“I don’t know,” I said. “We’re going to find out, though. The fact that they mentioned Covenant College cannot be random.”
“Not in the least,” Aric said. “Sami, you don’t have to worry about this. We’ll figure it all out.”
“What if you don’t and they get me?” For the first time since the latest incident, Sami let her fear come out to play. “What will they do to me?”
“They’re not going to do anything to you,” I said. “I promise I won’t let that happen. I’m mean and vindictive, and I like tearing things apart. You saw that yourself.”
“We’ll always do our best to protect you, Sami,” Aric said. “You just have to believe in us.”
“I believe in you,” Sami said. “Even though you told big, honking lies about how you got together.”
“Well, nobody is perfect,” Aric said, grinning.
“I guess not.” Sami bit into the tomato slice and then glanced at me. “Can I have cake now?”
We’d changed her entire belief system, yet she was still the same girl. I hoped she got that from me.
“Yes, but I still get a bigger piece.”
NINETEEN
“W ell, that was painful.”
Aric tugged me closer so we were practically on top of one another on the outdoor couch. The sun would set soon, which meant we would have to retreat indoors. I didn’t think walls were necessarily increased protection, but they did have a psychological effect.
“I thought it went better than I expected,” I admitted.
Aric arched an eyebrow. “That’s because you were never the bad guy.”
“You weren’t the bad guy either,” I countered. “We were young. We had no idea what we were doing. Love was this … alien thing … we couldn’t seem to get right. When you’re that young, well, priorities shift faster than celebrity crushes.”
“I think you’re just making excuses for me,” Aric said. “If I had to do it all over again I would’ve grabbed you that first day in the University Center and never let you go.”
“Ah, the refrain of stalkers everywhere,” I teased. “That’s music to my ears.”
“Thank you, mouth,” Aric said, pressing a gentle kiss to my cheek. “It was still kind of fun to hear it all put together like that. It sounds crazy, doesn’t it?”
“And we didn’t even get into the little details, like when I taunted The Academy people by having Paris cast that spell so they couldn’t enter the house, so instead they kept dating Tally and getting stuck on the front porch. I wonder what ever happened to her.”
“She’s probably on her fourth husband by now,” Aric replied.
“She wasn’t so bad,” I said. “In the grand scheme of things she was more fun than Brittany and so much better than Heather.”
“I liked Heather.”
“Only because she thought you walked on water and was constantly hitting on you,” I countered. “We also left out the part where I decided to let Mark live and then he came back and killed someone.”
“That stuff doesn’t matter to anyone but us,” Aric said. “Sami just needed to know the important stuff. If she has questions later we can fill in the gaps.”
“Now that sounds painful.”
Aric chuckled as he tickled my ribs, looking up when Sami appeared in the open sliding glass doorway. “What’s up?”
Sami shifted from one foot to the other, clearly uncomfortable. “Um … can I talk to Mom?”
Aric wasn’t used to being cut out of conversations, and I got the distinct impression he was hurt. “I guess,” he said, moving to get up.
“Wait.” I grabbed his arm to still him and focused on Sami. “Is this a girl thing or is it something else? If it’s something else I think we should talk about it as a family.”
“And if it’s a girl thing I’m happy to run and hide,” Aric added.
“It’s not a girl thing,” Sami hedged. “And please don’t explain about tampons again. That was the worst twenty minutes of my life.”
“Oh, man.” Aric slapped his hand over his face. “Why?”
I couldn’t stop myself from giggling. “It’s okay, Sami. If you want to talk to me alone we can do that, but if this is something that’s important to what’s going on now I think you should tell both of us.”
“That’s just it,” Sami said, moving closer. “I don’t know if it’s important and I’m afraid I’m going to get in trouble.”
That was a new one. When she wanted to wriggle out of trouble she almost always went to Aric first. He had a tendency to pop off at the mouth and then crumble like a moist muffin. She often banked on that.
“Why would you get in trouble?” I asked, unsure. “Did you do something? Did you take an item from someone and hide it from us?”
“If you did we’ll be upset, but we need to know,” Aric added.
“I didn’t take anything from anyone,” Sami said. “I’m not an idiot. You told me about strangers and candy … and bad touches … and I don’t want to have that conversation either.”
“That makes two of us,” Aric said.
“Besides, you guys say there are bad touches, but Dad touches you that way all the time when he thinks no one is looking.”
“We really need to monitor our behavior and institute bedroom and shared living space rules,” Aric said.
He wasn’t wrong, but it sounded depressing. “We won’t go over the bad touches again,” I said. “Just … tell us what’s going on. I can guarantee what’s going through our heads is probably worse than whatever it is you’re about to tell us.”
“Yeah, we’re both marshmallows and cavers where you’re concerned,” Aric said. “Tell us.”
“Okay.” Sami sucked in a breath and licked her lips. “I think I’ve done magic a few times without realizing it. I was afraid to tell you because it was all mean and bad things, and I was worried you would somehow take the magic away from me.”
Wow. That was a mouthful … and stunning.
“What kind of magic?” I leaned forward, intrigued. A better parent would’ve asked about the “bad” stuff first. We would get to that eventually, but this was big news.
