9. Ten Maeve

CHAPTER NINE

TEN: MAEVE

I stood, frozen, unable to turn away as I watched my kid sister swap saliva with my only female friend in England.

But…I don't…how?

Have I fallen into an alternative universe? Have the fae somehow penetrated the castle and cast a glamour to disorient me?

Is this…how can this be real?

Neither of them noticed me. It was no surprise – what they were doing looked pretty intense, the kind of kiss that stole your breath and left you panting and wet. A kiss that said a hundred things you couldn't say yourself.

Do I say something? Do I back away quietly and let them have their moment?

This is insane. It's not happening. No way is my pentecostal sister swapping saliva with another women. It's just not possible.

I rubbed my eyes, but the sight in front of me didn't change. It was no hallucination.

They still hadn't noticed me. Okay, maybe if I just leave and pretend I never saw anything. I backed toward the door, still unable to tear my eyes away. That's it. I'll back out and let them finish and I'll have it out with Kelly later ? —

My leg brushed the side of the coffee table, knocking off one of the game controllers. I winced as it clattered across the flagstones.

Jane's eyelids fluttered open. They met mine across the room. She jerked back.

"Ow," Kelly complained, pressing her hand against her mouth. "Yah bit mah lip. Wha?—"

Her gaze followed Jane's across the room until she fixed on me. I expected her to give me that disgusted look she'd had on her face every time she saw some new part of my life she didn't approve of, but instead, her eyes widened and her cheeks paled.

"Maeve, it's…It's not what it looks like," she blurted out.

"It looks like the two of you were kissing," I said. "Is that not what happened?"

Kelly glanced at Jane. Neither of them replied.

"Did you trip and fall into each other's lips? Did Jane get stung by some kind of poisonous airborne jellyfish and you had to suck the poison out before she went into anaphylactic shock? Did a fae possess you and force you to act against you will?" I tried to smirk to cover up the fact that was a very real fear right now.

How else could I explain this insane behaviour?

Jane looked at Kelly, as if to say, "you're handling this one like we agreed, right?"

As if they had a plan.

Of course they have a plan, my rational mind screamed. They've been sneaking around in a relationship behind your back all this time, and they've been talking about you, about how they would handle you, like you're some wild beast who has to be tamed.

"Maeve, don't be angry," Kelly said, her voice wavering.

"A bit late for that. How long has this been going on?" I said tersely.

"A few days, ever since…" Kelly's eyes blazed, her body language changing from pleading to recalcitrant. "Since I saw you doing witchcraft . Since I realised I didn't know my sister any more."

I glared at Jane. "You swore you wouldn't say anything to her."

"She figured most of it out on her own, Maeve," Jane said. "She was upset. I was angry at you. You asked me to keep her occupied. One thing led to another. I didn't tell her anything. I kissed her instead."

She reached across to Kelly, clasping her hand in a familiar gesture that made red spots appear in front of my eyes.

"So all those shopping trips and private lunches, you two were sneaking around behind my back?" I demanded.

"Like you've been sneaking around with Flynn? With Corbin?" Kelly shot back. "That's called hypocrisy, Maeve. I learned all about it from you, remember? From all those lectures you used to give about the evils of organised religion. ‘You don't need religion to be a moral person' you said. I guess Stephen Dawkins didn't have anything that matched Corinthians 6:18 – Flee from sexual immorality. You're the biggest hypocrite of all!"

"That's not true. I?—"

But Kelly wasn't listening. "You don't own Jane's affections or feelings. At least she listens to me. At least she hasn't been lying and sneaking around and hurting the people she supposedly loves."

"I was trying to protect you!" I yelled, balling my hands into fists. Fresh, angry tears rolled down my cheeks, mixing with the sticky plum juice. "I was trying to save your precious Christian fucking Corinthians 6:18 sensibilities from finding out that I can do magic and that I'm fucking all five guys!"

Oh shit.

Did I say that?

Jane gasped.

Yup. I said that.

I squeezed my eyes shut so I didn't have to see Kelly's face. I couldn't bear to see what my love looked like when it was turned into disgust.

I spun on my heel, opened my eyes a crack, and fled the room.

Corbin caught me in the hallway. "What happened in there? You were yelling."

Rowan and Arthur stood behind him, looking at me in concern.

"Kelly and Jane is what happened. They were kissing."

Corbin smiled. "Like, sexy kissing? Wow."

Behind him, Arthur grinned.

"You can wipe those stupid looks off your faces. Yes, they were kissing, okay? Like it meant something."

"So your sister has feelings for someone of the same sex? Why is it that a problem for you?" Corbin's eyes looked dangerous.

I gripped his shoulders, digging my fingers in to accentuate my point. "It isn't that. You know it isn't that. It's the fact that she didn't tell me. This is a paradigm shift for Kelly. She grew up believing that homosexuality was a sin. And now she's kissing a girl and she didn't even come to me to talk about what that means."

"You mean, the same way you couldn't go to her about us?" Corbin said gently.

I opened my mouth to yell, but all the fight whooshed out of me like a deflating balloon.

Shit. He's right. The way I feel now is exactly how Kelly's been feeling ever since she arrived. And if I add that to what Corbin was saying before, about her being jealous…maybe I get it.

I've been a total bitch, and a hypocrite.

I have to make this right.

I tore myself from Corbin's grasp and raced back to the Great Hall. "Kelly, wait, I'm sorry?—"

But there was no one there. Jane and Kelly and Connor were gone.

The front door slammed.

I ran into the entrance hall and threw it open, just in time to see the two of them struggling to drag Kelly's large backpack across the courtyard toward Jane's beaten up old Fiat.

They must have already been packed and ready to leave.

"Kelly, please stop. I didn't mean?—"

"I hate you, Maeve!" she yelled after me as they raced under the portcullis. "I never want to see you again."