“I think you were born crazy,” Sami countered.
“Don’t talk to your mother that way,” Aric snapped. “I warned you about that earlier.”
“Fine.” Sami sucked in a cleansing breath. She’d been taking online yoga classes with Paris in an effort to rein in her temper. “Can’t you … I don’t know … go for a walk in the woods or something? That way if Dad hops on you, like he always does, everyone will think it’s just an animal.”
“Did you hear that, honey? You’re an animal.”
“I did,” Aric said, gripping the back of my neck as he studied our daughter. “We shall go for a walk. I want you to know that this tyrant attitude isn’t going to fly, though. Starting tomorrow we’re going to have a long talk about the way you’re acting.”
Sami’s eyebrows flew up her forehead, giving me another brief glimpse of my mannerisms on her face. “The way I’m acting? You two are practically doing it in front of my friends. It’s embarrassing.”
“Oh, geez.” Aric got to his feet and pulled me up beside him as he shook his head. “I can’t deal with wacky women. You’re not even a teenager yet and I already want to tape your mouth shut. We’re going for a walk. Are you happy?”
“I’ll be happy if we don’t hear any kissing noises.” Sami flounced back in the direction of her friends as Aric watched her with a scowl on his face.
“You know when I said I was fine and happy with a girl?”
I nodded.
“I lied.”
“Come on, Romeo,” I said, linking my fingers with his. “If you’re good I’ll let you get to third base in the bushes.”
Aric’s eyes lit up. “We haven’t done that since … .”
“Wednesday.”
“I knew it was a long time,” Aric said, laughing as he urged me into the thick foliage that surrounded our house.
The property was isolated, completely surrounded on every side by thick trees Aric loved to run through when he shifted during the full moon every month. I’d been waiting to see if Sami would turn into a wolf – as a hybrid we honestly had no idea what to expect – but Aric said the transformation wouldn’t come until she hit puberty. He didn’t want to admit that a twelve-year-old was the right age, so I let him live in his own little world while I watched Sami closely for signs that she was going to turn into a literal beast instead of a figurative one during a full moon.
Aric was happy to pick a slow pace, an unspoken agreement passing between us that we wouldn’t go very far in case there was an incident. We picked our way around the old invisible fence line that used to keep us safe from invaders. Aric never activated it these days, worried he was locking me in rather than keeping me safe. I couldn’t help but wonder if he would change his mind as soon as Sami reached dating age.
The night was warm for this time of year, but the temperature was beginning to dip. That meant the girls would retire for the evening relatively quickly. We walked in amiable silence until Aric lifted his nose to the air, scenting a group of trees that was thick enough to conceal something – or someone – but still close enough to have a decent view of our backyard.
“What do you smell?” I asked, the hair on the back of my neck standing on end. I’d grown to trust his instincts, as he had mine.
“I’m not sure,” Aric said, wetting his lips as he gripped my hand tighter. “Someone has been here.”
“A teenaged girl?”
“No.”
“A teenaged girl’s annoying mother?”
“No.” Aric shook his head. “It was a human, and he or she – because I can’t tell either way, which is weird – stopped in this spot for a long time.”
“How long?”
“At least a few hours,” Aric replied, glancing over his shoulder as he studied the darkness. He could see much better in limited light than I could. “I don’t want to put a damper on the party but … I don’t like this.”
“That’s okay,” I said, squeezing his hand. “I’ll be the bad guy. It’s getting cold anyway. We’ll lock them in the house. Because we’re sleeping outside we might be able to catch whoever it is if they return.”
“It’s probably nothing,” Aric said. “These woods are full of mushroom pickers this time of year.”
“Yeah, but most of them don’t stare at our house while they’re out here,” I said. “Let’s get back. We’ll send the girls inside and get in the hot tub.”
Despite his worry, Aric’s interest was piqued. “Naked?”
