Covet (Clann)

of confidence I hadn’t had in too long to remember. I no longer felt like the Clann’s doormat, lying around waiting for them to step all over me.
    I was ready to kick butt. Starting with Anne’s birthday party in August, two weeks before school started. It seemed the perfect time to get a head start on my magical to-do list.
    This year Anne was having her annual sleepover in the small hunting lodge her family had built out on a remote piece of land they owned in the country between Jacksonville and Rusk. Anne said it was where they liked to go deer hunting every fall. She had emailed me directions, which weren’t too hard to follow, and soon my truck was kicking up a huge cloud of dust down a long dirt drive that cut through the front fenced-in fields to where a tiny pier and beam house was set in the middle of the property.
    I’d arrived late on purpose. Since I was the last one there, everyone else’s vehicles were already lined up outside, giving me the perfect opportunity to place a protection spell on the back bumpers.
    Friends’ cars protected? Check.
    With the first phase of tonight’s mission completed, I climbed the short wooden steps to the lodge’s door and knocked. Anne answered, and the smell was the first thing that hit me when I entered the one-bedroom house. It was all I could do not to stagger from the stench and cover my nose with my hand.
    “Savannah,” Anne whispered as she gave me a quick hug at the door. “Have you eaten at all since school ended? You’re a stick!”
    “Thanks,” I muttered, holding out her present. “It’s great to see you again, too, birthday girl.”
    “Sav! Wow, you look great!” Michelle called from where she was laid out on the floor of the living room area on her stomach. “New diet?”
    Forcing a smile, I ignored the question and walked over to sit beside her and Carrie, trying hard not to breathe too deeply. Something in the house smelled absolutely awful. It was making my stomach roll over with every breath I took.
    Michelle held up her wrist. “Check out my new perfume! I picked it up when we went swimsuit shopping. Which you missed.”
    I took the quickest of sniffs. Superstrong flowers soaked in alcohol. It might make me sneeze soon, but it wasn’t the source of the house’s stench.
    I refocused on what she’d said. “Oh come on, guys. Like you really wanted to be blinded by the sight of me in a swimsuit.”
    Carrie snorted. “Yeah, about that. What have you been doing all summer, other than avoiding us? Obviously not tanning, by the looks of it. You know, just because it’s recommended that you wear sunscreen to avoid getting burned doesn’t mean you should live your whole life in a cave, either. Step out of the Addams family mansion every once in a while. A little sunlight is good for you. It gives you vitamin C and D.”
    I laughed. “Thanks, I’ll try to keep that in mind.” Then I remembered the small bundle in my pocket. “Oh, by the way, I made y’all something.” I dug the bundle out, untangled it and held up the four bracelets I’d spent hours and checked out a book from the public library in order to make.
    “Friendship bracelets!” Michelle squeaked, plucking one from my palm. “Awesome!”
    Anne walked over from the kitchen to join us.
    Carrie grinned and took a bracelet. “Nice. Thanks. Have we ever had these as a group?”
    “No,” Anne said as she leaned over my shoulder and snatched one for herself. “But we should have. Good idea, Sav. Here, tie mine on.”
    I tied hers around her wrist and tried not to feel guilty about the magical reason behind my gift. They were still given in the spirit of friendship. I was trying to protect my friends here. They just didn’t need to know that part.
    Once everyone’s bracelets were on, Anne said, “So who’s ready to party? Let’s do cake so I can get to opening more presents!”
    “Not so fast,” Mrs. Albright said over her shoulder before turning away from the oven with a giant homemade pizza. She set the steaming meal on the tiny table, which was set and just large enough for four people. “You know the drill, Anne. Pizza first, then cake and presents.”
    My stomach knotted up, causing what felt like my entire esophagus to clench shut with it. Oh boy. I hadn’t planned how to get out of eating tonight.
    “Mrs. Albright, it’s a work of art,” Michelle whispered as we gathered around the table.
    She wasn’t kidding. Every single mushroom, pepperoni and