“Well … do you remember Shandi Newton?”
Aric shook his head. “Was she one of your teachers?”
“No, she was that annoying little twit who insisted everyone had to have a Coach purse,” I replied, scowling at the memory.
“Was that the four-hundred-dollar bag Sami wanted for Christmas last year?” Aric made a face. “Ugh. Girls and their accessories.”
“What did you do to her?” I asked.
“I swear it was an accident,” Sami said, gripping her hands together.
“Just tell me.”
“She was walking past me in the hallway and she said that you guys didn’t love me because you didn’t get me the purse. I got angry and something kind of … caught fire … in my brain.”
“That’s sounds terrifying,” Aric said. “Did you set her on fire?”
I slapped his knee. “I think we would’ve heard about that.”
“Her bag ripped,” Sami said, her voice barely a whisper. “Actually it kind of exploded and flew everywhere. She screeched, and the teachers couldn’t figure out what happened. I think I did it, though.”
It wasn’t necessarily funny, but I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing.
“Well, you didn’t hurt her, Sami,” Aric said. “That’s good. If you can do it, though, we need to find a way to get you some practice. Your mother vents by shredding every magazine in the house.”
“So you’re not mad?”
“We’re not mad,” Aric confirmed, poking my side. “It’s not funny, so don’t laugh.”
He knew me too well. I managed to regain control of my emotions and grabbed Sami’s hand. “You have a terrible temper. That’s not entirely your fault. You get that from both of us.”
“Mostly you,” Aric grumbled.
“You throw things off the
deck when you’re pissed,” I reminded him. “I just happen to use my mind.”
“Whatever,” Aric said. “Sami, I’m glad you told us. I know you were frightened, but that’s not a big deal.”
“I tried to make it happen again,” Sami said. “I focused on that beehive Mom hates, but nothing happened.”
“Well, that’s karma,” Aric said. “If you kill those bees you’re in big trouble, by the way. I don’t care what your mother says.”
“We’ll talk about that later,” I said, squeezing Aric’s knee. “You know, Sami, my powers didn’t work all the time when I was starting out either. I never planned for any of them. They just happened. That includes healing your dad and burning certain people to a crisp so they looked like charred bacon.”
“Well, that won’t give her nightmares or anything,” Aric muttered. “Way to go.”
I ignored him. “When this is all over, Sami, we’ll try a few things together. I never took to training, but that doesn’t mean I can’t help you. We’ll see what happens.”
Sami looked relieved. “You’re honestly not angry?”
I shook my head. “No. You told us the truth and you’re sorry for exploding that purse.”
The way Sami pressed her lips together told me she wasn’t sorry at all. She definitely got that from me.
“You two are terrible,” Aric muttered.
“I might’ve done one other thing,” Sami hedged, licking her lips. “This one is probably going to make you angry no matter what you say.”
“Oh, well, good,” Aric said. “I love it when people prepare me for how I’m going to react. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.”
“What did you do?”
“Um … .” This time Sami looked really worried.
“You have to tell us,” I said. “We need to know. We told you the whole truth about everything. You have to trust us to do the same.”
“Okay,” Sami said. “Well … you know Mrs. Walters?”
I nodded.
“We had that big math test three weeks ago and you told me to study for it. I really tried, but I still didn’t understand everything I was supposed to before the test.”
“That’s because new math is stupid and only an idiot would think it’s a good idea,” I said.
“I agree.” Sami flashed me a smile. We were sisters in math-hating solidarity. “The thing is, I was sitting at my desk and the worksheet was in front of me. I was upset and I really tried to concentrate, but Trina Douglas was on the other side of me and she was working really fast and … .”
“Oh, I’m not liking where this is going,” Aric muttered. “Did you copy off her paper?”
“How is that magic?” I asked. “That’s just normal cheating.”
“She might’ve used supernatural eyesight to do it or something,” Aric said. “How should I know?”
“I didn’t copy her paper,” Sami said. “I just kind of … saw the answers in her head and used them. I got a hundred percent.”
“That’s the best grade you’ve gotten in math in years,” I noted.
“Yes, that’s the thing we should focus on, Zoe,” Aric deadpanned. “Good grief, Sami, you can’t cheat your way to the outcome you want. You know that was wrong, right?”
“I couldn’t help myself,” Sami said, taking on a pathetic look that I knew would melt Aric’s heart in seconds. “I didn’t want to disappoint you and Mom.”
“That’s such crap,” Aric said, taking me by surprise with his tone. “You’re only saying that to manipulate us. I’m on to you.”
I decided to try a different tactic. “When you saw the information in Trina’s head, did it help you understand the correct answers?”
“I just saw the answers.”
“Then I’ve got nothing,” I said, throwing up my hands. “New math is stupid. Don’t look in your friends’ heads for answers again, though. If you don’t know the answers, we’ll understand.”
“No, we won’t,” Aric challenged. “She can’t cheat her way through life, and math is important.”
“Oh, whatever,” I scoffed. “I’m still waiting for the dire need to use algebra to spring up in my daily life. As long as she has a calculator she’ll be fine.”
