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people here look like they pretty much suck,” I said.
    Tony smiled in return. “How old are you?” he asked.
    “Sixteen, as of yesterday.” (Was I lying?)
    “Cool! Happy birthday.” Tony’s smile widened, and his eyes twinkled. “I am, too. So that makes you a junior, right?”
    I recalled some paperwork that I had seen that morning. I remembered an official letter that said I was a junior. I nodded in response. We sat for a bit and listened to the happenings around us. Some people chatted about the beginning of school, and I concentrated on the way people spoke in this age.
    I am so not going to even speak to him this year.
    Justin Enos is the hottest guy on campus, are you insane?
    Why the hell is that girl wearing sunglasses and a hat? Incognito much? Hello?!
    Then the chatter changed dramatically. Some people pointed out toward the harbor. I snuck one more glance back at the tall blonde staring me down. She looked away from me and started to jump up and down. I refocused on the water. After all, that was why I was there: to watch boat racing. Not to get the inquisition from a blond girl who would have been a small lunch in my usual circumstance.
    “Look!” Tony pointed. “Here they come!”
    I could see two boats coming from opposite directions in the harbor. They were strange boats made from white metal and shaped so the bow was a sharp point. One of the boats was painted with red flames running along the sides; the other boat had blue flames. During my existence all boats had been made from wood. This was something new. Though Rhode had briefly explained cars and engines, I wasn’t prepared for the intense roaring that came from these machines. Even on the beach the noise echoed, vibrating within my ears.
    “What are they doing?” I asked. The boats were still roaring from opposite ends of the harbor. They moved so quickly toward each other, huge sprays of water propelled from the back of the boats up into an arc in the air.
    “They race around the island twice. Whoever gets back to the dock first, wins. They smashed into it two years ago,” Tony said.
    “What do they get if they win?” I asked.
    “Respect,” Tony replied.
    The boats moved so fast I couldn’t tell who was behind the wheel. Surely this must be some kind of sick joke, I thought. The boats were coming closer and closer, the pointed bows aimed right at each other. A girl on the beach screamed. Then, within moments, maybe within inches of each other, both boats changed angle. Sprays of water flew in the air. I could see the curved underbelly of the boat with blue flames. They raced away from the beach, each choosing a side and tearing away around the island.
    Everyone on the beach screeched, yelled, and whooped so loud that the sound swelled in my ears. Everyone stood, jumping and waving, except Tony and me. Some were chanting the name Justin over and over; others, the name Curtis.
    The boats came around again and passed in front of the island. I held my breath because they crisscrossed within inches of smashing into each other. The bows just barely grazed. There was a collective gasp from the beach as the boats disappeared behind the island again.
    “This is fun?” I asked. My heart fluttered from all of the adrenaline bashing about my chest.
    “This is the least of what they do,” Tony said. “The whole family is crazy. Thrill seekers.”
    “They’re brothers, right?” I asked, and a memory of my coven leaped into my mind. “They must be close,” I said. “Trust each other.”
    Tony replied to what I said, but I was barely listening. In my mind, Heath, Gavin, Song, and Vicken sat by a fire. We were at my home in Hathersage sometime around the 1890s. Rhode was still gone, angry with me somewhere in Europe, and I sat in the middle of my brotherhood. They surrounded me in a circle and were seated in black wooden chairs. Each chair was carved to match their personality. Gavin’s was marked with many types of swords because he