Page 11 of The 13th Daughter
I couldn't stop thinking about it. He'd been almost fine one second and then the next, bam, he'd turned into a lunatic. His eyes had scared me. I'd never seen him look like that before, not even the night Emily died. He'd flipped out then, too, but nothing like he'd done tonight. He'd never hurt me before.
I knew he didn't mean to do it. I'd seen the shock and disgust at what he'd done on his face. It was the thought of my going to the Coven meetings, I realized. That's what had sent him over the edge. But why should he care? He was a member or at least he used to be. Dad had been the Coven Master until he'd stepped down after Emily's accident. He'd always been proud of the Coven, that his family took such an active role in it. What happened to change that? He didn't want me near it. Why?
I remembered Emily's whispered words. Don't go near them, little sister. Stay away. Promise me you'll stay away! They echoed in my mind. I'd never questioned her request before, but Dad's odd behavior made me start to rethink the whole situation. Did he and Emily know something I didn't? What, though? It had to be important for them to warn me away from the one thing they both loved.
There was a soft knock on the door and Mom came in. Emily had always looked so much like Mom. They had the same facial structure, the same blue eyes, and the same smile. She set a fresh sandwich and a Coke down on my desk before settling herself beside me.
"Honey, I am so sorry." She took my hand to examine it. Mom was a nurse for the ER department at the hospital in Statesville. She ran her fingers over my wrist and up my armbefore she let out a small sigh. "It looks like you're going to have a pretty bad bruise." She wrapped it in the Ace bandage she'd brought up. "This will help with the swelling."
"Really, Mom, it doesn't even hurt that bad," I lied.
"So I guess you don't want the Motrin I brought up?" She pointed to the bottle sitting beside the plate.
"I wouldn't go that far," I smiled at her.
"Sweetheart, your father..."
"Didn't mean it," I cut her off. "I know he didn't, Mom."
She sighed. "He's just been under a lot of pressure lately and with the fifteenth coming up...I..."
"Mom, please, can we just forget about it?"
She stared at my wrist and I knew there was no way in hell she was going to forget about it anytime soon, but she nodded. "I heard what you're father was telling you when I came in, and I think you should at least go to one meeting before you decide to completely write it off."
"Mom, you know I don't believe in any of that stuff."
"I know, but I still think you should at least give it a chance. It's a part of your heritage, honey. You owe yourself the opportunity to see where you come from."
I frowned. This was beyond bizarre. First Dad was screaming at me to stay away and now Mom was urging me to go to a meeting? What was going on today?
"Can I ask you a question, Mom?"
"Of course," she smiled.
"What did Dad mean about me being eighteen? What does that have to do with anything?"
Her eyes became hooded, guarded. "Absolutely nothing. I think it's just because of Emily he's gotten so paranoid. She was eighteen when she died."
"No, I don't think so..."
"Emily's death hit him hard, CJ. She died coming back from a Coven meeting. Of course he doesn't want you near it. It's as simple as that."
No, it wasn't that simple. There'd been no Coven meeting the night Emily died. Mom knew that. My stomach gave a queasy little flip. Why was she lying to me?
"Just think about going, please? I want you to have the same experiences your sister had. She loved the Coven and everything it represented. Don't you think you owe her that much? To go and see what was important to her?"
Mom was right about that. Ems had loved the Coven, treasured everything about it. I needed to know why she'd changed her mind.
"I'll think about it, Mom, okay?" I told her. I saw the relief in her eyes.
"Good." She kissed my forehead and stood to leave. "Try to get some sleep, honey."
I would think about going. Something was going on and I intended to find out what.
Chapter Five
I drummedmy fingers against the wood surface of the chemistry table and watched the clock. Would the last bell never ring? With each second my agitation grew. I would see Ethan soon. Maybe. Just the thought of his smile caused the butterflies in my stomach to start flying up into my throat. The anticipation of seeing him again had my hands sweating and my breath coming out in short gasps.
