Book 3: Family Dinner

Candace

“Thank you.” I smile up at Kash—he suggested I call him Father, but that still seems too strange—as he hands me a bowl of noodle soup in one of the long food tents that’s sprung up in my handful of days in isolation.

“Just let me know if you want seconds.” He tosses his hair over his shoulder and sits on the long bench between Kieran and me.

Judging by the scent wafting off the soup, which I can just make out despite his closeness, this is going to be too rich for me to finish the bowl I already have. Long, thick noodles and chunks of some meat float in a rich broth flavored with a cacophony of herbs. Still, I nod.

“So, Kash,” Raven says, “I’d love to know a little more about you.”

“Me?” He seems surprised.

I drag my spoon through my soup. This polite, awkward conversation is the conceit of this little dinner—introducing the new family to the old. Or the real family to the fake, if I can really count Mother as family.