Covet (Clann)

they’ll run me out of town or else make me a prisoner in my own house.”
    Dad stared at me, his silence proof that I had a point.
    “I have to do this.”
    “I do not like this.”
    “And you think I do? I didn’t say I wanted to go. But I have to, or they’ll never stop. I just have to prove I’m tough enough to wait them out until Tristan’s dad gets back and yanks them all into line again.”
    Dad sighed but stepped out of the way. “Call me if you need me to come get you.”
    “Right. Thanks, Dad.” But of course I had zero intention of actually calling him. Not today. No way was the Clann going to get the upper hand, not now that I’d finally come into my own magical skills and had a sleek new mode of transport.
    We’d bought me a new car Sunday morning. Well, new to me, at least. News of the silver 1971 Corvette Stingray hadn’t made Mom too happy when she heard about it by video chat. She didn’t like how fast it could go or that its body was made of fiberglass instead of steel. But the moment I’d seen its gleaming curves out on the car lot, every cell in my body had yearned to make it mine.
    To appease Mom, Dad had had a protective roll cage installed, paying a local body shop an insane amount of money so it would be done and delivered to our house by this morning. He’d also had them put in a new stereo system, though I hadn’t thought to ask for one, with a jack where I could plug in my MP3 player and listen to all my favorite music while I drove.
    As a result, driving my new car to school for the first time was a real kick, and it was hard to resist the urge to floor the gas pedal just to hear the engine growl. The only thing that kept me at the speed limit was the fact that, despite my show of confidence with Dad, I really wasn’t looking forward to school. I had no doubt he was right and the Clann kids would be at their nastiest.
    When I pulled onto the JHS campus and parked in my usual spot in the front lot, I had to literally force myself to get out of my car and leave it behind. It was going to be such a long day.
    At least I’d have a sweet new ride to look forward to driving home at the end of it all.
    If I survived the day.

CHAPTER 28
    TRISTAN
    Savannah came to school after all. It took everything I had to block my ticked off thoughts from her. Obviously she was ignoring the danger of the situation, and anything I tried to tell her at this point would only make her more stubborn about it. So I sat back in my seat and tried not to think at all, even as a slow burn rolled in my stomach. I just had to pray that the protective charms I’d put up earlier would work like I hoped.
    The charms got their first test at the end of English lit. Just before the bell, both Savannah’s and my arms broke out in goosebumps as pinpricks of pain briefly exploded across my skin. Someone was using power on campus.
    Drawing in a sharp breath through her nose, Savannah looked at me in question.
    Not me this time, I silently told her.
    A second, brief but intense explosion of pain jabbed across my neck and arms. What the heck was going on out there?
    Her gaze flicked to the small windows on the far wall, which were too high up to give a view of anything but the sky. Her eyebrows pinched together into a worried scowl as she quickly gathered her things.
    When the dismissal bell rang, as usual, Savannah was the first one out of her desk. I took my time stuffing papers into my notebook, hanging back on purpose with the plan to follow her at a distance and make sure no one’s vamp wards were hurting her in the main hall.
    She didn’t make it that far.
    The Brat Twins were waiting for her in the alcove shared by the two neighboring English rooms. They used the alcove like a choke point, letting everyone but her past.
    “You,” Vanessa hissed as soon as she saw Savannah. Vanessa raised her hands in the air, palm out. They were covered in what looked like red paint. “You did this!”
    “Make her take it off,” Hope whined behind her sister while furiously rubbing one red palm against the other.
    A quick peek into their thoughts revealed the twins had been up to a new twist on their usual nastiness. During second period, they’d met up with Dylan in the front parking lot and tried to throw magic-laced paint on Sav’s new car. That was probably the two uses of power Sav and I had just sensed. But somehow their spell had backfired and the paint had ended up on the twins’ own hands instead.
    I