A negative answer was on the tip of my tongue, but I bit it as I considered his hopeful expression. “We’ll see how it goes. Let’s just get the girls inside first and handle the second part of that when we’re alone.”
Aric didn’t respond, but he whistled a jaunty tune as we returned to our yard. He had high hopes. Dashing them would be cruel.
“YOU’RE SUCH A PRUDE,” Aric lamented an hour later, glaring at my bathing suit as I settled next to him in the hot tub. “I can’t believe you wound me up and then left me to tick on my own.”
He waited in the hot tub while I made sure the girls were settled. “I gave it a lot of thought and didn’t like the idea of anyone sneaking outside to see you naked,” I explained. “I was thinking about you the whole time.”
“Oh, please,” Aric muttered, waving off my excuse. “You weren’t worried about me. You just didn’t want to deal with the screaming and foot stomping if Sami found out what we were doing. Admit it.”
She was loud when she wanted to be. “I’ll get naked in the trailer,” I offered. “Can’t we just spend a half hour relaxing and then get to the other stuff?”
“Yes,” Aric said, making a face. He tugged me to his lap and kissed my neck. The sound of raucous laughter filled the air and he lifted his eyes to the sliding glass doors on the balcony. It was mostly dark except for a small light in the center of the living room. “What are they doing?”
“Telling ghost stories.”
“Oh, well, great,” Aric muttered. “That means they’ll scare each other silly and no one will fall asleep. I’ll be upstairs ghost busting all night. I just know it.”
“You’re such a drama queen,” I said. “That’s where Sami gets it.”
“She gets it from you,” Aric countered, flicking the end of my nose. “She’s all you.”
“Oh, really?” There was no way I was taking credit for that child all by myself. “Two days ago she threw a chair off the deck because she stubbed her toe, and cursed a blue streak when she did it. She didn’t get that from me. I would’ve set it on fire.”
“That’s not because of me … .”
I cut him off. “Last week she called your mother crying because she wanted cupcakes and she thought she would die if she didn’t get them,” I said. “I would’ve gone to the store. You’re the one who calls your mother and manipulates her that way.”
“Okay, fine,” Aric said, wrinkling his nose. “She’s a mixture of us.”
“That only makes me feel half better.”
Aric kissed my cheek and we lapsed into silence, staring up at the clear night sky as the sounds from inside the house diminished. About twenty minutes later everything was silent, which seemed to baffle Aric.
“What do you think they’re doing up there?”
“I think they’re sleeping,” I answered. “They had a big day in the sun. They ate a bunch of food. They gossiped. Now they’re sleeping.”
“It can’t be that easy.”
“Someone might be freezing someone else’s training bra in the freezer,” I conceded.
“Ugh. You’re checking the freezer first thing in the morning,” Aric said. “If I see that I really will die.”
He was so cute sometimes it almost hurt to look at him. “I … .” Something niggled the back of my brain and I snapped my head up and turned it toward the house.
“What is it?” Aric asked, instantly alert. He could read my moods. “They’re not texting boys, are they?”
I mutely shook m
y head and hopped out of the hot tub, ignoring the towel Aric placed on the nearby bench even as the dropping temperature chilled me. Aric’s body clock operated several degrees hotter than mine, so the cold didn’t bother him as he followed. He was ready for action, although he had no idea what called my attention to the back door on the main floor. Truth be told, I wasn’t quite sure what drew me there either.
To my utter surprise, the door pushed open and Sami stepped outside. She was in her pajamas – cotton ankle-length pants and a T-shirt – but her feet were bare.
“Sami, is something wrong?” Aric asked.
She didn’t answer. Her eyes were glazed as she stared forward, looking at something only she could see. I glanced over my shoulder to see if something was out there, but everything appeared normal.
“Sami?”
When she didn’t answer a second time, Aric reached out to shake her. I slapped his hand away and shook my head, knitting my eyebrows together as I studied Sami’s blank face. “I think she’s sleepwalking.”
