“All right. I’ll talk to her later,” I say softly. Arden already knows Seven and I are a couple, but I don’t want my family to feel bad that I’m just telling them now, so I leave it at that.
“But you’re going to tell the rest of us now, right?” Grandma asks enthusiastically.
“Yes.” I turn toward Seven, but he motions with his head as if to sayit’s your family. You do the talking.
Across the table, three pairs of eyes stare at me expectantly. I take a deep breath and just say it. “Seven and I are together again. We’re going to take our relationship public. And he’s Arden’s father.”
Grandma’s gasp fills the room, but my parents’ silence is more concerning. I start to explain. I tell them about Godmother and her bargain with Seven and how none of us knew until Arden and I returned to Dragonfly. I talk about working together and the kiss being real, and how what happened at the Yule ball was all Chance’s doing. I only stop when it’s clear I’m vomiting words, some of which don’t even make sense anymore.
I close my mouth. We all stare at each other, silence cloaking us in its weighty blanket.
Seven clears his throat. “I love your daughter,” he says to my father. “And your granddaughter. I want to present them both to leprechaun society at the Gilded Gala, Sophia on my arm as my date and Arden as my daughter and debutante. With your blessing, of course.”
My parents say nothing. I think they’re speechless. But my grandmother’s face goes deadly serious. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen her look worried since I’ve been back.
“Do you know what you’re getting yourselves into going public?” she asks. “I like you, Seven. I’ve always liked you, and I’ve suspected for a long time that there was more going on between you two than you were letting on. Sophia’s feelings for you have been clear to me since you were children.” She gives a raspy laugh. “But relationships like yours aren’t a common thing in Devashire. I don’t have to tell you that. People will talk. People will always talk. But revealing a serious relationship at the Gilded Gala? It’s going to be a nuclear bomb. The gala is televised around the world! TheDaily Hatterwill want interviews. The gossip columns will all comment on it. Social media will overflow with vitriol. Sure, you’ll have some supporters, your bravery might be celebrated at first, but many more will hope to see your relationship fail to prove it’s unnatural… Impossible.”
“It’s not impossible,” Seven says bitterly. “I love her. I’ve loved her since we were six years old.”
Grandma nods, her eyes going teary. “Yes, you have. Sometimes wars are worth fighting, and if you choose to take up your sword on this, I’m behind you all the way. I’m an old woman. I have very little to lose. But make no mistake, both of you, this will be a war. You, Seven, are attempting to elevate a pixie to your status, and if there’s one thing that has been treated as sacrosanct among leprechauns, it is their higher status. Your contemporaries will fear that your relationship won’t be the last. They’ll fear an erosion of wealth to the lower classes, a loss of privilege and prestige. Fear can turn people into monsters. Do what you must, but sharpen your weapons. The beasts will come.”
My father finds his voice. “Betty is right. I don’t think anyone at this table is surprised by your relationship.” His eyebrows lift. “But you have to know going public will change everything. For all of us.”
His words force an icy weight of anxiety in my chest. “You’re right. It will affect you too. I can’t help that.”
“Unless you kept it a secret,” Mom says. “Why not continue as you have? Now that we know, we can help you.”
I sense Seven tense beside me, and when I look over, his jaw is clenched tight. My heart thumps in my chest. I rest both hands flat on the counter, releasing a giant breath. “I’m sorry if this is disappointing to you. I am thirty-four years old, a grown pixie. I’ve spent the past sixteen years pretending to be something I’m not, living among people who could never truly know me, spending my days wrapped in deception and my nights terrified of being found out. I did that to protect Arden and myself, and in some ways, it protected you as well. I bore the burden of being no one, of living a pretend existence, for so long. Too long. I can’t do it anymore, and with Arden staying, it’s to her advantage for the world to know she’s leprechaun. When that happens, it’s going to get hard for us anyway. It won’t be that much harder when the world finds out her mother and her father love each other.”
“You hope,” Mom says.
I nod. “I do. For many things. We can’t control what happens. My hopes and dreams may be ridiculous, but I’m going to do everything in my power to make them come true. Grandma called this going to war. I’m willing to fight. I don’t want to hide who I am or who I love anymore.” I pause for a moment, dreading what has to come next. I stare at a spot on the table as I say, “But I understand if you want no part in it. I can move out. You can distance yourselves from me, deny that you know anything. Eventually they’ll leave you alone.”
My mom’s hand lands on top of mine. “Not for all the luck in the kingdom. We are in this together.”
Dad places his hand on top of Mom’s. “If we’re going to war, I plan to start sharpening my arrows. Gods help anyone who hurts you.”
Grandma laughs wickedly. “You know I’m in! I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I live for this shit.”
Seven leans back in his chair and threads his fingers across his bottom ribs. “Then it looks like you need to pick out a gold dress, Sophia. You’re going to the ball.”
Grandma nods and murmurs, “Hurrah!”
“There’s just one thing I don’t understand,” Mom says. “Why are you covered in blood?”
* * *
The next day,Seven and I decide to divide and conquer. Since only one person can enter Ashgate at a time, he plans to go interrogate his father without me. Meanwhile, I journey to River’s house to feed Jinx and then head back to the safe house to bring him more groceries and give him an update on what’s happened.
When I knock, no one answers. I knock again, picturing River on the back porch, as lonely and depressed as the last time I’d seen him. I use my key to let myself in.
“Hello?”
A scuffle of sounds comes from the bedroom. The rustle of bedding. The thump of feet on the floor. Low cursing when something glass is knocked over.
“River?” I call, laughing a little.
A moment later he appears in the bedroom door in a pair of gray sweats and nothing else, his hair suspiciously tousled around his horns. “Sophia, thanks for coming!” He embraces me in one of his warm River hugs and takes the groceries from my arms.
