Lullaby Read Free Page B

sadness.
    “Have you eaten today?” Harper asked, walking past her father toward the kitchen. “I can make you something.”
    “I’m not hungry,” Brian said.
    “Come on, Dad. I’m making you something.”
    Harper went into the kitchen and opened the fridge. She pulled out lunch meat and mayo, and by the time she’d started making him a sandwich, Brian had wandered into the kitchen and sat down at the table.
    “Have you heard from her?” he asked.
    “No.” She slathered the bread with mayo and refused to look back at him as she spoke. “You know I’d tell you if I had.”
    “I just don’t understand why she’d run away,” he said, with a now-familiar frustration taking over. “She had so much she wanted to do. And she was even dating Alex. Why would she leave? Even if she was mad at me.”
    “She wasn’t mad at you,” Harper reassured him. She put the sandwich on a plate, then set it in front of her father, still without really looking at him. “You know this wasn’t about you.”
    “But it doesn’t make any sense!” Brian insisted. “I called her swimming coach today, and he said that her times have been amazing lately. She worked so hard for that. Why would she blow it to run away with some stupid girls?”
    “She’s sixteen, Dad.” Harper went over to the sink to start rinsing off what few dishes had piled up, just so she’d have something to do. “Teenagers are unpredictable.”
    “But you guys weren’t,” Brian said, speaking louder to be heard over the running water. “Gemma may be strong-willed, but I’ve always known what I was getting with her. It’s like the last week she’s turned into something else.”
    Harper accidentally dropped a plate, and it clattered loudly in the sink.
    “And the timing couldn’t be worse,” Brian went on. “There’s that killer on the loose going after teenagers.” He took a labored breath. “Something’s happened to her, Harper.”
    “Those were all boys,” Harper said, trying to cut off his train of thought. “And I saw Gemma leave. She told me she was running away. She’s fine.”
    “She’s not fine!” Brian shouted.
    Harper leaned against the sink and closed her eyes. For a moment all she could do was breathe in deep to keep from freaking out. Her hands were trembling, and she wanted to cry. She had to convince her father that everything was all right, when in reality she had no idea if Gemma was okay or if they’d ever see her again.
    “I went to the police today,” Brian said, and his tone had leveled out again.
    “Did you?” Harper asked cautiously. “What did they say?”
    “They’re looking for her,” Brian said. “They don’t prioritize runaway teens, and with everything that’s been going on lately, they’re going to do what they can.”
    “That’s good.” Harper had finished with the dishes, but she left the tap on, preferring the sound so it would drown out the silence and tension in the room.
    “Harper, turn off the water,” Brian said. “I need to tell you something.”
    She shut off the faucet but grabbed a rag to wipe down the counter, continuing her attempts to busy herself.
    “Harper. Sit down. I need to talk to you.”
    “Just a sec, Dad,” Harper said, scrubbing at a nonexistent spot on the counter.
    “Harper,” Brian said, with a firmness to his words that made Harper flinch.
    She draped the rag over the sink, then went over to the table and sat down across from him. The whole time she kept her eyes lowered, afraid of how she might react if she looked at him directly.
    Seeing her father so haggard like that, she was terrified she would spill everything to him. But she couldn’t tell him about the sirens or what had really become of Gemma, and not just because he’d think she was insane.
    In fact, that would be better than if he believed her. If he knew that Gemma was a siren, that she’d run off with actual monsters, he would lose his mind trying to protect her, and Harper couldn’t