Crimson Death (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #25)(2)

Mom shrugged. Her blue, deep-set eyes had heavy bags underneath them, and her lightweight black cardigan was inside out. The tag, poking meekly out of the side seam, rustled as she dropped her arms by her sides. “Ollie, we don’t have a choice.”

“But … do you … could I stay at home, and you guys can stay here?” Hey, the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. Just because I had fun playing babysitter for the summer didn’t mean I wanted to drop everything and make it a permanent role. “Yeah, actually, that could work. I can take care of the house, and I can drive myself around. I can pay the bills myself. I’ll pick up a few extra shifts at the store. I can come up later, if it looks like you’ll be here for a while, but … I mean, Mom, the band. And the guys. I can’t …”

Mom rested her elbows on the counter and buried her forehead in her palms. “Ollie. Please. Don’t make this any more difficult.”

I slumped back, staring at my phone. What was I supposed to say here? It’s not that I was a brat or anything, but this was a lot to take in. My mind raced as it tried to process the enormity of it all. Senior year without any of my friends? At a totally unfamiliar school, with teachers who didn’t know me, right when grades actually started to matter? I’d have to quit my job, and my band, and I’d miss homecoming …

Then I peeked back at Mom, and I only had to take one look at the expression on her face to realize this was non-negotiable. Reluctantly, I shoved all the reasons why this would ruin everything to the back of my mind. I’d come to terms with it all later. In my room. After finding an appropriately melancholy playlist on Spotify.

But—but—but, a part of me piped up. It’s not all melancholy. Now you live in the same state as Will. Seeing him again might actually be plausible now.

My stomach flipped at the thought. You had silver linings, and you had platinum linings. This lining was firmly of the platinum variety. “Okay. Well, it’s … sudden. But okay. We’ll make it work.”

Mom brightened, and pulled me into a hug. “That was easier than I expected.”

My voice came out muffled against her chest. “I reserve the right to complain constantly moving forward. I’d sound like a monster if I said no and you know it. Not that I had a choice, did I?”

As Mom let me go, she gave a brief laugh. “No, God no, but I appreciate the cooperation all the same.”

“At least you’re honest.” I forced a smile, and Mom hopped off the stool to start lunch preparations.

“We will make it work, I promise,” she said as she clattered around in the crisper to retrieve some tomatoes and lettuce. “Sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the people we love, right? It might not be ideal, but we may as well do it with a grin.”

I nodded absentmindedly and went back to my phone. At least the first problem was solved. This totally counted as a good enough reason to send multiple text messages.

Now he’d have to reply, right?





2


Wednesday, 6:05 PM

Hey. So. Funny story. I’m

moving to NC for a while.

I’m going to be living in

Collinswood. Any chance

that’s near you?

Unread

I was joking about the aliens thing, but it was starting to seem like the only plausible explanation. Who doesn’t touch their phone for twelve days? No one, that’s who. Seriously. Since I sent that text, I’d:



? Packed.

? Left the lake house.

? Flown home.

? Packed up my entire house.

? Said good-bye to all my friends.

? Consumed three milkshakes of pure misery. One with Ryan, one with Hayley, and one more with Ryan because he had a late-night craving after already officially saying good-bye to me.

? Flown to freaking Collinswood, A.K.A. Podunk Nowhere.

? Unpacked my entire house.

? Cried in secret twice.

? Cried a little bit in front of my parents once.

? Made a blood vow with myself to stop freaking crying.

? Taken a tour of Podunk Nowhere and cried on the inside a bit when I realized all my shopping was going to have to be online from here on out.

? Watched Frozen three times. Twice, with my cousins in the room. Once, on my own because it was already in the DVD player and I couldn’t be bothered to change it.



And in all that time, not one message from Will? Screw that. I was officially over it.

Not so over it that I didn’t want to vent, though. And tonight was my chance. After several failed attempts, Ryan, Hayley, and I had finally found a time we were all free to Skype. I’d intended to take the call in my room, but Mom decided at the last minute that she needed me in the kitchen to peel the cucumbers for the salad. So I multitasked, with the laptop on the dining room table and a cutting board beside it.

Mom and Dad were cooking a special dinner to celebrate the grand opening of our new kitchen. Trouble was, our special meals were usually takeout, since we never had people over for dinner and therefore had no one to impress but ourselves. And pad thai from the restaurant down the street had historically impressed all three of us without fail in San Jose.

By the time Dad cracked (no pun intended) and pulled up a Gordon Ramsay tutorial on YouTube to copy from, tensions were running high. To make things worse, joining us in the kitchen were my very bored and crabby cousins, Crista and Dylan.