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Asher’s family. They had all been harmed in some way by my secrets. I couldn’t do that to Brandon again.
    “You know my history. You know I wouldn’t touch anything.” Dean’s drunken binges and cruel fists had seen to that.
    “I know.”
    His quiet tone scared me, and I wiped my sweaty hand on my skirt under the table. “What are you saying, Brand?”
    He took another sip of his tea, his brown eyes solemn. “I’m saying, I know what I saw.”
    “And what did you see?”
    “Marina. Dying of a drug overdose. And then not. You—sober. And then not.”
    “So, I got buzzed by osmosis? That’s insane.” I laughed, but it sounded forced even to my ears.
    He sat forward in a rush, touching my arm with gentle fingers. My energy hummed, and I scanned him out of habit. Healthy. “Remy, tell me what’s going on. Trust me.”
    Asher had said the same thing once. I’d given in to the impulse, and he’d nearly died trying to protect me, despite being a Protector. Powerless, Brandon wouldn’t stand a chance.
    Surging to my feet, I shoved his hand away and snapped, “Geez, Brand. I felt sick. I left. The end.” Avoiding his eyes, I reached for my bag.
    “You know I care about you, right?”
    His worried tone made me look up, and I softened my words.
    “Of course, I know. But there’s nothing to tell. I swear.”
    The lie came off my tongue easier than I cared to admit. One day I wouldn’t be able to keep the gnarled words from strangling me. With a smile meant to reassure, I dropped a light kiss on Brandon’s cheek and walked out of the café.
     
    I didn’t want to go home.
    Parked outside our house, I studied the white New England–style cottage. Hot sunlight set the bits of sea glass hanging in the windows aglow. My stepmother, Laura, loved to collect the glass when she walked on the beach that curved below at the edge of the marina. I loved our house. I loved the woods that cradled it, and the sea grass that bowed to the salty air when it blew through the sand. No concrete in sight, but this place felt more real to me than the city I’d grown up in.
    Ben and Laura would be in the living room watching TV, or Laura would be in the back garden while Ben caught up on work he’d brought home from his shipbuilding office. If I walked in the house, they would drop whatever they were doing to hug me and ask me about my day. I soaked up their attention, my craving for it unending after so many years of starvation. Today, though, they would wonder why Lucy was mad at me, and I didn’t want to lie.
    Clambering out of my red Mustang, I paced myself until I reached the entrance to Townsend Park’s labyrinth at the edge of our backyard. Standing still, I listened for a sign that the park sat empty of bird-watchers and kids who liked to play in its maze. I heard nothing but the tittering of birds and leaves bristling in the wind.
    Excited now, I shook my hair out and dropped all pretense of human speed. I couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped when my feet raced over the uneven path, my body bending around curves a moment before I slammed into this tree or tripped over that fallen log. The lingering headache disappeared. Too soon, I stood in the circular clearing at the center of the labyrinth, my hair swirling at my waist as my body came to a sudden rest.
    “It’s exhilarating, isn’t it?”
    Asher sat on one of the stone benches, the sun splashing over his skin. He had a way of guessing my next move and had obviously been waiting for me. His ability to peek into my mind didn’t hurt. He smiled, and an answering smile curved my mouth.
    “I never get tired of it,” I admitted. “The speed. It’s freeing somehow.”
    Striding toward him, I planted myself on his lap, and his arms surrounded me.
    “How are you feeling?”
    “Better now that the bells have stopped ringing in my skull. My powers have been slow to kick in this morning.”
    I traced the white scar slashing through one of his eyebrows to the top of