I stared at her. “How much did Ascanio tell you?”
“He didn’t say anything about your past,” she said. “Except that you have had a hard time, and there was abuse and it was bouda-related. He did want me to go to Aunt B and explain to her that boudas couldn’t keep trespassing in your territory, because they would push you too far. In his words, ‘They’re trying to punk her in her own place.’ He’s worried you’ll kill someone.”
“He’s right,” I told her.
Martina took out a small recorder. “I made this for you.”
She pressed the button. Aunt B’s voice sounded from the tiny speaker.
“…I said to go over there and find out what they talked about. I said to be slick about it. Did I say to rough anybody up?”
“No, ma’am,” Carrie said quietly.
“So why would you take it upon yourselves to improvise?”
“We thought…” Deb started and fell silent.
“I wouldn’t do so much of that, if I were you, dear. When you think, you end up with broken bones. Besides, it makes me so happy when you let me do your thinking for you. You do want to make me happy, don’t you?”
“Yes ma’am,” two female voices chorused.
“I’ll explain things to you now, because I don’t want you to feel left out. You thought that because Andrea is beastkin, you could easily dominate her. Andrea is a survivor. Never underestimate that. She learned to kill, she trained for it, and she’s had practice. You fight for fun and dominance. She fights every battle as if it’s for her life. If you attack her, she will pull you apart like a badly sewn dress. Andrea also understands how the forces that uphold human law work. And we all know how important that is, don’t we?”
Another chorus. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Do you understand now why she would be an asset to the clan?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I was an asset. That was news to me.
“I don’t care if she is beastkin, elephant, or platypus, we need her. She’s like a pine. She won’t bend, she will only break. I’ve spent months trying to convince her that joining us was in her best interests and the two of you decided to throw a wrench into my plans.”
“I’m so sorry,” Carrie said.
“Me, too,” Deb echoed.
“Go away and do try to stay away from me for a day or two, yes?”
“Yes ma’am.”
The door closed. A terrible screech followed, the sound of metal being tortured.
“It was a very nice bookend,” Martina’s voice said.
“Well, now it’s a very nice piece of junk,” Aunt B said.
I glanced at Martina. “Was that an owl?” It was one of a gorgeous pair of bookends, metal and finished in pale bronze, with large amber Swarovski crystals for the eyes. Aunt B used them on her desk to keep the files from falling out of the file holder.
Martina stopped the recording and nodded. “She squeezed one in her hand. If you crushed a jelly doughnut in your fist, and the filling spilled out? That’s what it looked like.” She pushed the button.
“Did Ascanio say what Andrea and Raphael spoke about?” Aunt B asked.
“No. He did bring Rebecca there.”
The recorder fell silent.
Aunt B sighed. “Why is it that we sacrifice and work so hard to keep our children from making our mistakes, and they insist on ignoring everything we say?”
“Probably because they are our children and at their age we ignored our parents also.”
Aunt B sighed again. “Are you going to see her?”
“Yes.”
“Will you tell me how it goes?”
“You know that anything she says to me is confidential,” Martina said.
“I know. Just tell me if it’s salvageable or not. We need her.”
Martina shut off the recorder and put it down between us.
“This doesn’t change anything,” I told her.
Martina looked at me. “What’s the alternative, Andrea? Where do you see this situation going? You slapped her, in public.”
“She backhanded me down the stairs.”
“That was a gentle love tap compared to what she could’ve done. You challenged her. She can’t ignore you. You wouldn’t, in her place.”
No, I wouldn’t. I would’ve gone after me. Quick, too.
“You can leave,” Martina said.
“I’m not leaving. This is my home now. Why should I leave?”
“Then joining the Pack is your only choice. You can’t be unattached, Andrea. It is our law and you are subject to it, because you are a shapeshifter. You are one of us.”
I clenched my teeth. “I could fight her.”