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Oh, my God, what was that?!

The green energy leaving my fingertips blasted a second time without my control, shooting Miss Darla’s table across the room and almost knocking her body off the table. I quickly backed up, holding my trembling hands against my chest to help keep my powers concealed.

“Holy shit, Mercy. What the hell was that?” Caleb gasped.

Melissa quickly ran in and looked around. “You guys need to go. Now. My boss is going to fire me if he sees this!”

I looked at Caleb, who stood there with flared nostrils and cold eyes.

As I averted my eyes from him, I saw the mess in the room and instantly felt sick. This was the first time I’d lost my temper with someone who wasn’t an enemy. I had no control over my powers in this state.

“Shit, Melissa. I’m so sorry,” I apologized. “I’ll clean this up right now.”

“No,” she said. “Just get out. This is why I hesitated to help you all in the first place.” She pointed to the door. “Please leave.”

As Caleb stared at me in disbelief, I backed up, catching a glimpse of myself in the reflection of a cabinet’s broken glass pane. I didn’t recognize the woman that destroyed an office with just the tips of her fingers. I breathed in shakily as I backed toward the door and ran outside to my car.

CHAPTER 9

CAMI WAS FAR from healed, but she was still the most consistent person in my life, and I needed a dose of normalcy right now.

When I walked through the door, I saw Cami sitting crossed-legged next to her mom on the couch, fiddling with her phone.

“Hey, Laurie,” I called out.

When she looked up, I noticed Laurie’s eyes were bloodshot and glistened with newly shed tears. “Keep the blinds closed, please; I have a headache this morning,” Laurie said. “The fucking neighbor’s dog wouldn’t stop barking all night. There’s not a damn pill I could take to shut off the noise.”

I wished so badly I could help Cami’s mom, but there was only so much I could do at this point.

“How about I take Cami out of the house for a bit, let you rest,” I suggested.

She answered by waving her hand in the air and turned over, her face disappearing into the couch cushion.

“Cami, come on. Let’s go,” I said, holding out my hand.

Cami gripped her cell, placing it into her pocket when she stood up, then kissed her mom on the cheek. She had no emotion on her face; she just stared at me, waiting for the next command.

Their home was the most suffocating place I had ever been, even compared to the vampire lair they had held me hostage in last year. Her mom kept the house disgustingly filthy, and I was the only one in their life who gave a shit to help them.

With Cami’s condition, she was never able to return to college and couldn’t work. Laurie sunk deeper into her alcoholism and lost her job shortly after Cami came home from the hospital. After that, I came there twice a week to sort through their mail, write and forge checks, and do some light cleaning to ensure the two of them could function. This was my obligation. I was the reason this happened to her. It was my responsibility now to make sure they were okay.

Lily’s Café was only a few blocks from Cami’s home, so we went there before I helped manage the house. It was the only way I could get Cami to go outside.

“I’ll go get us some food,” I said as we sat in the outside eating area.

Cami sat there, staring blankly out at Main Street, watching each car pass by the café.

After placing a quick order, I hurried back outside, but Cami wasn’t sitting at our table.

Shit.

My heart raced as I looked around. “Cami?” I shouted, looking up and down both ends of the street.

This isn’t good.

Cami was unstable. She never left the house without me; now, I had lost her. I ran down the road and poked my head into every open shop.

“Cami?” I called as I looked inside a pizza shop. I crossed the street to the other side and started with the shops directly across from the cafe.

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