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“Why not?” she snapped. “Why do I get stuck in the trailer, watching the cameras all the damn time! I’m an important part of the team and I want to go out there and help people. I can’t do that if I’m sitting on my ass all day!”
“Language,” I snapped right back, all the while remembering how much I wished I could just man the camera footage rather than having to be in the thick of it. But there was still no way I was going to endanger my daughter by letting her take part. It was bad enough she’d almost been reduced to a cinder from that danged hellhound the first time around.
“No one else has to watch their language,” Sicily pointed out, glowering over my shoulder at Boone, Bud, Ol’ Ned, and Slim Jim. I had to admit she had me there. We really all should have had our mouths washed out with soap—especially Slim Jim. But right now we were talking about Slim Jim’s profanities. We were talking about my daughter who was looking at me with the full force of her frown.
“Stop treating me like I’m a kid!”
“But youarea kid,” I answered. How often did we have to have this conversation?
“I’m almost nineteen years old, Mama, an’ I would’ve already finished high school if that damned Fog hadn’t closed everything down for near a whole year!”
Okay, so legally she wasn’t a kid any longer, but… “You’re still a young, inexperienced human… teenager and we can’t bring you with us on this mission. Arnie is very dangerous, and he doesn’t have qualms about hurting people.”
“An’ we d-d-don’t even know what he is,” Boone added.
“Right,” I said with a quick nod. “All we do know is that he’s human presentin’. That could mean anything, and I don’t want to dangle you like bait—you forget sometimes that you’re still human.”
Tears gathered on Sicily’s lashes. Guilt twisted beneath my ribs when her lip wobbled.
“I wish I wasn’t,” she whispered, voice strained with anger.
Scrubbing her eyes with the backs of her hands, she reminded me of myself—before I’d become a vampire, my rage had been hard-wired to come out as tears.
It took me a moment to understand what she meant, and once it registered, I rocked back on my heels, feeling completely shocked. I’d assumed all the angst was a product of her age and the general weirdness going on around her in Windy Ridge. And I’d admit… Iwaspushing her too hard to leave this damned town so she could live a normal life. Of course, she’d repeatedly made it clear she didn’twanta normal life, which was all the more infuriating. Most of us would have traded a less favored body part to go back to normal—to go back to the way things had been before the Fog. I hadn’t imagined in a million years that she actually wished she was a monster.
“Don’t say that,” I said quietly, shaking my head.
“Well, it’s the truth!” she yelled back at me. “All of you have something cool and different about you. You have abilities!”
I shook my head even harder. “You have no idea how difficult this change is for all of us. None of us want that for you.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she tried to wipe them away with the sleeve of her overlarge coat. It was a futile gesture, but I could smell the salty tears even if I couldn’t see them.
“Did you ever stop to think that it’s difficult being the only human around here?” She demanded, still glaring at me. “Until Dean and Mason showed up, I was alone. I’d get bullied at school because I was the outcast! I want to be with you guys all the time because you’re the only ones who don’t look at me like I’m the freak.”
My mouth felt suddenly dry, and I had to blink back tears of my own. “You never told me you were being bullied at school.”
Sicily threw her hands up in frustration. “How could I? You keep telling me that I need to graduate high school and go away to college. That’s all you seem to want for me. I know you think it’s what’s best, but no one seems to give a shit about what I want!”
I wanted to argue, but couldn’t.
She was right. Every time something scary or threatening happened, I wanted to wrap Sicily in cotton and ship her to her father’s house—as far away from this godforsaken town as it was possible to be. If Alton had custody of her, he could give her everything I couldn’t. His family was beyond well-off. She could go to a private school and an amazing college, out of state. Of course, the thought had crossed my mind more than once. But at the subsequent thought of not seeing her each and every day… well, maybe I was selfish. Regardless, it was pretty clear that the only thing Sicily wanted was to get to the bottom of all this monster-Fog business, and the more I tried to keep her away from her goal, the more strained our relationship became.
There was a commotion and a very pig-like squeal from behind us, and we both turned in time to watch Slim Jim tussle with Sonny. The former had set out a pile of scraps so he could slip a collar around the feral hog’s neck. Sonny wasn’t taking the collar well, though, and flipped the old man onto his back, smearing the guts of whatever unfortunate creature Slim Jim had set out for him all over Slim’s shoulders and back. It was going to be hell to wash out of Slim’s clothes and fur.
Sonny bucked and tried to spear Slim Jim with one of his horns. Bud managed to yank Slim away, just as Boone slipped the rope and collar over Sonny’s neck while the pig-man continued to strain toward Slim Jim. Slim, meanwhile, was cursing a blue streak. Sicily was right. We needed to start a swear jar. If she got to keep the proceeds, she’d be a millionaire by the end of the month.
Even though all hell was going down with the boys, my mind was still on my daughter and the latest bombshell she’d dropped into my lap—that she was getting bullied at school.
Taking a deep breath. I stepped forward and gave her a hug. She kept her hands stiff at her side for a few moments, finally giving in a few seconds later. I could still feel her anger in the line of her body, but she didn’t push me away. After a while, she even patted my back awkwardly. I kissed the top of her head before laying my chin on her hair.
“I promise we’ll try to include you more,” I whispered. “But you still can’t come on this one. I need to know you’re safe, Sicily. And if something happened to you, I’d never forgive myself.” I could feel tears threatening and blinked them back. “I can’t lose you.”
Sicily gave me a hard squeeze. “I don’t want to lose you either.”
“You won’t. Just remember, your mama is the toughest customer in town,” I said as I pulled away and gave her a big smile.
“But what about Arnie?”
