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the second time in a week, my body took over. It gathered all my pain and shoved it outward. Red flames shot from my skin to his.
    Asher yanked his arms back as if he’d been burned by the inferno. The current of energy coming from him cut off.
    I doubled over and grabbed hold of the nearest chair as my heart started pounding in double time. My glare took in the pallor of his tanned face and the sweat dotting his forehead, as I raised my mental defenses. Too little, too late. He stood ramrod straight, his expression pained. He hurt, I realized. I’d done that. My angry smile turned fierce with pride.
    A waiter stepped on to the patio, and I tried to blend once more into the crowd. When I was sure I could move without falling, I turned my back on Asher and walked into the club.
    The door didn’t open behind me, and I assessed my body. The pain had dissipated, but I remained weak. Not as bad as after I’d hurt Dean, but then this pain had been different. I hadn’t absorbed another’s injuries in the process of . . . What? I wasn’t sure what I’d done, except that my body could now cause pain in addition to taking it away. Two times the freak.
    And now Asher knew, too.
    He’d think twice before he touched me again.

C HAPTER F OUR
    M y first week at school was uneventful.
    A weathered, red brick building, Blackwell Falls High perched at the top of a hill in the midst of modest homes and groupings of sugar maples and oak trees. Ben drove me to campus to sign me up for classes the first day. He was pleased to find out I was a complete nerd and, through sheer grit and sweat, a straight-A student. Perhaps I was more motivated than others by the necessity of escaping hell as soon as possible. It hadn’t hurt that hanging at the library meant time spent out of the apartment away from Dean.
    My time among the books meant I had very little catchup to do in my classes. This was lucky since my concentration lasted about thirty seconds before thoughts of Asher crept in.
    I’d worried I’d be fighting off repeat attacks in the hallways at school. One blast of his energy scared me worse than watching Dean’s fist fly at me, but at least I could defend myself now. My new power left me conflicted. I was proud I could take care of myself, where before I’d been an animal scrambling for a hole to hide in, and scared I’d injure someone accidentally. This developing ability seemed the opposite of who I thought I was—a healer.
    Part of me celebrated my first day at school when Asher spared me no more than a glance in English, the single class we had together, before turning to flirt with the petite girl next to him. I didn’t understand why I also felt frustrated. The loneliness I’d sensed in him at the beach didn’t fit with reality. At lunch, he sat with his sister and their friends in the cafeteria, while I sat with Lucy. I should have been happy he ignored me, but the whole situation left me in a foul mood that didn’t go unnoticed at home during the week. Pensive looks passed between Ben and Laura, and we acted like the strangers we were, skirting each other. I spent a lot of time alone in my room.
    Without help from me, Lucy and Laura planned a shopping trip to the mall in South Portland for the weekend. They acted like they didn’t detect my lack of enthusiasm. I couldn’t help it. A bigger city meant more crowds. It wasn’t their fault I was a freak. They’d done their best to make me feel part of the family, so I gritted my teeth and agreed to all their plans.
    By the end of my first week, tension had me squirming in my seat until I noticed Asher was missing from his table. Charlotte seemed unaware of what had happened between me and her brother. At least, she didn’t acknowledge my existence, as she held court over a group of well-dressed girls. If we’d been in New York, I would have guessed they were Fifth Avenue private school groupies. The Blackwells—or better yet, the Blackwell fortune—attracted them