Excerpt: An Omen in the Bone

Short side story:

"I didn't go past 14th, Aunty, I swear. I'm smarter than that," I lied. While she frowned at me I struggled to come up with another explanation for my black eye – I could pull out the "I'm a klutz" card, but even that would be hard to prove. Even I am just graceful enough to keep from bruising. "I wasn't looking where I was going and caught my foot on the curb, that's all." I made the mistake of mumbling – I wasn't good at lying.
She caught me in it, too. "If you were walking you'd be smart enough to miss it, Gale. Don't pretend you're stupid. Where'd you go and why were you running?" I grimaced - not only had she caught my lie, she was psychic enough to know exactly what I was doing, all based solely on my pathetic excuse. She only asked to get me to admit my mistake.
I squirmed in my seat, trying to break eye-contact and failing every few seconds. I knew better than to go so far from the house and the guilt for that alone draped heavily over my mind. To have to confess it to Aunty made it unbearable. I quickly debated another lie and gave up on the idea, dropping my head in defeat. "I went with Seth to run an errand... On the way back they showed up and I spooked..." I glanced up and pouted at her. "And I did trip on that curb, that wasn't a lie."
Aunty didn't look like she cared. She sighed and slumped to lean her slight weight against the wall. This was the part I hated. "God, Gale... We try our best to keep you safe and this is what you do. I know you're tired of being cooped up like this, but you know it's for your own good. One of these days they're going to catch you and then what'll you do?"
I kept quiet, staring at the floor. Aunty really did care for me, I knew that; she wouldn't have put up with me for so long if she didn't. But still, she was right; I felt stuck. As much as I cared about her and Claire and the others, I didn't want to stay here forever. The fact that I didn't have a choice made it that much worse.
Aunty let out a rough breath and stood up straight again. "But I guess it's not really my place to say anything. Keep your head, Gale. You know I can't do anything to help you if you go out too far." With that she left the foyer, trailing a little slower than usual.
I watched her leave, perching on my stool and kicking myself mentally. I never lied to Aunty, but not because I was bad at it. Lying to Aunty made her show her age and seeing her act as old as she was made my stomach sink.
Forcing my worry to the back of my mind I turned and focused on the books spread out in front of me. Sometimes doing menial number crunching was a favorable distraction, and I let it absorb my attention. It was far more favorable than admitting that Aunty was getting old.
As soon as I admitted Aunty was old, I admitted I wouldn't be safe.