“That is the absolute wrong message to send,” Aric said. “Sami, I’m going to help you with your math homework going forward. I’ll figure it out. Your mother can help you with English – and whenever you have a class on deranging perfectly sane people – but I’ll handle the math.”
“That sounds great to me.” Actually, it sounded like an interesting psych experiment. I couldn’t wait for him to take a gander at her textbook. “Who wants more ice cream cake?”
“That’s it?” Sami was so grateful her heaving sigh took me by surprise. “You’re not going to ground me for life?”
“You told the truth, and you get points for that,” I said. “Don’t cheat in class again. Also, don’t blow things up. That might come back to haunt you.”
“And you say I’m the permissive one,” Aric challenged. “Sami, you need to tell your teacher you cheated and take another test on your own.”
“No way,” Sami and I said in unison.
“And why not?”
“Because she can’t do that,” I argued. “How is she going to tell her teacher she saw the answers in Trina’s mind? She’ll be labeled crazy.”
“Then tell the teacher you copied the answers off Trina’s pages,” Aric suggested.
He’s such a do-gooder sometimes. “Or we could just punish her here and tell her not to do it again.”
“Oh, really?” Aric cocked a challenging eyebrow. “How are you going to punish her? Are you going to not make her eat chicken again?”
“Putz,” I muttered under my breath.
“What?”
“I said I love you and you’re wise,” I corrected.
“That’s what I thought you said,” Aric said. “Why can’t she take responsibility for this?”
“I’m a big believer in taking responsibility,” I said. “You know I am. But she did not set out to do it, and admitting something like this could open her to closer scrutiny if she slips while telling the teacher what happened. We can’t afford that.”
“I think you’re just covering for her because you wish you would’ve thought about doing that when you were in college. You hated math classes,” Aric said.
Sadly, he wasn’t wrong. I didn’t even think of that. That would’ve made all of those unnecessary science classes – like oceanography and astronomy – a tad more tolerable. It’s not like I ever used the knowledge gained there again. “She’s not telling her teacher, and that’s final.”
I hopped to my feet and grabbed Sami’s wrist as I tugged her toward the door. There was no way I was leaving her with Aric so he could run the world’s biggest guilt trip on her. “How does ice cream cake sound?”
“It doesn’t sound like punishment,” Aric called to my back.
I stilled long enough to fix him with a dark look. “Sure it does,” I said. “I’m punishing you for not agreeing with me by eating it all without you.”
I could tell he didn’t want to laugh, but he ultimately gave in and did just that. “Don’t even think about eating that cake without me.”
Sami squealed as he chased us toward the door, laughing maniacally as I hurried her to the kitchen.
“You can’t have cake,” I said. “You have to learn how to do the new math. That’s the promise you made, and Sami has a buttload of homework due when she gets back to school. I don’t think you have time for cake.”
“There’s always time for cake,” Aric said, hopping into the kitchen and earning an eye roll from James as he sat in one of the living room chairs reading the newspaper. “Then I’m going to trounce you in this new math thing and you’ll have to bow down to my intellectual superiority.”
He’s so full of it sometimes. “Bring it on.”
TWENTY
“T hat’s not right
.”
Sami held her ice cream plate and looked over Aric’s shoulder as he studied her math book and scribbled something on a sheet of paper. She took Aric’s offer to help her understand the new system to heart and insisted he start right away. She was having a great time watching him struggle.
She definitely got that trait from me.
“I’m not done yet,” Aric said. He was growing testier by the minute, although he was doing an admirable job of hiding his anger.
“Leave your dad alone with his homework and come up here,” I instructed, patting the countertop.
Sami hopped up, all smiles, and fixed me with a curious look. “What?”
“Tell me about when you caused the purse to explode,” I said. “What did it feel like inside of you?”
“Sami exploded a purse? When did this happen?” James walked into the kitchen and headed straight for the refrigerator to grab a beer. “Did she do it today?”
“It was months ago,” Sami replied.
“She didn’t want to tell us because she thought she would get in trouble,” Aric said, furrowing his brow as he stared at the textbook. “Is this like a joke thing you two cooked up to mess with me?”
“Nope. Focus on your homework.” I grabbed one of the gummy sharks from Sami’s plate and popped it into my mouth.
“Hey! That’s my favorite part.”
“You’ll live,” I said. “You can consider it your punishment.”
“Yeah, that’s dire,” Aric muttered.
“What are you working on, son?” James asked, moving to the table. “Are you doing homework?”
“I’m trying to do homework,” Aric replied. “Zoe keeps going on and on about this new math thing. I thought she was exaggerating because … well … you know. But now I don’t think she was exaggerating.”
“That will teach you for doubting me,” I said.
“It’s middle school math,” James said. “How hard can it be?”
“You do it,” Aric said, shoving the textbook and paper in his father’s direction. “It’s like water torture or something.”
“Ha, ha.” I stuck out my tongue in Aric’s direction and earned a look I knew promised retribution. I was pretty sure it would be fun for both of us, though, so I wasn’t terribly worried.
Haunted Covenant (Dying Covenant Trilogy Book 1) Page 17