“What?” Aric was dumbfounded. “She’s never done that.”
“I know. I just … .” I waved my hand in front of Sami’s face and got no reaction. “She’s not awake.”
“What should we do?” Aric asked, rubbing his chin as he stared at her. “I read somewhere that you’re not supposed to wake sleepwalkers.”
“I heard that somewhere, too,” I said, rubbing my forehead as I decided what to do. “Maybe I can direct her back inside with my head.”
“You can’t headbutt her,” Aric argued. “You could knock her out.”
“Not that.” I pinched his flank for emphasis. “I mean I’ll go into her dream and get her to go back into the house and get into her sleeping bag.”
“Do you really think you can do that?”
“There’s only one way to find out.” I pooled my energy and directed it into Sami’s head, which happened to be a cluttered place with all of the boy band posters and shoes scattered everywhere. I found her sitting in the middle of her bedroom and staring at a book. “What are you doing?”
“Reading.” Sami sounded normal in her dream.
“You’re outside,” I said. “You need to go inside and go back to sleep.”
“Okay.” Sami didn’t argue – which was completely unheard of during daylight hours – and Aric and I followed her to the living room and watched as she wriggled back into her sleeping bag. The moment her head hit the pillow she seemed to resume a normal sleeping pattern and the Sami in her head disappeared.
I took a moment to scan the room. The rest of the girls were out, oblivious to what had occurred.
“What do you think?” Aric whispered.
“I don’t know. It’s probably nothing.” I said the words, but my heart didn’t believe them. “Let’s go to bed. There’s nothing we can do about it tonight.”
Aric nodded. “Should we take turns watching her?”
“I’m going to link her to both of us when we get out to the camper,” I replied. “She’ll be okay.”
“That’s going to make the sex pretty limited,” Aric complained.
“Well, I figured I would do the linking after that,” I said, slipping my hand into his. “I have priorities, after all.”
“And that’s why I love you.”
FOUR
“Don’t stare at her.”
“I’m not the one staring. That would be you.”
“The only way you would know I was staring is if you were doing it, too.”
I shot Aric an annoyed look and reluctantly dragged my gaze from Sami. She was still in her pajamas, although she’d brushed her hair and teeth, and was at the door saying goodbye to her friends. Katie Dolloway was one of the few remaining partygoers. Aric was sorely tempted to have a discussion with her mother when she arrived, but I was trying to distract him. “Let it go,” I murmured. “We already know the kid and her mother are trolls. There’s no reason to get all worked up over it.”
“I’m not worked up,” Aric argued. “I don’t like anyone telling my kid bad things about her mother, though.”
“It’s not as though we didn’t do the same thing with Katie last night,” I pointed out.
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“That’s us, and you’re inherently mean so you can’t help yourself,” Aric said, shooting me a cheeky grin as he moved out of my reach as I tried to slap his arm. His expression shifted from amused to thoughtful as his gaze drifted to Sami. We hadn’t spoken about her sleepwalking out of fear it would embarrass her in front of her friends, but that discussion was imminent. “How do you want to handle this?”
“Let me do the talking.”
“No, really?”
I scorched him with a scowl before plastering a bright smile on my face as Sami shuffled into the kitchen. She pulled up short when she looked at me, her gaze bouncing from mother to father, and then shook her head. “Oh, great,” Sami muttered. “Are you guys going to yell at me now or something?”
I risked a glance at Aric and found he looked like a deranged carnie instead of her handsome dad. “No,” I said. “Is there a reason we should yell?”
“Last night you said we were going to have a long talk about my attitude.” Much like me, Sami wasn’t one to avoid confrontation. But I never would’ve reminded my parents of a talk that carried potential punishment. She still had a few lessons to learn.
“Oh, that,” Aric said, rolling his neck until it cracked. “Treat your mother with more respect.”
“Because if you don’t I’m going to dress up like a scarecrow and do a dance on the front lawn of your school,” I added, earning a horrified look from my almost-teenager.
