Sami’s eyes were chocolate slits of disgust as she shook her head. “You’re animals! That’s what Grandpa said, and now I get it. You know you’re ruining my life, right?”
“We’ve been trying really hard to do just that, and we finally managed to win the gold medal,” Aric said. “Finally, we have victory!” He shook his fist in mock delight, causing me to giggle as Sami wrinkled her nose.
“I’m never going to forgive you for this,” Sami snapped, turning on her heel and stalking toward the sliding glass door. “I’m scarred for life. I’m going to have nightmares. I’m going to think all men are perverts. I’m going to have to hide my face in shame.”
Aric and I glanced at each other as the sliding glass door slammed shut, speaking in unison as we tried to control our laughter.
“She gets that from you.”
Desperate Covenant
Dying Covenant Trilogy Book 2
One
The house is evil.
I couldn’t shake the feeling as I stood at the top of the hill staring at the burned-out husk of the dark dwelling.
It’s definitely evil.
A month earlier I eradicated the shades and evil witch spirits that resided within the abandoned home’s walls, yet, for some inexplicable reason, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t done haunting us.
I didn’t tell my husband that, of course. I didn’t tell my daughter either. She was still traumatized from the first round of haunted hijinks. I wasn’t sure she could take a second. At the tender age of twelve she has all of the patience and grace of disgruntled UFC fighter with ADHD. Yeah, she’s dramatic, sarcastic and prone to histrionic fits.
Sometimes she reminds me of me when I was that age. Other times I foist her attitude off on my husband Aric. He’s half wolf, which means some of her rages have to come from him. I refuse to believe otherwise. Sadly, I think the rest of her personality defects come from me. I guess my mother was right when she said I would end up with a daughter just like me … and it would suck. It definitely sucks sometimes.
My name is Zoe Lake-Winters and I’m a part-time mage and full-time snark master. I live in the central Michigan woods with my husband and daughter, and I had thought we’d put our current dilemma behind us when I burned the house and shredded the lingering souls inside.
I’m starting to think I was wrong, though. Something remains here. I can feel it, and I definitely don’t like it.
“What are you doing?”
I jolted when I felt Aric move into the space behind me. Thanks to my powers he’s the only one who can sneak up on me, catch me unaware. I’m not sure if my heart somehow recognizes him and doesn’t deem him a threat or if he really is that stealthy. He’s leaning toward stealthy. I’m still debating.
“I’m just out for a walk,” I lied, pasting a bright smile on my face as I turned to him. It was summer in Michigan, which means the sun was hot and the humidity made things all that much hotter. Aric was shirtless, and even though he was over forty he still had the body of a twenty-year-old god. It was a little disgusting … and lucky for me.
“You weren’t out walking,” Aric said after studying my face. “You were doing something else. Why did you come back here?”
He knew me too well to fall for a half-hearted lie. “I … don’t know.” That was the truth. I couldn’t explain my actions to him because I didn’t understand them enough to rationalize my choices to myself.
“Zoe, this whole marriage thing only works if we compromise,” Aric said, running his hand through his hair as the sweat glistened off his rippling muscles. Somehow I got distracted by his oppressive beauty and had trouble understanding what he was saying. “I can’t make you feel better if you don’t tell me what’s going on.”
“What?”
“Where is your head?” Aric asked, grabbing my chin and tilting my face up. “What are you worried about?”
“What makes you think I’m worried about anything?” I asked, nudging his hands away from my face and instinctively reaching out with my fingertips to touch the spot on his sweaty chest above his heart. “You’ve been running.”
“That’s what I do in the woods,” Aric said, his dark eyes thoughtful as he stared at me. “Zoe, what’s wrong? You’re starting to worry me.”
That was the last thing I wanted. Still, I had no idea how to explain the sense of dread that had been settling over me the past week. I feared he would think I was an alarmist. “I … .”
“Tell me,” Aric prodded, pushing my blond hair away from my face and locking gazes with me.
