Page 5 of Coerced

We both turned our heads to Matt Farley.

See? Stuff like this is why I don’t do mornings.

“I’m Matt Farley.” He held out a hand.

“He’s Kerry Harker.” Jax reached over and shook his hand. “I’ll be his hand-shake proxy today.”

I often struggled to understand when someone was joking. After ten years of being possessed by a demon, it wasn’t hard to understand why. The majority of my life had been spent simply surviving. This time, fortunately, I realized that Jax was making a joke, even thoughIdidn’t find any of this funny.

Farley’s eyes went wide when he heard my name, but he was brave enough to meet my gaze and hold it.

This seemed like it was gonna take some time, so I clamped my hand over the hole and pressed tight and hoped for the best. I heard that it worked for some people.

Just never me.

“Fanishell froze Joss in time, but Gigi unthawed her. I guess that’s the right word. Gemma says she’ll be fine in a few minutes. I owe you one, Harker. Thanks.”

“Nah. I only came over so Gemma wouldn’t. You owe her.”

“You can look at it that way if you want.” Then he gave me a crooked smile. “So, I was wondering, could you show me how you took Fanishell down? Without my power, all I could do was stand there, and he could have really hurt Joss.”

“Sure, I guess.”

“I’ve always thought we rely on our power too much. What we need here is a class in hand-to-hand instead of waiting until college. You should see if your warden can set you up as an instructor. Like an after school club or something. Anyway, Jax can give you my number whenever you want to set up a time to teach me.”

My surprise turned to shock, then suspicion. Was he mocking me? I narrowed my eyes, but he didn’t take it as a warning because he smiled and held out his hand again. When I didn’t move, he squared his shoulders and tilted his chin up like I’d offended him.

“Try a fist bump,” Jax told him. “He can do that. Handshakes, well, those usually don’t end well.”

“Oh.” Farley’s eyebrows flew up. “I thought it was because of that run-in you had with my jerk brother a couple of months ago.”

“Nah,” I said. “I don’t hold anyone’s idiot relatives against them.”

He grinned and made a fist, so I bunched up my left hand and knocked it against his knuckles.

That’s when Gemma and the others joined us. Of course, she saw the blood andhadto heal me right then and there. I stood in silent forbearance - a word I’d learned from her after one of the handshake incidents - and let her do what she wanted. It was faster, easier, and quieter than arguing with her.

And it made her happy.

I dida lotof things for that reason. Not that I minded. I loved spoiling her.

After a few quick words with Ms. Chapman, we gathered up our belongings and got ready to go. Feeling relaxed enough to take a risk, I told Joss Dumar that I liked her taste in teams and pointed at her jersey. She hesitated for a second and looked at Farley, who nodded and gave her a small smile. She took a deep breath and told me thanks. I woulda gabbed about the Rangers’ post-season chances with her for a bit, but she ducked behind Farley.

I didn’t blame her for hiding. It took a lot of courage to talk to the demon taint in a cafeteria full of classmates and friends.

When Gemma cozied up to me, I slid my arm around her and ignored the taint chewing into my ribs. I loved how she felt pressed against me, all warm and soft and small, and a little bit of pain wasn’t gonna stop me from enjoying it. It distracted me, though, which is why I didn’t realize Farley was so close until he lost his mind or something and put a hand on my shoulder.

Fortunately, Gigi could react faster than a striking viper. She stopped time, and my fist froze less than an inch from his jaw.

“I know he broke the unspoken law about touching you,” her voice filled my head like a faint echo, “but he probably didn’t know it. It’s not like you wear a sign saying, ‘Touch and Die.’ Hey, that could be your next tattoo. Across your throat, maybe.”

What is she talking about?

It didn’t matter, but calming down did. I filled up my lungs until I thought they’d pop, then let the air out slowly.

“Kerry, I need to let time run loose soon. You may not be using it, but your power is enormous. I can’t confine it for long. Are you good to go?”

“Yep.”

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