She sighed. This kind of behavior wasn’t appropriate.

It was kind of comfortable, though, and warm. She shifted until Teddy’s elbow moved off her, then, ever so slowly, she sank back into a dreamless sleep.

When she woke up again, it was to daylight slipping in through the one window in her room. Groaning, Emily tried to move, but at some point the girls had turned around and were now clinging onto her from both sides.

She stared at the ceiling. The last day had been . . . a lot.

Threatening someone, running after Alea Iacta, the whole thing with Handshake . . .

Today was, Emily decided, going to be an ordinary day. She had classes in the afternoon, and maybe she’d take some time to text her mom. She hadn’t in a couple of days, and she knew how her mother could worry.

There was one big advantage to everything, though.

A new Skill Slot. Essentially, a new free skill. An upgrade to what she had. If things followed a set pattern, there was a chance the new skill would mean another sister, another person to care for.

Teddy growled in her sleep and buried her face deeper into Emily’s side.

Maybe a third sister wouldn’t be that bad, Emily reasoned.

Do you wish to spend a Skill Slot point on the Power: Sister Summoning?

Emily stared at the prompt for a long time. She would have to use it eventually, and by many a measure, sooner was better than later.

There was . . . a feeling of safety that came from her sisters. It wasn’t something literal, she knew, more . . .

They trusted her? They believed in her fully and entirely. No one had ever done that before.

Sure, her mother cared, and her dad would give her a pat on the back and tell her to try her best, but their words never quite matched their actions. They were always watching and wary, in case something went wrong.

And Emily couldn’t blame them. A lot had gone wrong. She was physically and socially clumsy at the best of times. There wasn’t much she had done that hadn’t flopped the moment she had to talk.

People, the complexity of conversation, kind of terrified her.

She was better now. A little more confident. Enough to try and live on her own, to try the college life.

That had been how high she’d raised her bar.

But now? With her power? With her sisters?

Maybe it was just the stress talking, or maybe it was the constant little victories but she felt . . . better. More assured of herself. She didn’t like some of it, but . . . Emily smiled up at the ceiling.

Another sister would be nice.

“Yes.”

New Skill unlocked!