“I feel … like someone is watching us,” I admitted.
“Right now?” Aric was all growly as he narrowed his eyes and scanned the tree line behind us. In our haste to escape the house weeks ago, I had burned some of the surrounding trees as well as the dilapidated building. There weren’t nearly as many hiding places as there used to be.
“No, not right now,” I hedged. “Er, well, kind of not right now. I can’t explain it.”
“Try,” Aric pressed. “Sami is home alone with Trouble right now. I left the fence down. Do we need to get back there?”
Sami Winters was twelve going on forty. I was fairly certain she was capable of taking care of herself for ten minutes. As her father, Aric understandably had his doubts.
“She’s okay,” I said, reaching out with my mind and brushing against hers. Our house was more than a mile away, but I could feel her there. She was playing with her puppy and making grand plans for her sleepover tonight. It was the first one we allowed since her birthday party fiasco and she was determined to make sure it was epic. That was her word, not mine. I didn’t find anything epic about eight giggling pre-teens invading my house. “She’s in the yard with Trouble.”
The dog was a recent addition to the family. I didn’t initially want him, but Sami’s grandparents – Aric’s parents – insisted. Now I was kind of glad they did. He was still a puppy, but he followed Sami everywhere. He was lovable and cuddly. Once he grew into his feet, he would be a tremendous watchdog, too. That didn’t mean I enjoyed housebreaking him … or trying to keep him away from my shoes.
“Well, I’m relieved about that,” Aric said, cupping the back of my head. “If no one is here but you feel someone is watching us, where are they coming from?”
“I don’t know.” Frustration bubbled up. He wasn’t trying to be irritating and I knew he legitimately wanted to understand what I was feeling. I couldn’t explain it to him, though.
“Zoe, it’s going to be okay,” Aric said, adopting a soothing tone as he pulled me in for a hug. “Just tell me what you’re feeling and we’ll go from there.”
“I don’t know what I’m feeling.”
“Try anyway.”
I heaved out a sigh and closed my eyes, absorbing the steady beat of Aric’s heart and letting it lull me as he swayed back and forth. “Someone is watching us. They’re close. I don’t know where, though. I don’t know what they want. I cannot explain why I feel so … worried. I think it has to do with this house, though.”
“What makes you say that?”
“I don’t know!” I exploded, jerking back and glaring at Aric.
Instead of backing down, Aric was calm as he crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m trying to help,” he said. “Don’t take this out on me.”
I wanted to fight … or at least argue. When I opened my mouth, I thought I would say something hurtful and nasty. Instead tears filled my eyes and I pressed the palm of my hand to my forehead. “I’m sorry.”
“Oh, Zoe, I’m sorry,” Aric said, reaching for me a second time. “I can tell you’re frustrated. I shouldn’t have pushed you.”
He always makes excuses for my behavior, even when there’s absolutely no reason to find it acceptable. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in the hollow above his shoulder. “I can’t stop thinking that someone else is coming, that we’re going to be attacked.
”
Aric rubbed my back and kissed my forehead, seemingly calm and relaxed. I knew better. Now that I had voiced my concerns he would be hyper-vigilant. That was exactly what I didn’t want to happen. It wasn’t fair.
“Aric … .”
“Shh.” Aric rocked me back and forth as he rubbed his cheek against mine. “It’s okay.”
The fact that he could say that with such fortitude even when he didn’t mean it caused my heart to warm. I was being ridiculous. “I’m sorry. It is going to be okay. I’m just being … a pain.”
“You’re always a pain,” Aric said, grinning as he rubbed my back. “Why do you think we named the dog after you?”
I didn’t bother hiding my scowl. “You’re a funny guy.”
“That’s why you married me.”
“And here I thought it was because of your body.” I flashed a genuine smile, attempting to will myself into relaxation.
