Page 22 of Death

“Home already?” she asks. “You really don’t go wild, do you?”

I keep my head down. “No, I guess not,” I mutter.

She takes a few steps down. “Honey, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I say, trying to pass her.

“Hey, hey.” She lays a hand on my shoulder. “What happened? Are you okay?”

I bite down. Tears threaten to pool in my eyes and I’m not sure I can even speak without them falling down.

“He came back, didn’t he?” she asks.

My breath hitches. I tilt my head up to look at her and she stares back at me, her eyes shadowed beneath her bangs.

“Why?” I ask, my throat clenching. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Her shoulders sink. “Tannis, I’m so sorry—”

“Hey.” My father pauses at the bottom of the stairs. “Back already?”

I turn back as the first tear plummets down my cheek. His face twinges between sadness and guilt as his gaze shifts back and forth.

“Ari told her,” Mom says.

He deflates and slides his glasses off his nose. “Oh,” he says.

“Oh?”I repeat. “That’s all you can say to me?”

Mom rubs my arm. “Tannis—”

“No.” I jerk away from her. “You should have told me.”

“He asked us not to,” Dad says, mimicking the same lame excuse from this morning.

“Right. The lesser evil,” I spit. “Sorry, but I disagree.”

“Tannis,” Mom says, “we wanted you to have a normal life — as normal as we could possibly give you while we could.”

“Well, congrats. You succeeded. And now, I have to go on my first real date ever with the king of the dead!” I throw up my hands. “Super normal. Thanks a lot.”

“Wait, what?” Dad takes a step up. “Date? What date?”

“He’s taking you on a date?” Mom asks.

“Yes. Three of them, actually. To prove he’s worthy of… something.”

Her face softens. “Aw, that’s kind of sweet.”

“No, it’s not!” I say. “It’s gross! He’s been watching me since I was born! Curing fevers and stopping me from getting kidnapped.”

“Of course, he did,” she says. “He cares about you, honey.”

“Bullshit! He doesn’t care about me. And neither do you!”

She looks down.

“That’s enough, Tannis,” Dad says, his voice firm. “You’re upset and that’s understandable but you won’t talk to her like that.”