Covet (Clann)

fire from the old wiring.
    I should tell Dad I was leaving. But where was he? I followed the sound of hammering to the living room—then my feet skidded to a stop. My father had his head stuck inside the fireplace, his entire upper body swallowed within its cavernous darkness. Clouds of soot poofed out with each blow of his tools.
    He was wearing…jeans? I’d never once seen him in anything but a suit.
    “Uh, Dad?”
    He ducked out of the fireplace. “Good morning, Savannah. Sleep well?”
    Oh yeah, like a baby. “Um, you’re working on the fireplace yourself?”
    “Yes. It just needs a little cleaning to remove the nests inside. Then it should work fine.”
    I had a sudden vision of him trying to start a fire and blowing up the house. I cringed. “Shouldn’t you hire a professional?”
    “I am more than qualified to serve as a chimney sweep, Savannah.”
    Maybe he had a point. He was old enough that he’d probably been around when chimneys were invented. “I’ve got to go. Charmers practice.” I checked my watch. “Which I’m going to be late for if I don’t get moving.”
    He nodded. “What time will you be home this evening?”
    “I don’t know. We’ve got more practice after school.”
    His dark eyebrows shot up, hiding themselves under the wavy black hair that had flopped out of its usual precisely combed style onto his forehead. “You do not know what time the after-school practice will end?” His tone sounded either suspicious or accusing, I couldn’t figure out which.
    I stared at him. The man had had almost no involvement in my life for years. Now he’d decided to be a control freak just because I’d been forced to move in with him?
    “Savannah, I am not your lackadaisical mother or grandmother. I will need to know your daily schedule with precise times at which to expect you home each day.”
    Lackadaisical ? Did anybody even use that word anymore? And besides, my mother and grandmother had raised me just fine. Just because I made one mistake that caused a huge mess…
    Fine. I saw his point. “Usually I do know what time practice will end. But right now the Charmers are getting ready for our annual Spring Show in a week. So we’ll be practicing every morning before school starting at 6:45 a.m., and again after school until at least seven or eight o’clock. I never know when the evening practices will end exactly, because it depends on when each group of girls decides to quit for the day, and I have to stay until the last person leaves so I can lock up the building. So that’s really the best guess I can give you. Would you like me to call when practice ends each day?”
    “Yes, please do. I programmed my number into your phone.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out my phone and tossed me the digital dog leash.
    I dropped it into my blue leather Charmers duffel bag and turned toward the freedom of the front door.
    “And Savannah?”
    I stopped and looked back over my shoulder, trying very hard not to huff out a sigh of impatience. If he kept this up, I’d never get to practice on time.
    “If you begin to feel strange in any way, do not wait to call me.” His tone was a stern warning.
    Or else I might go on a killing spree before he could get to me and stop me? Yeesh. “Yes, Dad,” I muttered then made a hasty escape.
    Annoyance continued to knot my stomach during the short drive across town to the school’s front parking lot.
    As I walked across the dark campus, I remembered how scared I had been with the watchers there. Now that I was turning into a full vampire, I was the scariest thing imaginable here.
    Shaking my head, I headed up the sports and arts building’s cement ramp toward its blue painted rows of doors and then had to stop as a sharp pain spiked through me.
    For the first time in months, Tristan wasn’t waiting for me.
    My steps became jerky as I forced my legs to move. I swallowed hard and searched for the right key to unlock the doors.
    This is all wrong , a voice at the back of my mind moaned. He should be here, leaning against the doors, as perfect-looking as a catalog model. He should be reaching out to hold my thermos of tea, made fresh by Nanna, while I struggled to think straight.
    But I didn’t have my usual cup of tea from Nanna. And I was alone.
    Inside, I stopped, too aware that I was the only person in the dark, empty building. I scowled. I had been just fine before Tristan came along. I’d been in this building alone countless times