"I'm sorry about what Em said," I muttered, shortening my stride to match Savannah's as I shoved my hands into my pockets. "She was way out of line."
"Yeah, she was." She snapped her mouth shut, refusing to vent the hundred and one heated thoughts thrashing around inside her head. "So was Mom, though. They're both being ridiculous."
I don't know how much more of it I can take! she thought, and I didn't know if she was just thinking to herself or had meant for me to hear that part.
"I didn't realize it was getting that bad."
She glared at nothing ahead of us. "You wouldn't believe how much complaining I have to listen to. And not just from Mom. Every time one of them's not around, the other one takes the opportunity to vent to me. It is constant. I've tried mediating. I've tried to explain why they're doing the stuff they're doing. They're both so used to living on their own and doing what they want."
"And they're both too stubborn to want to change their ways for someone else's sake."
"Exactly. And they're both completely blind to how they're so much alike!"
I tried not to smile. I could see the humor because I hadn't had to live in the middle of it all for two months. "So what are we going to do about it?"
She looked at me then. "We? Uh-uh. You. You can talk to your sister and tell her to clean up her crappy attitude and stop criticizing every single thing my mother does wrong."
"Oh, come on, Sav. That's not fair and you know it. Your mother's just as much to blame for this situation as Emily is. She was way out of line back there, talking about my family."
"Really? Because I thought she was just pointing out the facts. Your father did claim to be all 'equal opportunity' for the vamps and yet still strangely chose to marry a vamp hater. Why is that, Tristan?"
I took a deep breath to push back the anger so I could answer her in a steady tone. "I don't know. And to be honest, I don't care because it doesn't really matter now, does it? They're both dead."
She f linched and looked away. "Right. So I guess we'll never get to find out why your mother kicked you out of the Clann but not your sister."
"I can tell you why. Because Emily never told her who the baby's father was."
"Because no one can read her mind unless she lets them?" I nodded.
"That is so weird. How can she do that?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. She's always had the best mental shield of anyone in the Clann. How do you think she always got away with so much crap without getting caught?" I'd told Savannah about several escapades my sister and I had gotten into as little kids.
She sighed and looked away. "Whatever. The point is-"
"The point is, they're both in the wrong, and they could both act a lot better for the sake of the team."
"The team?" Now a hint of a smile kicked up the corners of her mouth.
"Yeah. Well, you know, it's like sports. We're all in this together, right?" At her reluctant nod, I added, "So if we all want to keep from killing each other, then we all have to compromise for the sake of others."
"Which neither of them wants to do, if you couldn't tell from that fight back there."
"Right." I sighed. "I'll talk to Emily, and you talk to your mother. We'll make them see that they've got to ease up on each other and stop focusing on every little thing the other does wrong."
Savannah hummed a grouchy note deep in her breath. "Maybe you should talk to both of them." At my pointed stare, she said, "You don't understand. She's my mother. I can't just walk up to her and tell her what to do!"
"Not tell her what to do, but make suggestions."
Silence.
"Sav, she's your mother. She loves you. She'll listen to you."
"Or ground me for sassing her."
I couldn't stop a smile this time. "Ground you from what? Ever leaving the trailer?"
She smiled down at the gravel road beneath our feet.
"So you'll talk to her?" I pushed a little. "Today?"
She chewed the inner corner of her mouth, vertical lines forming between her eyes.
"Sav..." I coaxed. "You need to talk to her. I can't do it. I'm not her kid."
"Maybe I can get Dad to talk to her."
"Sav!" I said with a half laugh of disbelief. "You're a vamp now. I don't think she's going to throw you over her knees and spank you."
She looked at me with eyebrows raised. "Want to bet?"
I was starting to lose my patience. I took another deep breath. "Okay, out with it. What's the real reason you don't-"
"Because our relationship's not like that anymore, okay? Used to be, I could talk to her. Now, it's like there's all this distance between us. She's always so polite with me. It's like being around a stranger. And...maybe Emily's right about some stuff. Let's face it, Mom doesn't have to be here with us. She could just go get a new car and take off. The only reason she's stuck around is probably to make sure I'm safe."
"Have you talked to her about this?"
She shook her head. "I can't."
"You need to, or it's going to keep bugging you."
Her chin stuck out as she shook her head again. "I'll be fine. Trust me, sometimes it's way better to just keep your opinions and feelings and issues to yourself."
A memory of Emily and her mother arguing f lashed through her mind.
"Yeah, for those two. But not for you. You never tell anyone when they're upsetting you or irritating you. You just keep it all bottled up inside."
"It's called keeping the peace," she muttered through gritted teeth.
"Yeah, well, when you're the only one who's trying to do that, it's never going to work. All it does is make you miserable. How do you expect anything to change if you don't talk it out?" Not to mention how eating down all her anger instead of letting it out had nearly made her vamp out today.
Oh, like telling you my feelings worked out so well for us last time? she thought, then looked away, hating that I could read her every thought.
"Just because we had one argument doesn't mean you should be afraid to say how you feel. Especially to me."