I shrugged. “Of course I see it,” I answered. “I’m not an idiot. I can take care of myself.”
“And Sami? She won’t like it if those women and girls start making fun of her.”
“Do you think I’d abandon Sami in all of this? Really?” His attitude was starting to grate. “I can take care of my daughter.”
“Our daughter,” Aric corrected. “I know you’re still upset about what Debbie and Margie said about giving me a son and … .”
I cut him off. “I don’t want to talk about that. I’m not upset.”
“I don’t believe you,” Aric said, cupping the back of my head and forcing my head up so I had no choice but to lock gazes with him. “I love you. I love Sami. We agreed to have one child so we had better odds of keeping her safe. That’s nobody’s business but ours.”
“Aric, do you think I’m so fragile that I’m going to curl into a ball and cry?” His insistence on constantly reassuring me about my place in his heart and the decision we made so long ago caused my shoulders to stiffen.
“No.”
“Then what are you really worried about?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Well, from where I’m standing, it feels as if you think we’ll embarrass you.”
“That’s not true,” Aric protested. “I don’t care about the stupid games. I care about you … and Sami.”
“Don’t worry about us,” I said, glancing around his shoulder and staring at our morose-looking offspring as she complained to her grandparents. She was still waking up, and unhappy about the turn of events. “We’ll be completely fine. I promise.”
“Okay.” Aric was resigned as he pulled me closer for a hug. “You know you can’t set these women and children on fire when they piss you off, right?”
I snorted, giving in to his warm embrace and resting my head against his chest. “We really will be okay.”
“Zoe, I never worry about you being okay,” Aric said, his eyes somber when he pulled back his head. “You’re the strongest person I know. It’s just … you don’t have wolf instincts. They’re going to get you in the woods, make you play Hide and Seek, and then force you to find your way back to camp.”
“And you think I’m incapable of doing that?”
“I think … they’re going to take special pride in trying to make you look bad,” Aric clarified. “I don’t want to toot my own horn or anything, but I was considered quite the catch when I was younger. All of these females thought they would have a shot with me … and that was important to them because of my family’s money and status.
“That all changed the day I met you,” he continued. “I knew I wanted you right away. Every mean word and snarky comment only cemented that further. These people think you stole something from them.”
That was the biggest pile of ego-driven crap I’d ever heard. “It’s going to be okay,” I said, patting his arm. “I’m fully capable of finding my way through the woods and keeping our daughter safe.”
“I’m not worried about that. I know you’ll keep her safe.”
“I swear we’ll be all right,” I said. “You should get moving and catch your fish.”
“If I do, we’ll have them for dinner.” Aric looked excited at the prospect.
“Oh, well, in that case, make sure the fish you catch for Sami and me tastes like chicken.”
Aric scowled. “I’ll do my best.” He gave me another kiss. “If you get in trouble … .”
“I know how to find you,” I finished. “I have a cell phone and can psychically link to you, in case you’ve forgotten. We’ll be fine.”
Aric took my hand and pressed it to the spot over his heart. “Be good. Be careful.”
“I will be a … paragon of friendly conversation and serious game play.”
Aric snorted. “Just try not to kill them and we’ll call it good.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
Eleven
“Okay, the rules of the game are very simple,” Debbie said, smiling in my direction. “There are picnic baskets hidden in the woods. We will have two teams of chasers – those are the people who tag you out, and they’ll be wearing red armbands – and everyone else is supposed to find a picnic basket to win. Any questions?”
“How much land are we talking about here?” I asked, scanning the thick woods.
“Fifteen miles.”
Fifteen miles? What a bunch of crackheads. “And you expect us to find picnic baskets when we have that much land to cover? What are we, deranged Yogi Bears?”
Debbie kept her smile in place as she regarded me. “Wolves can smell food,” she explained. “You’ll understandably be at a disadvantage because you’re human, but Sami is half-wolf. She should be able to detect the picnic baskets.”
Except Sami had never displayed a keen sense of smell – er, well, other than when candy and cake are in the house – and I was fairly certain these women and their annoying offspring knew that. Aric was right. They wanted to embarrass us. It was a test, but it wasn’t for me. They wanted to see Sami’s abilities.
“But I can’t … .”
I cut Sami off by slapping my hand over her mouth. “It sounds exciting,” I said. “We’re thrilled to participate.”
Sami gave me a wide-eyed look but otherwise remained silent.
“Great,” Debbie enthused, disdain positively dripping from her tongue. “We’re all excited to see what you can do. But because this is your first game, we thought we’d give you a head start.”
Oh, they’d like that, wouldn’t they? “We don’t need a head start. We’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure? There’s no shame in admitting your weaknesses.”
I’d show her weaknesses. “We’re fine,” I repeated. “We’ll do great.”
“Okay, well, good luck.” Debbie was dubious. “Running teams have two minutes before the chasers head out. Is everyone ready?”
Sami moved to my side, her eyes curious. “Are you sure about this?”
“Yes.”
“Are you saying that because you don’t want to lose?”
“We’ll be fine, Sami. We won’t lose.”
