Page 22 of Gather the Storm

“Why her?” my mom said. “I understand if you want to move out, if you want some space, especially after being locked up for so long. But why do you have to move in with Daisy Hammond?”

My mom didn’t have anything against Daisy, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to put together the fact that Jace, Otis, and I had confessed to killing Blake because Daisy had been arrested for the crime.

My mom had never believed we’d done it, had begged me to change my mind, saying it wasn’t my job to protect Daisy Hammond, but I’d refused to talk about it.

“She needs help with the house.” It was the simplest explanation, but it wasn’t the whole truth.

The whole truth — that we’d been protecting Daisy for years, that girls were still going missing, even after those fuckers at Aventine had been caught — would only scare my mom, make her worry that we were getting mixed up in something dangerous.

There was no point telling her we were already in it, that we’d been mixed up in something dangerous since we’d become best friends with Blake Hammond in second grade when he’denlisted us to help him put worms in the girls’ cubbies, something I still felt bad about.

“She’s rich,” my mom said, a hint of anger in her voice. I could hear her unspoken thoughts.Her family cost me five years with my son. What more does she want?“Tell her to hire someone.”

I emptied my sock drawer into the duffel. Socks still fit at least. “It’s not that simple. Her dad won’t fund the restoration of the house and the money her mom left isn’t going to cover it if she hires contractors.”

I was focusing on Daisy because it was easier than telling my mom the rest of the truth: I needed to get the fuck out of here.

Not away from my mom. Away from the house, whose walls seemed small and confining after prison, and away from downtown, right around the corner, where I’d run into someone who remembered the Blackwell Beasts every time I stepped outside for fresh air.

I hated to admit it, but the house at the top of the Falls was the perfect place for us to regroup. It was quiet up there, outside of town. We could walk outside without running into anyone, figure out what the fuck to do about Daisy long-term, what the fuck to do with our lives.

“She’s not your responsibility, Wolf.”

On this count, my mom was wrong, but there was no point arguing about it.

The duffel was packed, my dresser drawers mostly empty, my guitar case leaning against the wall by the door.

I sat on the bed and looked at my mom, still standing in the doorway. “I have to do this, Ma. Can you just… I don’t know, support me?”

It felt a little manipulative. They were magic words with my mom, who wanted nothing more than to be supportive.

She sighed. “I always support you, Wolf. You know that. I’m just worried about you.”

I nodded, because the truth was, I was more than a little worried about myself.

"I can see you’ve made up your mind,” she said, changing tactics. “Will you promise me one thing?”

I nodded and she crossed the room to sit next to me on the bed.

She turned her head to look at me, her brown eyes pleading. “Promise if you get in over your head, you’ll come to me? You’ll let me help you before it gets bad?”

“I promise.” It wasn’t a lie. Not exactly.

Because the truth was, I was already in over my head with Daisy Hammond.

Had been for years.

Chapter 11

Daisy

Isat in my chair at the long dining room table and watched my dad as he processed what I’d just told him. He was as composed as ever, his graying hair perfectly combed, jawline freshly shaved, but I knew he was… upset? Pissed?

I wasn’t sure, but he wasn’t happy and I knew he wasn’t happy because he took a long time to answer, something he did when he was trying to make me squirm.

His suit jacket hung on the back of his chair just like always even though he worked for himself and was under no obligation to wear a suit.

“You’re not moving to that drafty old house, Daisy,” he finally said. “It’s too deserted. It’s not safe.”

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