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“Girl,” he muttered. “Do not even bullshit me right now. Your mother seriously fucked you all up. She might not see your value, but I do. We all do.”

Yeah, that was what I was afraid of. Being another pawn. He only saw my value because he thought I was one of four.

My body trembled with a rage I wasn’t used to feeling and my skin began to tingle. I felt like my insides were boiling.

This wasn’t me. I wasn’t like this. I didn’t want to be out of control, but I didn’t know how to stop it.

“Ariel, please calm down and listen to me. If you would just listen and actually hear what I’m saying to you you wouldn’t be acting like this. You’re acting like a damn brat and-”

That did it.

I felt like I was coming out of my skin.

How dare he call me a brat. How dare he!

I stood up, leaned over so I was in his face, and shouted, “Enough!” I poured all of my emotion, everything I was feeling, into that one word.

The room crackled with energy and all the hair on my body rose. My arms were covered in goose bumps. The hair on my head floated around my shoulders, as if it had a life of its own.

I gasped in shock.

What was happening to me?

“Holy shit,” Tyson whispered from his place on the floor at my feet.

I clenched my fists tightly in an attempt to regain control over my emotions and looked down at him. His eyes shined brightly and he wore a look of awe on his face. His head swiveled from side to side as he looked around his bedroom.

I followed his movements with my own eyes and my mouth dropped open in surprise.

“How?” I asked.

The candles on his nightstands were lit, glowing softly. The candles on the window sills and the tv stand we

re doing the same. The lights on the ceiling were flickering off and on and the gauzy curtain around his bed fluttered to life.

Tyson surprised me by laughing.

“Worried she doesn’t have magic,” he sputtered in between his laughter. “Fucking hilarious.”

I frowned down at him as he lay back, sprawling out over the rug. He clutched his stomach and rolled to his side while laughing hysterically.

I calmed down as he laughed and I felt my hair go back to normal. All the energy drained out of me, leaving me utterly exhausted.

“What the hell was that?” I asked in a quiet, unsure voice.

“That’s what I’d like to know,” a deep, masculine voice rumbled from the doorway.

Tyson immediately stopped laughing. I turned to find Quinton standing in Tyson’s open doorway with an angry frown on his face and his arms crossed over his chest. He looked like a pissed off parent come to scold his naughty children.

A semi-hysterical giggle escaped me before I could shut it down. I clamped a hand over my mouth and looked down at Tyson with wide eyes.

Were we in trouble?

I spread my fingers wide and whispered loudly to Tyson, “Uncle Quinton looks mad. I think he’s come to spank us and maybe put us in time out.”

Tyson’s mouth fell open before he burst out laughing again.

Goodness, I was out of control.