“That, too,” Aric said, linking his fingers with mine as he tugged me away from the burned-out house and in the direction of our property. “Let’s go home. I thought we could spend some quality time together, if you know what I mean.” He wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner, but I knew that wasn’t the reason he wanted to hurry home.
“Sami is fine,” I reminded him, squeezing his hand. “I would know if she wasn’t. She’s making big plans for her slumber party tonight.”
“Yes, well, I can’t feel her the way you can,” Aric said. “I prefer seeing her.”
Aric took the fact that my magic made me stronger than him in stride most days. I knew it bothered him that I could feel Sami – even read her mind sometimes – when he couldn’t. There was no way to balance the scales on that one, though, so there was nothing I could do to fix the problem.
“You’re not missing much,” I volunteered, opting for levity, “unless you’re dying to know what boy band members are dreamy and which movie stars are steamy.”
Aric snorted as he squeezed my hand. “Who this week? She changes her crushes so often I can’t keep up.”
“Some guy with messy hair from a band that I don’t recognize and another guy from one of those superhero shows on Netflix,” I replied. “She has terrible taste in men. It’s tragic.”
“Unlike you,” Aric teased. “You have the best taste in men.”
I took a moment to study his strong profile, my heart warming. “I do indeed.”
“Oh, don’t get schmaltzy,” Aric said. “You need to wait until we’re back in the yard and I can see Sami for myself before you get sappy. I won’t be able to enjoy it if I don’t know she’s safe.”
“She’s safe, Aric.” I kept my voice low as we moved through an area of heavy underbrush. “Do you think I wouldn’t tell you if she was in trouble?”
“No,” Aric replied hurriedly. “I know you would. It’s just … you can feel her, Zoe. I can’t. All I know is that my magical wife believes someone is watching us, and she’s never wrong.”
“I’m going to make you write that down, date it and sign it.”
Aric was confused. “What are you talking about?”
“Me never being wrong.”
Aric released my hand and flicked the ridge of my ear. “Ha, ha,” he intoned, rolling his eyes. “You’re quickly turning from funny to annoying, just so you know.”
“I figured that out on my own,” I said, cutting over to the well-worn path that led to our house as I decided to change the subject. “Are you excited for the slumber party tonight? I see Sami has left a list of rules on the counter that we’re to follow when her friends are in the house.”
“Yeah, I saw the list, too,” Aric said. “My favorite was the one about us remaining clothed at all times, and if we break that rule we’ll have to raise her allowance because she’ll have to pay for private school because she’ll never get over the shame.”
“Yes, she’s at that odd age where she’s embarrassed by her parents,” I noted. “It’s annoying.”
“I think it’s funny.”
“That’s because she’s not nearly as embarrassed by you as she is by me,” I countered. “All of her friends think you’re hot and dreamy.” I leaned my head against his shoulder and batted my eyelashes in a mocking manner. “They’re convinced you walk on water.”
Aric puffed out his chest. “I can. They’re very observant for young girls.”
“I, on the other hand, am embarrassing and say stupid things whenever I open my mouth,” I said. “Sami is mortified when I come around.”
“She’s not mortified, Zoe,” Aric corrected. “It’s just … girls of a certain age clash with their mothers. It’s not something they choose to do. It’s something that happens. It’s a rite of passage in a way. She can’t help herself.”
“Yes, well, I hate this age,” I muttered.
“It’s not as if you’re always on your best behavior,” Aric reminded me. “You go out of your way to make fun of those girls. What did you tell the kids about that phone game they were playing last summer? I believe it was something about it being for nerds.”
“Yes, and then they asked me what nerds were because they had no idea,” I said. “They said I was an old fuddy-duddy because I used outdated words.”
“And just think, they didn’t hear you use the term ‘fuddy-duddy,’” Aric teased, laughing as he slipped his arm around my waist and prodded me up the hill that led to our backyard. “If they knew how lame you really are they would scream and bury their heads under pillows while praying for the patron saint of boy bands to come and rescue them.”
