“My abilities?” I look between him and Nora, whose face has gone pale.

“Absolutely not, Roy,” she says. “We’re not involving him in this any more than he already is.”

“He’s already in it, Nor.” Roy’s voice softens. “They’re targeting him, and he needs to know how to defend himself.”

Elaine nods her agreement, and Nora’s lips press into a thin line. I stare at her hopefully. These powers are my parents’ legacy, one of the last things I have left tying me to them, and I know in that moment that no matter what Nora says, I’ll find a way to learn more about them.

Nora winces, pressing a hand to her head in a sign I’ve realized means she’s having a vision. Then she says, “It appears I don’t really have a choice,” and I wonder if she saw me learning to use my powers myself. “Very well. But on one condition.”

“Anything,” I say.

“You and Anna must never leave Ravenfall without supervision again until this matter is resolved. Kaden will be looking for you.”

Anna makes a small noise of complaint, but I only nod. “Deal.”

“In the meantime,” Nora says, “I’m going to reach out to some other Ravens to spread the word and see if anyone has more information on who’s behind this. Someone has to know something.”

Elaine pushes off the couch. “Did your parents leave you a journal of some kind?”

I think of the blank notebook tucked away in my emergency bag that’s not supposed to be there. Had they put it in my bag by mistake, or had they meant to finally tell me the truth? “I think so. It’s upstairs.”

“Bring it with you to the backyard tomorrow morning.”

Anna’s brow furrows. “Why? What’s the journal got to do with anything?”

A popping noise sounds as Roy cracks his knuckles. He and Elaine exchange zealous looks, and Anna cringes, leaning close. “It’s never a good sign when those two get along,” she whispers.

Roy laughs. “This is going to be fun.”

Tomorrow morning I’m to report to the backyard for training, but for tonight, I sneak outside to the Charger for some much-needed time to think.

The car smells of days-old food and stale pine air freshener. The driver’s seat is still set to Liam’s taller build, and my feet don’t reach the pedals. I asked him to teach me to drive more than once, and he always told me the car was finicky and required a seasoned hand. Then he’d throw it into drive and slam on the accelerator, making the hinges of the seat screech as I was thrown into the seat. I secretly hoped that he’d get pulled over for it, but he never did. My brother was his own kind of magic.

Is, I tell myself. He is.