Red grinned and leaned back against the kitchen wall, his long, fiery hair standing out against the cream tile. “Nice one.”

Chloe rolled her eyes.

Zaf, meanwhile, was busy stroking one massive hand over Danika’s back with grave intensity—but he spared a second to turn his dark eyes on Eve and grunt. It was one of his neutral grunts, which she took to mean, Very well, carry on. So she did.

“First of all.” Eve turned to glare at Gigi, who had followed her in, and then at Shivani, who sat at the breakfast bar. “You two are supposed to be the voices of reason in this house.” She ignored the sharp sound of her mother’s outraged breath. “What on earth were you doing in Skybriar?”

“I decided we had better go along,” Shivani said, her attention on her own omelet, “in case your mother lost her temper and threatened someone with a lawsuit.”

Eve faltered. “Ah. Hm. Well, I suppose that’s fair enough.”

“Eve!” Mum said, her outrage intensifying.

Eve, however, was in no mood. She was the outraged one, thank you very much, and over the last twenty minutes of preparation—during which Janelle Monáe’s “Make Me Feel” tongue-clicked encouragingly in her ear—she’d decided she had every right to be. So she said firmly, “Clearly, Shivani’s caution was warranted, because you behaved horribly.”

“Now, sweetheart,” Dad began.

“As did you. You’re just as bad as each other!”

Dad shut his mouth with an astonished click.

“I appreciate that I’ve handled some things poorly, recently,” Eve said, swallowing as she considered her next words. “Up to and including running off to another county because I was upset about being told off. You were absolutely right to take me to task, because I’ve been letting childish fear limit me for far too long, and it wasn’t fair to myself or to you.”

Eve’s parents looked equal parts bewildered and relieved, as if these were the words they’d longed to hear but had never expected to. That, more than anything, spurred her on. Clearly, Eve had spent more than enough of her twenties avoiding responsibility—but that ended now. It ended today. Which meant expressing herself fully, being open and honest, being the best person she could hope to be for herself and for the people she loved. The people who loved her.

“The thing is,” she continued, “there was no need for what happened at Castell Cottage. It’s not as if I completely disappeared. I remained in contact with my sisters, and I’m an adult woman with a brown belt in karate.”

From the corner of the kitchen, she heard Zaf murmur, “Er . . . she’s a what?”

Eve plowed on. “Your worries for me were valid, but instead of expressing them, you skipped straight to—to DEFCON Five.”

“Actually,” Chloe interjected, “DEFCON One is the—”

“Shut up, Chloe! This applies to you, too, by the way. And you, Dan. I appreciate you all being worried for my welfare. But couldn’t you have asked me about the situation before you all showed up and created a scene at my place of employment? Couldn’t one of you have said, Hey, Eve, we have some questions and concerns about X, Y, and Z, so we’d like to come visit? Or did none of you believe I’d respond in a reasonable, adult manner? That I’d understand, and give you the information you needed to feel comfortable?” Eve waited for a moment, her jaw tight.