Page 8 of Feast

Haze finally spoke up. “But why? Why hide this from us and not you?” He seemed almost offended by the fact. “Why did you get to know everything while we were raised in the dark, unaware of who we even were?”

Felix shrugged, returning to his usual demeanor. “Becasue, I was born and raised in this world, bred with the sole purpose of being an ultimate weapon. It was decided that once all was corrected, I would take my seat as the new head of the family and lead us all to what was always meant to be.” He stopped, lowering his voice. “And that was the plan, set in stone, until my mother’s death.” His expression darkened as we listened. “Something you two never knew was that my mother was murdered…by Kief’s family.”

Felix had opened up to us about his mother, but he only ever told us enough to appease our curiosity.

“After murdering our grandfather, Ramon and Zolina decided it was best to make peace with Ignacio as a way to soothe rising tensions and disputes amongst the extended family. They met with him just before our grandfather’s funeral, offering peace if he’d bow to them as the new leading members. Ha.” He took a long drag, focused on the past. “Fucking bastards. Of course, our father refused. And before Ignacio had even returned from Cuba, Kief’s parents had orchestrated a shooting. They wanted to make a point, to show him that no matter what, their claws were sunk deep, and their limits knew no bounds. Even if it meant killing their own family.” Dream leaned over and began to comfort Felix, sensing how hard it must’ve been to speak out loud. “I’ll never forget that day…the day they sent men to kill her. To kill us.” His eyes rose, bloodshot and glistening with forming tears. “I watched helplessly as they murdered my mother. There was no care, no hesitation from any of them as they shot her, killing both her…and our unborn sister.”

I gasped aloud, covering my mouth as tears formed in my eyes. The mood in the room shifted completely at what he had just said.

Our unborn…baby sister…oh my god…Felix.

Dream wrapped her arms around Felix, holding him close as he dropped his head into her embrace.

Haze gripped my hand and spoke softly. “Hermano…why didn’t you tell us sooner?”

Felix struggled to compose himself for a moment, flashing a weakened smile at Dream before looking at the two of us. “Because what’s done is done. And the fact remains the same: that Kief and his whole fucking organization, Northern Lights, need to pay for all the shit they’ve done to us and our family. And like it or not, the only path to setting things right includes him.” He pointed to Spider. Our eyes followed. “I know there’s a rotten history between the three of you, but it’s time to grow up and let it fucking go. You can’t let it affect the reason we’re all here.”

Haze leaned back and groaned. “And why are we all here?” he asked, rolling his head towards Spider.

Spider grinned. “Because, thanks to my brilliant skills, I found where Kief is hiding. And family sticks together.”

Haze and I exchanged a look in response to his words.

What did he just say?

“I’m sorry.” I chimed in, looking past Haze at him. “Did you say, family?” I half-laughed, looking from my ex-boyfriend to Felix. “We’re not family.” I looked back at Spider, confused.

Spider sighed heavily. “Boy, your old man really did love his secrets.” He rubbed the spider tattoo along the side of his neck. “He kept you two in the dark on everything. What a shame.” He stood with a loud sigh, pulling a blunt from one of his baggy jean pockets. “But now I’m stuck cleaning up his mess. Fucking typical.” He raised the blunt to his lips, searching his other pockets as he spoke. “Fun fact. Your mother, Dulce, was my aunt…my father’s sister. And my father, ironically, was Ignacio’s best friend back in the day.” He whipped out a lighter and lit the blunt, taking a long drag before exhaling a heavy amount of smoke with a soft cough. Felix rolled his eyes.

Wait…my mother was his aunt?

Spider grinned, as if reading my mind. “Messy, isn’t it? Ha. Our families are intertwined, like a web. Kind of fitting, though, isn’t it?” He grinned, taking a second hit. “Back then, after all the backstabbing and bullshit, my father welcomed Ignanico with open arms, securing the remaining loyal members of the Osvaldo family into ours. I mean, why not? They were all connected back then, and forming allies with your family only strengthened mine and all of Charlotte’s Web.”

I grimaced at the ignorance in his voice, speaking as if his family did ours a favor.

Spider grinned, offering the blunt to me, but I looked away. “Eh, more for me.” He took another drag.

My gaze fell as I tried to put the pieces together in my mind. “But…if our mother is your aunt, then that makes us—” I turned to look back at him, baffled.

“Cousins.” Spider grinned, looking right at me. The way he said it made me feel sick.

Haze’s jaw clenched. “Great…just what we need. More fucking cousins.” He stopped, looking at my ex-boyfriend, asking the very question that drifted into my mind. “If you knew we were related, then why the fuck did you ever date Indi? Don’t you realize how sick that is?”

Spider blew raspberries at Haze’s question. “Oh, you’re one to speak!” Haze clenched his teeth. “Relax, big boy. I might’ve dated Indi back then, but I can assure you…both of you…I was never really interested.” He lifted the blunt to his lips, stopping as he grinned. “Incest isn’t really my thing.”

I don’t know if that’s comforting or offensive to hear.

He took a long drag, coughing as he exhaled and spoke. “Dating Indi wasn’t even my choice. Fuck,” he coughed some more. “Your father, Ignacio, set the whole thing up. Northern Light’s power was growing, and that terrified him. He spent so long keeping you two from that world, all while still keeping one foot in it. He and Dulce worked so hard to keep it all a secret, probably after seeing how fucked this one up over here came out.” He motioned his head toward Felix with a smile. “No offense, devil.”

Felix clenched his jaw and muttered to him. “None taken.”

Spider gleamed like a child at the offense Felix had obviously taken. “At the end of the day, Ignacio realized that whether or not you two knew what the fuck was going on, that Northern Lights would one day come after you. But he also knew how powerless you two would be, after being sheltered from this world and all that. So, he figured an arranged marriage would solve all his problems.” I nearly choked at what he said. “I know, crazy, isn’t it? You could’ve been hitched to this.” He pointed at himself. “Too bad,” he sang. “Ha. Relax.” He eyed Haze. “I didn’t like it either. But you gotta understand, Ignacio was crazy paranoid. He would go on and on, rambling nonsense to my father, sputtering about ‘securing bloodlines’ and ‘strengthening claims⁠—’”

Haze cut him off. “Our father might’ve been an asshole, but he wasn’t crazy.”

Spider made a face. “Are you sure about that? I mean, yeah, I was high a lot back then…but not high enough to make some shit like that up. I mean, he was obsessed, insisting that I date Indi and secure our marriage as soon as possible. It was some medieval-like shit, really. And of course, being the heir to Charlotte’s Web, well, I didn’t really have a choice. My father ultimately agreed, and I had to be the good son and do as I was told. So…I dated you.”

I crossed my arms, still baffled by everything. “If that’s what you want to call it. I guess it’s a good thing I caught you cheating,” I spat.