The hardwood floors didn’t creak under my sneakers and the paint was an array of soft, welcoming colors. It was nothing like our worn-down home in Allentown. I kind of missed that old place, no matter how sad it had been for the last two years. It felt like us, and this house didn’t.

Eventually, I found the right hallway, but the kitchen wasn’t empty like I’d hoped. I lingered outside the entrance, torn between running back to my room and busting in on the obvious family meeting about… me.

“You can’t be serious? She’s been awake for a couple of hours and she’s already tried to attack you.”

“She’s scared out of her mind, Gabe. She woke up in a complete stranger’s house. Think if we’d done that to you. Or to Parker and Phoebe,” Hayden said, his deep timbre recognizable.

“I’d throw you across the room, not kill you with my touch!”

“Knock it off. She’s staying. For now.” Cromwell sounded like he was accustomed to the two arguing.

Something slammed down. “You’re letting her go to school with us on top of it? What if she hurts someone?” Gabe said.

“She’s not going to run around and touch people on purpose,” Hayden snapped. “She went two years without hurting a single person.”

“She killed a boy!” said Gabe.

“That was an accident,” Hayden responded. “The asshole attacked her! He grabbed her. It wasn’t her fault.”

Nice of him to defend me. Squeezing my eyes shut, I leaned against the wall.

“If she hurts someone, or if I think she will, then I will handle it,” Cromwell said. “I’ll turn her over to the Facility.”

“What?” That was Hayden. “You can’t be serious! You know what they’ll do to her there.”

“Better than what she’d do to us,” Gabe spat.

“You have no idea what it’s like there,” Hayden said. “I do. She doesn’t deserve that. We could try to work with her.”

“Hayden,” Cromwell said, clearly exasperated.

“What? We could try to control her gift.”

“She’s not gifted.”

I didn’t recognize the voice, but his words were cold.

“The damn girl is a freak of nature, and if anyone belongs at the Facility, she does. Her sister is one thing. That little angel has a gift, but Ember doesn’t.” There was a pause, and then the man laughed. “Oh, for the love of God, Hayden, don’t look at me like I just kicked a baby. I’m just stating the truth.”

“Kurt, you’re an ass,” Hayden said. “She should’ve hit you harder.”

My eyes snapped open. The lion man—the one in the cowboy duster—was here.

“Whatever. At least I’m not the one hung up on the Grim Reaper,” Kurt retorted.

A string of curses erupted. Behind my head, the wall trembled. I jumped back, staring at the wall. It writhed like a snake for a second, then stilled. Plumes of plaster floated down from where the wall met the ceiling.

“Hayden, don’t!” Cromwell ordered sharply. “She stays for now. It’s done, and I refuse to continue to argue it. And Hayden, stay away from her.”