“I am not lame,” I argued, scanning the yard until my eyes landed on a spot close to the house. Sami and Trouble sat beneath the large second-story balcony, the girl typing on her phone as the dog snapped at a fluttering butterfly. They seemed oblivious to our presence. “I’m the coolest woman in the world.” I heaved a relieved sigh. Rationally I knew she was okay, but much like Aric, I couldn’t be truly happy until I saw her with my own eyes. “She’s there.”
“I see her,” Aric said, squeezing my hip. “As for the cool thing, you’re right. You’re definitely the coolest person in the world. In fact, now that I’ve seen Sami and know she’ll be otherwise engaged with that phone for the next hour, I was thinking you could share some of your coolness with me.”
I giggled as he dipped me low and smacked a loud kiss against my mouth. Even after almost twenty years together, the fire raged hot between us. I couldn’t see it ever diminishing. When he planted me back on my feet we found Sami glaring at us instead of her phone.
“What?” I asked, annoyed.
“Did you guys even read the rules I left for you on the counter?” Sami asked, hopping to her feet. “I didn’t write those for my health.”
“We read them,” Aric said, making a low growling noise.
“Good.”
“That doesn’t mean we’re going to follow them,” Aric added.
“We’re going to keep them in our safe and show them to your children one day,” I supplied. “I think they’re a great keepsake. I might even frame them.”
Sami made a disgusted face, curling her lip as she shook her head. “Don’t embarrass me tonight,” she said. “This is the first sleepover I’ve had since everything happened. I want it to go well.”
What she was really saying was that this was the first sleepover she’d had since the school bully and her mother died at the house in the woods. They were evil and had designs on stealing my daughter’s power. I stopped that quickly enough. Sami, on the other hand, struggled with the knowledge that two people she thought she trusted were out to get her. She still couldn’t quite wrap her mind around it.
“We’ll be on our best behavior.” Aric tapped Sami’s forehead to force her attention to him. “We promise.”
“That means no kissing … or hugging … or getting naked in the hot tub when everyone is inside for the night,” Sami ordered.
“Oh, well, I didn’t agree to that,” Aric said, flashing
a warm smile in my direction. “In fact, we’re going to break at least two – and probably three – of those rules.”
“Don’t even think about it,” Sami hissed, wagging a finger. “If my friends know you guys … do it … all of the time, I’ll never live it down. People already call you perverts because you kiss so much. Did you know that?”
“We’re having shirts made up that say just that,” I deadpanned, causing Aric to snort. “Don’t worry about it, Sami. Whatever we do in the yard won’t affect you in the house. You have my word.”
Sami was instantly suspicious. “How can you promise that?”
“Because I’m going to magically tether everyone to the house and make it so they think they’re chickens if they try to leave,” I replied, not missing a beat.
Sami’s mouth dropped open. “Don’t you dare!”
“I think that’s a fabulous idea,” Aric said. We both got joy from Sami’s theatrics … at least some of the time. “Can you make some of them think they’re maids, too? I would love it if they could clean the garage.”
“Consider it done.”
“Oh, that’s why you’re the love of my life,” Aric teased, leaning over so he could plant a firm kiss on my upturned mouth. “You always know how to make my day.”
“Omigod!” Sami stomped her foot to get our attention. “You’re breaking rules four, seven and ten all at the same time. Are you trying to kill me?”
“We haven’t decided yet,” Aric replied blandly, slinging an arm over my shoulders. “We’ll let you know after dinner, but before bedtime. I have a feeling a bunch of screaming and giggling tweens will tilt my decision in an unfavorable way for you, though, so be on the lookout.”
“You are just so funny,” Sami said, rolling her eyes. “So, so funny. You should be a comedian you’re so funny.” She yanked open the sliding glass door and snapped her fingers to get the dog’s attention. “Come on, Trouble. They’re being idiots. You don’t want to be around idiots. It will make you sad.”
Dying Covenant: The Complete Series Page 27