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“That’s un-fucking-believable,” Amelia said. She leaned in. “Cora, I’ll hunt him down for you. I’m not kidding. Nobody fucks with my baby sister like this.”
Cora flipped the photo over so it was face down on the table, and then pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger.
You promised yourself you weren’t going to get mad about this again, she thought. You can’t let him control you like this. That’s what he wants.
She forced a smile.
“If you go to jail for murder, who am I going to call about getting red wine stains out of my carpet?” she asked Amelia, trying to sound lighthearted.
Amelia didn’t take the bait.
“Come on, Mealy,” Cora said, using the nickname that she knew her sister hated. “You’re the only one I’ve got. Don’t go to jail.”
“Stay with me,” Amelia said. “If he tries anything, he’ll meet the business end of Dad’s old hunting rifle.”
“I can’t do that to you,” Cora said.
Amelia just sighed and looked down.
“He’s not going to follow me across the country,” Cora said. “Besides, I’ve always kind of wanted to live out west. It’ll be fun.”
Amelia made a face.
“But do you have to move all the way to Cascadia?” she asked. “It’s so far away.”
“It’s the first place I got a job offer,” Cora said. “I’m going to be copywriting for a boutique marketing firm in Granite Valley.”
Amelia still looked worried.
“What if you’re moving out of the frying pan and into the fire?” she asked. Her mug of coffee was almost empty and she picked it up and swirled it around as she spoke. “You know what they say about shifters.”
Cora raised her eyebrows.
“Which is?”
Amelia leaned in.
“They’re a bunch of sex perverts, Cora,” she said, lowering her voice. “I see it on the news all the time. There are all these exposés about shifter sex parties and stuff.”
Cora narrowed her eyes. “You need to watch the news less,” she said. “You know none of that is true, right?”
“What if it is, though?” Amelia gave her sister a pointed look. “The triad thing is true.”
“Mealy, they’re just people,” Cora said.
“People who turn into animals.”
“So?”
“So shifters are just a little... uncivilized. It’s the wild west out there.”
Cora shook her head. “You know how you’re always bitching about diversity in your teaching staff?” she asked. “It’s because you say shit like this.”
Amelia was the principal at an elementary school, and she looked pissed.
“I’d never say that at work. I’m not an idiot,” she said.
“But you think it,” said Cora.
