain of the family in my siblings’ eyes, I could never kick a puppy.
“Fine, we’ll order three boxes of pizza,” I said with a sigh, caving in. I was sick of pasta, too.
“All large size?” Emmett asked from the passenger seat.
I sighed. “Fine. We do have six big mouths plus mine.”
“I’ll order the pizza,” Cassidy volunteered.
“Absolutely not,” I said. “If it’s up to you, all three pizzas will be piled with sausages, bacon, and pepperoni. We need vegetables, too, and I like pineapple. So here’s how it goes. The twins get to decide one pizza, Safiya and Cassidy can pick theirs together, Emmett, Fawn, and I will have Hawaiian pineapple, and Fawn can take any piece she wants from any pizza box. Emmett will place the order when you sent your final request to him.”
I was a genius. Now I pitted the two troublemakers—Cassidy and Safiya—against each other. A smirk tugged the corner of my lips when Cassidy and Safiya started to argue.
As I cruised down the lane toward my house, I spotted a couple of Baron’s minions hiding in the trees. After another block, Rowan’s Fae thugs also appeared. They seemed