“You wouldn’t dare.” Sami’s voice was barely a whisper as she considered the ramifications.
“I would dare,” I countered. “I’d even learn one of those rap songs you listen to and perform it while dancing.”
“You’re so sick,” Sami said, making a face.
“Speaking of sick … .” Aric started, only pausing when I cleared my throat and shook my head.
“What’s going on?” Sami asked, annoyed. “You guys look as if you’re about to tell me something awful. Omigod, you guys aren’t having another baby, are you? I don’t want another kid around here. I refuse to share my room. Oh, this sucks!”
“We’re not having another baby,” I said, making a face. “Out of curiosity, though, why would you ask that? You think I’m fat, don’t you?”
“Oh, good grief,” Aric muttered. “You’re not fat. Sami, we’re not having another child. We have you and that’s all we want.”
“It’s more than enough,” I intoned. “Way more.”
“Thank you, Zoe,” Aric said, pressing his palm against his forehead. “That’s really helpful right now.”
“I do my best,” I said, wetting my lips as Sami hopped from one foot to the other on the far side of the island counter. She was clearly nervous. Our demeanor wasn’t putting her at ease, which made us even worse parents than normal. “Do you remember … taking a walk last night?”
Sami frowned. “A walk? You guys took a walk and then came right back when we were having fun and made us go inside so you could do gross things in the hot tub. Everyone was talking about it.”
“We didn’t do anything gross because your mother is a prude,” Aric said. “That should make you feel better.”
“Not really,” Sami said, making a sarcastic face. “What walk?”
“You walked out of the house last night,” I said, choosing my words carefully. I didn’t want to frighten her, but she had to be aware of the situation for her own safety. “We tried talking to you but you didn’t respond.”
“You looked stoned,” Aric said, realizing too late what he said. “Getting stoned is never allowed, though, so make sure that never happens.”
“Smooth,” I said.
“Oh, this parenting thing sucks. It just gets harder and harder.”
“I walked outside?” Sami screwed up her face in concentration as she racked her memory. “I don’t think so.”
“Well, it happened,” I said. “I went into your head and told you to go back to your sleeping bag and you did. You were dreaming and walking at the same time. By the way, your dream bedroom is even messier than your real bedroom. Take a vacuum cleaner to it occasionally.”
Take a vacuum cleaner to it? When did I become my mother? Oh, the horror!
“I don’t remember that.” Sami looked momentarily frightened, and that’s when I remembered she was still a child in many respects, her mouth not being one of them. “Is something wrong with me?”
“Nothing is wrong with you,” I said, shaking my head as I moved around the counter. “It was the first time it happened. You might’ve been over stimulated from so much caffeine and sugar. You didn’t go anywhere. It’s okay.”
Sami opened her mouth to say something, then changed her mind and snapped it shut.
“It really is okay,” I said, resting my hand on her shoulder. “Your father talks in his sleep all of the time. You probably inherited it from him.”
Despite herself, Sami smiled. “What does he say?”
“He usually asks me to brush his tail.”
Sami made a disgusted face. “Gross!”
“Yes, well, talk to your father about it,” I said, hopping back when Aric tried to snap me with a towel. “Also, you should get cleaned up. Paris will be here in about an hour. We’re all going shopping.”
Whether she forgot about Paris’ visit or not, Sami brightened at my reminder. “Oh, yay!” She scampered off in the direction of her bedroom without uttering another word or glancing over her shoulder.
“What do you think?” Aric asked when it was just the two of us.
“I think right now it’s an isolated incident and I don’t want to freak her out,” I replied. “She’s already a drama machine without having a reason to get worked up. If she has a legitimate reason … whoa, baby … batten down the hatches!”
“Yeah, I wonder where she gets that drama from,” Aric drawled. “Oh, wait, I know. She gets it from her drama mama.”
Haunted Covenant (Dying Covenant Trilogy Book 1) Page 4