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gives a little wink.
    I bite down on the bubbling laugh ready to spring from my throat. Logan gets up and heads across the room.
    “Sounds like a plan,” I call after him as he disappears into the closet.
    I wonder if his plan will be enough. Something tells me I’ll be leaving senior year just as confused as when I started.
     
    ***
     
    The scent of bacon melting into a beautiful deep-fried, artery-clogging promise filters through the house as I make my way downstairs.
    I swear if Chloe has the balls to show for breakfast, I’ll personally give my family a demonstration of what she did to Logan by way of my fingernails. Not as efficient as the business end of a blade but ten times as fun.
    I bounce into the family room on my way to the fridge. Mom is nursing baby Beau over on the couch, while Tad sits glued to the local news channel.
    “ Aha, ” he crows.“They caught the transient responsible for all the mayhem last night.” He points hard at the screen. “Told you, Lizbeth. There’s been some lunatic on the island all along.”
    Poor transient.
    “I talked to Emma this morning.” Mom looks up at me, ignoring Tad’s lunatic ravings. Most likely because we both know the only loon on the island is Tad himself. “She said Gage was fine. Nothing more than a few stitches and a sore throat.”
    I doubt Emma was being one hundred percent truthful with my mother, but I do appreciate the good report.
    “That’s great to hear. I’ll be headed that way after breakfast.”
    She shoots me a look that spells out we-will-continue-this-conversation-in-private.
    Now that my mother is privy to the faction war, I’m sure she has her suspicions on what might have really happened.
    “Good morning, sis!” Melissa beams. She and Mia pull me deeper into the kitchen out of view from Mom and Tad. “Tell us all about our superpowers.” Melissa is serious as death as if I’ve just inflicted them with the plague. And considering they’re both Counts I guess you could say I sort of did. 
    Mia squeals and jumps as if she’s been waiting her entire life for this celestial morsel.
    Melissa looks decidedly like Drake with her sharp nose, her broad cheeks. She’s pretty in a Tom-boy sort of way with her dark hair chopped to her neck, the severe bangs my sister inflicted on her.
    “Relax, you’re not superheroes, you’re angels. And hardly angels at that.” I start to dish myself a plate of scrambled eggs. “Besides, you’ve already got the power, you just have to believe.” All those memories of Logan teaching me these things last summer flood to the forefront of my mind. “Don’t do anything stupid like hurling your teachers into a ditch. These so-called ‘powers’ can land you straight in juvie if you’re not careful.”
    Mia belts out a laugh. Her blond waves don’t fare as well being clipped just past her ears. Her curls are springing every which way, and she looks insane cackling for no good reason this early in the morning.
    “Are you kidding?” She balks. It’s weird that she looks so much like me when my biological mother and she are of no relation, but, then again, knowing my mother, she designed Mia to look this way on purpose. “We’re eighth graders now. We’re going to run that school this year. Besides, these powers are strictly going to be used to impress boys.”
    “Geez.” I close my eyes for a minute. “Mom is totally going to have her hands full with the two of you.” I sail past them and pour myself a cup of coffee. “Look,” I sigh exasperated by their “powers,” and it’s only the first morning of the rest of their Count lives—“whatever you do, keep this under the radar, or else you’re going to get yourselves locked in cages in some underground government laboratory. And, in case you can’t guess—that means no Jr. High prom.”
    They gasp in horror at the thought of being denied sateen dresses and carnation corsages. Serves them right for threatening all of humanity with