“Dad says you’re a poor loser.”
“Well, your father isn’t here,” I said, shifting my eyes to Debbie as she lowered her hand and the rest of the women and children raced into the woods. They were much faster and more athletic than Sami and me. “We’ll be fine. I promise.”
I tugged on Sami’s arm and dragged her into the heavy underbrush. I knew the chasers would be on us quickly, and because we didn’t have the physical prowess the other players boasted, I had an idea to help keep them off our trail.
“How opposed are you to bending the rules?” I asked, glancing at Sami’s somber brown eyes.
“Cheating?”
“No, it’s not cheating,” I clarified. “The whole point of the game is to use your skill set. They know we don’t have the same skill set as they do, and that’s why they’re going to try and catch us first. They’re the ones cheating.”
Sami didn’t look convinced. “Just because we’re slower doesn’t mean they’re cheating. I’m not sure we should break the rules.”
Ugh. She’s such a prude sometimes. She gets that from her father. “Sami, do you want to win or not?”
“I … yes.”
“Then I think we should break the rules.”
Sami blew out a resigned sigh. “How? How are you possibly going to beat them? They obviously have it out for you.”
“Yes, well, apparently that’s because of your father and his awesome face and bank account,” I said. “As for how I’m going to bend the rules, well … have you ever seen a small dome?”
Sami made a face. “Like you made at the house to protect us when I was sleepwalking?”
“Kind of,” I replied. “This one would be much smaller, though. It would protect us and keep us out of sight while they’re looking for us.”
“Would they still be able to
find us if they looked really hard?” Sami asked. “Otherwise that sounds a lot like cheating.”
I’d had just about as much of her attitude as I could take. “We’ll treat it like an experiment.”
“Fine.” Sami heaved out a sigh. “If this comes back to bite us, I’m blaming you.”
“That seems completely fair.” I grabbed Sami’s shoulder and closed my eyes, taking a moment to gather my magic. The power swirled around us, a bevy of white and green tendrils whipping around until they formed a small ball. Instead of forcing us to keep stationary, though, the dome allowed us to walk freely once it was complete.
Sami was curious as she extended a finger and poked the ball. “Neat,” she whispered, her finger bouncing back. “Can they see us?”
I shook my head. “We’re camouflaged.”
“Can they hear us?”
“No. I tested out domes with your father and Paris a long time ago. We’re completely hidden.”
“This is kind of cool,” Sami admitted, her eyes wide as she glanced around. “How far away can I move and still be covered?”
That was a good question. “I’m not sure, but I wouldn’t force the issue,” I replied. “We don’t have to hold hands or anything, but stay relatively close.”
“Okay.” Sami was intrigued by the dome and focused on testing it, trying to pick flowers through the walls and ultimately moving a few steps away so she could pick the flower and enlarge the dome at the same time. “This is really cool.”
“Even though we’re cheating?”
“Who cares about that?” Sami asked. “I want to win as badly as you do.”
“Yes, you get that from me,” I said, resting my hand on her shoulder. “I … .” I snapped my mouth shut when I noticed two figures stalking through the woods to our right. Debbie and Claudette, red armbands displayed proudly by both, looked intent on their search.
“She went this way,” Claudette said. “I saw her.”
“Don’t you think it’s a little ridiculous to focus on her right from the start?” Debbie asked. “I know you hate her, but … .”
“I don’t hate her,” Claudette argued. “I don’t even know her.”
“Yes, but you’re jealous she got Aric and you got stuck with Tate,” Debbie said. “That’s not really her fault. It’s not as if she knew you and Aric were a thing.”
I narrowed my eyes. A thing? That was a far cry from the story Aric told. They were either exaggerating or Aric played down his involvement with the woman. I couldn’t decide which possibility was more feasible. Aric wasn’t a liar, but he would do almost anything to spare my feelings.
“Oh, she knew,” Claudette intoned. “You didn’t see the way she looked at me. She was challenging me. She stole Aric and she knows it. She’s proud of herself.”
Well, that was a load of crap.
“That’s not the story I heard,” Debbie argued. “I heard that they met at college and he fell in love with her. He wasn’t expecting it or anything. He was going to marry a wolf before that, but she changed things for him.”
“You mean she stole him,” Claudette corrected.
“It’s not as if you can control who you fall in love with,” Debbie pointed out. “He clearly loves her. Even when she’s not close he’s always watching her.”
“Love isn’t everything,” Claudette argued. “She took away his future on the wolf council. Heck, she gave him a daughter and refuses to try for a son. She’s like … the worst wife ever.”
I narrowed my eyes as Sami instinctively grabbed my arm. She was upset by the words – and I didn’t blame her. Before I realized what I was doing, I lashed out with my mind and sent an invisible magic tendril to Claudette’s feet, tripping her and causing her to pitch forward.
“What the … ?” Claudette sputtered as she rolled to her knees. “What the heck was that?”
“I have no idea,” Debbie replied, scanning the ground. “Did you step in a hole or something?”
