Covet (Clann)

strawberries and pecans and peaches.
    She would have been here still, if not for the Clann.
    I ran a hand over the box lid, thinking about its precious contents. Contents created by Nanna’s own hands, filled with her thoughts, and maybe those of other Evans before her.
    If I tried very hard, I could almost hear Nanna now.
    Okay, Savannah. You’ve had time to think it over, and you know just sitting back isn’t working anymore. Those descendants have grown far too big for their britches. Now what are you going to do about it? Because we Evanses do not just sit around all helpless and moping when times get dangerous or hard, do we? Especially not when our loved ones might be in danger.
    I eased the box lid up an inch.
    I’d lost so much because of the Clann…Nanna, Mom, Tristan, my home. And now Dylan might be planning to go after Anne next year. Unless I stopped him.
    I would have two and a half months to figure it out. The question was…could I do it? I had no one to teach me other than the words written in this single box of books. No one to turn to if I got confused or frustrated or screwed up. Learning how to use power might even be dangerous, for all I knew.
    But if I found a way to stand up to Dylan and the Brat Twins and the rest of the Clann and protect the people I cared about, the risk would be worth it.
    Maybe my imagination was still running wild, but I almost could have sworn I felt Nanna’s arm around my shoulders, reassuring me as I flipped the box lid open and took out the first book.
    * * *
    It was incredibly slow going. No wonder descendants started training early and practiced for years.
    I’d expected to be able to do at least something that first day. But nothing happened, no matter how hard I tried. Maybe it was because I’d started with the first lesson in the book marked for beginners, which was on grounding. I didn’t need to siphon off any extra energy. Unlike most descendants apparently, I was already tired all the time. I needed to gain energy, not ground it off.
    The first day was a bit of a letdown. But I wasn’t ready to give up. So the next day, I told Dad I had Charmers stuff to do every day of the week for a while. I was scared to death that he’d see the truth on my face, but he was too busy flipping through paint samples for the upstairs bathrooms. He simply made me promise to keep my phone with me at all times and to call him if I started to feel weird.
    So I ended up spending the summer days at Nanna’s. My key still worked on all the doors, and the house stayed empty. The company that had bought it didn’t seem too anxious to rent it out anytime soon. They hadn’t even put a sign out front to let people know it was available. And yet they’d kept the electricity and water on, so I was able to go inside for a drink from the kitchen faucet or use the bathroom if I needed to. I left the air conditioner off to avoid running up the new owner’s electric bills, which might give my presence away. Plus, I enjoyed the heat from the greenhouse effect as it thawed out my muscles each day.
    I felt like I was going camping, sneaking out rolls of toilet paper and a comforter to kick back on in the empty dining area for reading. It was the most fun I’d had in months.
    And unlike at my new house with its many views of the Tomato Bowl where I’d watched Tristan play football, at Nanna’s there were hardly any reminders of him, which was a huge relief.
    But after the first month of reading spell books and practicing the exercises they recommended, the fun wore off. I was ready to do magic. Now.
    Had I waited too long to try to develop my descendant side’s abilities? Mom said doing magic was like using a muscle…if you didn’t use it, it would atrophy. She’d purposely made hers weaker by refusing to do magic.
    Maybe my vampire genes were just too strong?
    A door slammed shut outside. Squeaking, I had just enough time to throw the comforter over the stack of books beside me on the dining room floor before Dad showed up in the backyard. He turned and peered at me through the patio glass door.
    “Savannah? What on earth are you doing here? I thought you had Charmer things to do.”
    I jumped to my feet, opened the patio door and stepped outside. “Oh. Um, I was just…you know, hanging out. What are you doing here?”
    “I wanted to check on the place to make sure it is still okay.”
    “Why?”
    “Because you should always keep an eye on your