Covet Read Free Page B

his bear-paw-size hands gripping the carved armrests.
    Lightning flashed in the distance. A few seconds later, thunder rumbled out a warning of the storm’s approach.
    “He believes he loves me,” Savannah said. “But the truth is…this is all my fault.”
    What the…?
    I turned to her, sure I’d heard her wrong.
    “Continue,” Dad commanded.
    She swallowed hard, refusing to look at me. “I’m half vampire. All this time, your son believed he was in love with me because my vampire side basically…well, put a spell on him. I gaze dazed him with my eyes. He couldn’t help himself.”
    She’d lost her mind. The stress of facing down first the vamp council and now the Clann must have made her go nuts. She knew the gaze daze didn’t work on me!
    “I knew it,” one of the Brat Twins crowed. I couldn’t tell if it was Vanessa or Hope. “I knew she had freaky eyes.” Their mother shushed her into silence.
    “Savannah, stop it,” I growled, clenching my hands at my sides so I wouldn’t give in to the urge to shake some sense back into her. “You know the gaze daze doesn’t affect me.”
    “Apparently it does.” She kept her voice loud so everyone could hear what should have been a private argument between us. “Why else would you suddenly decide to break the Clann’s rule this year and date me, if not for being gaze dazed?”
    Half vamp or not, she had the worst poker face I had ever seen. She knew she was outright lying to everyone. But why? It didn’t make sense to throw herself off a cliff now, when the truth was finally out. We were almost home free. All we had to do was stick together and refuse to back down, and the Clann would be forced to see reason.
    “You know why,” I murmured, taking a step closer to her. But she quickly stepped back, maintaining the distance between us. “Sav, don’t do this. Just tell them the truth.”
    She shook her head, her eyes melting back to a dark slate-gray in sadness. “You’re gaze dazed. You’d say anything right now in order to be with me.”
    “See?” Mom hissed to no one in particular as she glared at Savannah. “I told you Tristan would never willingly break the rules. She was making him do it.”
    Savannah nodded. “Yes, I was. And I’m very sorry. I didn’t understand what my vamp side could do. But now that I know what I am and what I’m capable of, I can promise you…” Her throat worked as she gulped.
    “Sav, don’t,” I said through gritted teeth.
    She straightened her back and lifted her chin. “I promise you I will no longer be involved with your son in any way. As long as you agree not to punish Nanna or Tristan. Nanna didn’t even know about us, and Tristan—”
    “No,” I shouted, her words clawing at my insides. “I knew what I was doing. Don’t listen to her. She’s lying to try and—”
    “How do we know you’ll keep this promise?” Dad asked, ignoring me.
    “Because…” Savannah’s voice wobbled. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Because I already made the vampire council the same promise. And they’ll be checking on me to make sure I keep it. Just like I’m sure you will be.”
    She was lying. She had to be.
    I searched her face. But this time, she was telling the truth. It was all right there for me to see in the trembling of her chin, the tears gathering in her eyes, the sudden slouch of her shoulders.
    She’d promised a bunch of strangers that she would break up with me. Hours ago. Long before we ever got on that plane together in Paris. Before she sat curled up against me, letting me hold her, watching me smile and even fall asleep, letting me believe everything was finally working out for us.
    All that time, she had been planning this —to break up with me. To dump me. And I hadn’t guessed a thing.
    The wind returned, whipping Savannah’s long red curls into a frenzy that hid her face from me. The gusts tried to rock me off balance, but I couldn’t feel them.
    “We agree to your