“I didn’t step in a hole. Something … smacked me and caused me to lose my balance.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Well, I know so.”
Debbie was dubious. “We should probably keep looking,” she said, extending her hand and helping Claudette to her feet. “They’re probably around here somewhere.”
“I scented them going into the woods,” Claudette said, glancing around. “It’s like their scent disappeared here. How is that possible?”
Debbie shrugged. “Maybe they went that way.”
“Well, whatever way they went, I’m going to catch them,” Claudette said. “I can’t wait to see her face when she realizes she lost to me.”
“That will definitely be exciting.” Debbie said the words even though she appeared to be bored with the conversation.
I watched them go, annoyance and amusement competing for precedence in my brain. Finally I shifted my eyes to Sami. She seemed upset and confused.
“Don’t listen to them,” I said. “They’re jerks.”
“I know.” Sami forced a smile. “Should we find a picnic basket?”
There was no way I was going to eat anything those women packed. “I have a better idea.”
“Is it cheating, too?”
“It all depends on how you look at it. Come on.”
“YUM.”
Sami was all smiles as we sat at a picnic table outside of a small diner. Technically, because we got the food and took it outside I figured it counted as a picnic. Sami didn’t disagree as she happily ate her chicken strips and fries.
“Yum indeed,” I said, smiling as I dipped a fry in ketchup. “Sami, can I ask you something?”
Sami chewed and nodded.
“Did what Claudette said bother you?”
Sami shrugged. “I think she’s just jealous because she has a crush on Dad and he loves you.”
“Not that part,” I said. “That’s the part that bothered me. I’m talking about the part about giving your father a girl and not a boy. You know that your father doesn’t care about that, right? That’s them. That’s not him.”
“I know,” Sami said, averting her gaze. “I … I know.”
I wasn’t so sure that she did. “Sami, your father loves you more than anything.” I kept my eyes on her, hoping to see signs of strength rather than fear. “He’s not disappointed because you’re a girl. In fact, when I was pregnant, he said he would be happier with a girl than a boy.” Actually, what he said was he would be happy with either, but I figured the lie was close enough to the truth to let it slide.
“I’m glad I’m a girl,” Sami said. “I know Dad loves me. It’s just … did you ever think of having another baby?”
“No.” I saw no reason to lie.
“Why?”
“Because you’re … unique,” I replied. “You’re half wolf and half mage. That makes you a remarkable commodity. Your father and I didn’t want to risk having more than one child because we were afraid we couldn’t keep two children safe. Heck, we’ve barely been able to keep you safe.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Sami mused. “But you guys thought I would be powerful. I’m not. I don’t have hardly any magic – other than that one time – and I’ve never turned into a wolf.”
I ran my tongue over my teeth as I regarded her. “Do you want to shift?”
“I don’t know.”
“You can tell me the truth.”
“I want to do it for Dad,” Sami said after a moment. “It seems important to him.”
“I think he would be happy if you shifted so he can share that whole full moon world with you, but if you don’t, that won’t change the way he feels about you,” I offered. “He loves you no matter what.”
“What about you?”
“Well, despite your mouth, I love you, too.”
“Not that,” Sami said, making an annoyed face. “Do you wish I would start getting powers like you have?”
That was a thorny issue. “I don’t know. I want you
to be able to take care of yourself. I want you to be strong. More than anything else, I want you to be happy. Your life might be easier if you never manifest a lot of powers.
“On the flip side, people may never believe that, and you could constantly be in danger,” I continued. “The powers would come in handy if you find yourself on the run.”
“What if I never shift?”
“Then you won’t shift.”
“What if I don’t get your powers?”
“Then we’ll still love you exactly as much as we love you now.”
Sami pressed her lips together and nodded. “I don’t know what I want,” she admitted. “Sometimes I think I want to be a wolf, because Grandpa says it’s the most important thing in the world. Sometimes I think I want to be a mage, because you say that Grandpa is blowing smoke out of his butt and being a jerk.”
“I say that in private,” I reminded her. “Don’t ever repeat that to your grandfather.”
“I think he knows you say it.”
I had a feeling she was right. I decided to switch topics. “I’m not exactly keen on this environment, and I don’t like these women,” I said. “Your father is excited to be here, though. I saw it for the first time last night and again this morning.
“Your father doesn’t ask for much, and he gives everything he has to both of us,” I continued. “This is going to be difficult for us, but we’re going to make it work because it’s important to him.”
“But he said it wasn’t,” Sami protested. “He didn’t want us to go.”
“He didn’t want us to go because he was protecting us,” I explained. “He didn’t want the other wolves making fun of his human wife – even though I’m not technically a human. He didn’t want the other kids making fun of you because you haven’t shifted.
“Everything he’s ever done is to keep us safe and happy,” I continued. “I think we owe him a chance to do something for himself for a change. Don’t you?”
“I want Dad to be happy,” Sami said. “But I don’t like these kids. They look at me funny.”
“That’s because they’re afraid of you.”
“They don’t seem afraid,” Sami countered. “They act like they’re … above me.”
Dying Covenant: The Complete Series Page 36
