Page 42 of The Goddess is Angry
“Some people shouldn’t be parents.”
“I don’t think Belladonna even likes me,” Church said. “The only reason she keeps trying to get me in her hive is because her parents want to control that, too. It’s why she was only terrible to you once and wasn’t even that aggressive about it. Belladonna is ambitious. If she actually wanted me, she’d be fighting you. And unlike Kaylee, she’d be less obvious about it.”
Belladonna had been fighting with Matilda much more than she had with me. And the weird thing was, they were on the exact same page with the cheerleading squad and had a lot in common in terms of how they approached classwork. They still foughtall the time, andI’d never say that to my sister because Belladonna really did say terrible things to her just because she was a Hellhound.
Matilda ranted about her all the time and I think Belladonna would have bothered her less if she had legitimately been terrible at cheerleading, but she was actually damned good.
And for some reason, my twin was storming over to the Mortems taking her earrings off, so some shit was about to go down. I made my way over for backup. My twin could handle two fully-trained vampires, but these people were rich with connections. The rest of this hive was going to flip if she ate these two vampires. I wasn’t going over there to protect my sister. For some reason, my sister decided to protect her nemesis and if these vampires tried to get violent, she’d finish it.
These vampires sneered at Matilda like she was total trash, but Matilda never let anyone make her feel anything less than fabulous. She squared her shoulders, braced her feet, and glared back.
“First of all, my twin has the highest GPA out of all the witches. I’m the highest out of the shifters. George’s dad is a fuckinggod, andshe hasn’t been asked to do independent study becauseno onegets asked after one semester. We’re still figuring our shit out and the professors need more time to figure out what we’re good at. Clearly, the two ofyoudidn’t have your daughter’s insanely high GPA, or you’d be smart enough to know this.
“I’m the co-captain of the cheerleading squad and I’m sorry, but I’m not letting her quit becauseyoudon’t like it.Sheenjoys it and she’s good at it. Belladonna and I are going to put this college on the map for cheerleading. Yeah, we are cheering on the dodgeball team, but we are fuckingathletesand artists. We’re dancers and we can win competitions. Besides, she’s eighteen and can be a cheerleader if she fucking wants.”
“You should mind your business, little girl.”
“Sorry, have you met my mom and aunt?” Matilda laughed.
Belladonna finally seemed to have found the spine I was used to seeing around campus.
“I’m not quitting cheerleading. And I’m busting my ass in my classes and that should be good enough for you. My hive is going to be peopleIpicked, not people I’m not even remotely attracted to thatyoulike.”
And then Belladonna grabbed Matilda and kissed the shit out of her. Oh! No wonder she hadn’t been coming at me for Church. Church was amazing and anyone would have wanted him. Unless you weren’t into guys at all and the only reason you were pretending to be was because your parents were living in the wrong damned century. Humans fucked that up for everyone for a while, but they unfucked it several years before I was born.
All that fighting and ranting and my sister was kissing Belladonna back just as hard. If Matilda had forgiven her for all that terrible shit she said about shifters and Hellhounds, I guess I could, too. If she was kissing my sister like that,maybeshe didn’t believe that nonsense and was just repeating it because it might get back to her parents.
“If you want to make your own decisions and go against your family, then you’re on your own. You’ll never set foot in our house again until you come to your senses. We’ll be contacting the family attorney about your trust fund.”
“Then she’ll come stay with me at the Library of the Profane over winter break. And I’ll be contactingourfamily attorney about her trust fund. Our family attorney is Loki, by the way. He willdestroyyou. Proceed with caution.”
Belladonna’s parents stormed out and Belladonna looked like she wasn’t sure what she just did. She looked equal parts stunned and terrified. I got it, even though my parents were wonderful and supportive. Not only did she just stand up to her parents, but she came out,andshe kissed a Hellhound. Maybe one day, they’d realize their daughter was more important than their shitty beliefs, but we weren’t there yet.
“I hope you know Matilda doesn’t unleash our Uncle Loki on people for just anyone,” I said. “Our mom is going to make you apply for a library card, but she does that to everyone and you’ll be stuck on the top floor without one.”
“Oh, shit. I’m going to pass out. I can’t believe I just did that. I’ve always dreamed about doing it, but they’re myparentsand they’ve always drilled our family motto into the kids. Some of their beliefs are vile and super outdated, but they’re myfamily.”
“Breathe,” Mags said. “They may be blood, butrealfamily loves all your warts and doesn’t dictate who you end up with. You might just be joining one of the most accepting families ever. And if you want your trust fund and any hope of your parents being less terrible, you’re going to want Loki. He’s a pansexual, shapeshifting Trickster who is both a fatheranda mother. He’s also a hell of an attorney.”
“I never wanted to join your hive, but you’re a little more likable now,” Church said. “I’m proud of you.”
“So am I,” his grandfather said. “And I’m going to tell you something. No one in your parent’s hive was chosen for independent study while they were students and I know this because I was their headmaster. The fact that they just tore into you in front of all your classmates for not getting picked after one semester when they didn’t get picked at all is astounding. I could tell some stories about when they were students. After what I just saw, I’m thinking about it.
Belladonna looked like she was about two seconds from having a panic attack and people were already still staring after that scene her parents made. Matilda and Mags sprung into action and started steering her toward the front doors so we could walk to the library.
I didn’t have being completely wrong about Belladonna Mortem on my bingo card or that we’d be adopting her over winter break, but I knew my family.
They were going to get utterly ridiculous showing Belladonna what a supportive family looked like. I hoped Belladonna was ready for my family and I hoped her parents were ready for my Uncle Loki.
george
Yule break was great. I adored my family. The Academy of the Profane was completely empty, so I wasn’t constantly worried about someone getting murdered. Our living quarters were much bigger than we needed. The librarian was given the entire top floor of the Library of the Profane and that library was huge. We weren’t even remotely cramped with Dexter and Belladonna here.
They fit in great with our family and they made my siblings happy. I already knew I adored the shit out of Dexter, but Belladonna surprised me. Now that she’d dropped all pretenses of trying to impress her family, she was hilarious and I really liked her.
Loki had kind of adopted her since he was going to make sure she got to keep her trust fund. My Uncle Loki knew all about families that didn’t accept you. He was born to giants who didn’t accept him because he was born to a woman and not created like the other gods. Loki ended up in Asgard with a new family who never really accepted him because he was a Trickster.
LokigotBelladonna and my side hurt from laughing any time Loki, Belladonna, and Dexter were in the same room. It ended being Loki who helped me fulfill Dexter’s wish to be able to use his wings without worrying about his top. Apparently, back in the day, Thor pissed Loki off. It wasn’t even something major. Thor thought he was entitled to something on Loki’s plate and Loki intended to eat it.
