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I didn’t like what I was hearing. Bane was shouting that Mama was a liar and a bitch and some other words I didn’t know, but I could tell they were super bad.
I only know “bitch” because when I’m at his apartment for a visit, Maxim lets me watch a show about teenage vampires and the girls in the show are always fighting and calling each other “the B word.”
Maxim tried to turn the T.V. off the first time I heard it, but I begged him to let me watch and swore I wouldn’t tell Mama or ever use those bad words. I just had to know if the girls were going to stop fighting long enough to realize there was a coven of bad boy witches out to destroy them. It was so obvious! But they were too busy fighting over the cute boys they liked and who was going to be the next vampire queen to notice.
At the end of season one, when all three of the vampire girls were locked in a cage because they hadn’t seen trouble on the way, I told Maxim I was done with that show.
And that I was never going to be a girl like that.
When I grew up to be a teenager, I wasn’t going to fight with my friends over boys or anything else. I was going to be a good friend and keep my eye out for trouble so it couldn’t sneak up on me or any of my peeps.
Maxim smiled real big at that, like I was making a joke, so I had to tell him, “I’m serious, Zim-zim. This isn’t a funny thing. This is a serious thing.”
His lips turned down at the edges, but his eyes were still laughing when he said, “I know. And I think you’ll do a great job at that, Dee.”
“Because of my pack gift,” I said with a sniff, trying not to act too proud. But I’m one of the only wolves in recorded history to develop a pack gift before age nine.
I’m super special. That’s not being cocky or sassy; that’s just a fact.
“Because of your pack gift, yeah,” Maxim said. “But not just that. You’re really smart, too. And you’ve got a super good heart. Any gang of bad boy witches who came after you and your girls would be sorry.”
I grinned and crawled up onto the stool beside him in his kitchen. “Does that mean I can watch season two next week?”
“I thought you were done with that show.”
“But I have to see if they get out of the cage. And who Darren falls in love with. I think it’s going to be Sorcha, don’t you?”
He exhaled. “I’ve already done some asking around about season two and there’s going to be way too much kissing and violence in that one for a four-year-old, kid. Sorry, but we’re going back to cartoons for a while. Until you’re say…eight or nine. Maybe ten.”
My lips parted in an outraged huff. “No! That’s forever and I’m not scared. I can watch it. I’ll just cover my eyes if it gets to a bloody part. I’m not a baby. I know it’s just pretend.”
It was just pretend.
But this…
The shouts and then the scream coming from the bathroom…
Those were not just pretend. And several long, terror-filled moments later, Bane’s heavy footfalls on the carpet in my room weren’t pretend either.
Hugging Yub Yub so tight my arms began to tremble, I squeezed my eyes shut again, willing Bane to go away.
Bane isn’t like Maxim—he’s always busy and doesn’t like to play with me or talk to little kids—but I’ve never been afraid of him before.
Usually his colors aren’t bad, they’re just…bored.
Or annoyed.
Bane doesn’t like hanging out with Mama and me and he’s jealous of Maxim. But why wouldn’t he be? Maxim is way nicer and funnier and smarter than Bane. And Maxim would never yell at Mama or make me feel afraid.
Maxim would protect me from bad guys, no matter how big and scary they were.
I crossed my fingers, willing Maxim to come through the door. He’d make Bane go away and everything better, I just knew it.
“Diana?” Bane called out, my name followed by a soft sniffing sound. “Dee, are you here?”
I didn’t answer and I didn’t move. If I stayed buried under the animals, maybe Bane wouldn’t be able to track down my smell. My whole room smelled like me, even more than usual because Mama was too tired to clean my sheets on Sunday and said it was okay to skip a week every now and then.
As my brother stalked around outside, trying to catch my scent, I was so glad Mama was tired. As soon as Bane was gone, I was going to tell her she should always be tired and never wash my sheets again.
