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I started laughing, I couldn’t help myself.

Chapter Twenty-four

The door banged shut loudly, making me jump. My laughter died as abruptly as it had arrived.

“Someone care to tell me what in the fuck is going on here,” Quinton growled. It wasn’t a suggestion either, more like a demand.

I opened my mouth and promptly snapped it shut. Holy crap, how to explain when I didn’t understand myself. There’d been a bit of a drama which I’d created myself. Then I cried because I’d gotten over emotional because of said drama. So, basically, I made myself cry. Damn. And then I yelled at Tyson. Double damn. I seriously owed him an apology.

I ran my fingers over my forehead, smoothing out non-existent wrinkles in a nervous gesture. I wasn’t very good with apologies.

“I’m sorry, Tyson,” I mumbled while staring at my feet.

“I’m sorry, too,” he said. “You know, for calling you a brat and all that.”

“You did what?” Quinton barked angrily.

Tyson sighed and climbed to his feet. “Why are you in my bedroom, Uncle?”

I was thinking nobody liked having Quinton barge into their bedroom uninvited. I had a feeling he did it all the time.

“I felt something big coming from your room so I came to make sure you both were alright.”

Well, that was nice of him, but totally unnecessary.

“What you felt was Ariel,” Tyson stated proudly. He gestured around the room with his hand. “She lit this place up.”

Quinton stared at me with one eyebrow raised high up on his forehead. I stared right back, but without the eyebrow raising. I didn’t know how to do that.

“Show me,” he demanded.

“Umm…” I mumbled. “I don’t know how.”

The other eyebrow went up. I think I confused him. I know I confused myself at times.

“Let’s start small,” Tyson said. He sat back down on the oversized cushion and stretched his legs out in front of him. He patted the cushion beside him and grinned at me. “Sit your sweet ass down, girl.”

I did as I was told and sat down beside him. His warm hand landed on my thigh and he gave me a gentle squeeze. My heart skipped a beat as I watched Quinton glare at Tyson’s hand on my leg. He let out a deep sigh, then sat down on the other side of me. Thankfully, he didn’t try to touch me. I had enough weirdness for one day, thank you very much.

Quinton sat on the floor instead of a cushion. He pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapped his arms around his legs and rested his head atop a jean covered knee. He looked completely at ease with himself. I’d never seen him looking so relaxed before. Normally, he seemed so intense and angry. I felt like he was letting me see a different side to himself, one I don’t think many people got to see.

He tilted his head to the side and watched me watch him. His eyes had lost their intensity, their darkness. They were thoughtful and kind. So much like Tyson’s eyes when he looked at me. I had a strong urge to reach out and touch him. This scary, intense man made someone throw up their own blood simply because they hadn’t been nice to me. Admittedly, he didn’t seem like a very good person, but I kind of liked him. He intrigued me even though he frightened me.

He smiled at me. The first genuine smile I’d received from him. It might have even been the first time I’d seen him smile, I wasn’t sure.

“What?” He asked quietly.

In this moment, he seemed so normal.

“We’ll start with candles for today,” Tyson said, breaking my moment with Quinton. “Magic takes a toll on your body. You’ve used it for the first time today and you used more energy than a beginner should. You’ll need food soon to refuel. We don’t want to wear you out, so candles it is. We already know you can do that. Tomorrow we will work on something else, and I have lots of books for you to read.”

I blinked at Quinton. I had missed half of what Tyson had said because I’d been too busy staring at his Uncle.

“Sure,” I said, having no idea what I was agreeing to. Had I been asked a question?

Quinton’s grin turned into a smile and I found myself blinking at him for an entirely different reason. A hand appeared in front of my face, blocking Quinton from my view. Tyson impatiently snapped his fingers in my face.

“Ariel,” he snapped at me.