The man reached for Claire and Jared’s grip on me tightened, stepping just slightly in front of me in a protective stance.

The man leaned over and patted Claire on the back. He laughed loudly and attempted to whisper into her ear. Claire was staring ahead, her body rigid; seeing just half of her expression it was obvious that she was about to lose her temper. The man lost his balance and used Claire to right himself.

“Claire—,” Jared warned, but it was too late.

In the same second, she knocked the man’s legs out from under him with incredible speed and then stood up on the rung of her bar stool, slamming his head, cheek down, to the bar. The wood made a cracking noise with the force of her blow, and the man wailed in pain. He flailed his arms, reaching above him for Claire’s face, but she quickly reached around with her other hand and grabbed his fingers, wrenching them back. The bones in his fingers snapped and I recoiled, even though I still hadn’t quite processed what was going on. The man’s blood-curdling scream sent the bartender running over to try to separate them.

Claire leaned down and yelled over the music into his ear. “Was that good for you, Baby?” and then slowly licked his cheek. Claire released her grip, and he slithered down to the floor. The entire room seemed frozen in time.

Jared heaved an exasperated sigh. He looked at me with a tired ache in his eyes, and then let me go. He walked over to Claire, grabbed her arm and then ushered her out.

“She broke my damn fingers!” the man howled, cradling his arm to his chest.

Several of the older patrons rushed to his side and helped him up while he moaned in pain. Beth grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the pub. The cab waited for us outside in a cloud of exhaust.

I looked around, but Jared had disappeared.

Beth tugged at my coat frantically. “Get in, Nina, before the cops get here!”

I ducked into the cab and my ears were filled with shrieking and chattering in high tones. I wasn’t listening to any of it; I was too confused about what I had seen. Jared wasn’t surprised at all that his teenaged-sister had broken the hand of a full grown man as if he was made of glass.

I went over it in my head; the memory seemed more like a kung fu movie than something that had unfolded in front of my eyes. Tiny, delicate Claire seemed to have superhuman strength and speed, and Jared’s reaction didn’t make sense. He didn’t act to protect her, and yet he seemed to know that carnage was on the horizon; he even shielded me from it.