Stopping just outside the gates, I looked left, then right. The Grove was located in one of the town’s nicer neighborhoods, full of tree-lined streets and big houses. My own house was a good three miles away and to the left. So I turned to the right.

I had no idea where I was going, so I figured I’d keep walking until my mentor found me, or the cops came after me for assaulting Ryan.

A cool breeze ruffled my hair and blew my skirt against my legs as leaves skittered down the sidewalk. I didn’t realize that I’d started crying until the wind cooled the tears on my cheeks.

“It’ll be okay,” I mumbled out loud, adding talking to myself to the list of crazy things I’d done today. Not that I cared. “It’ll be okay,” I said again, louder this time, and the more I thought about it, the more convinced I was that it really would be.

All right, so my superpowers had flipped out on me and nearly made me hurt Ryan. But he and David were the only people who had seen it. Ryan loved me. He’d forgive me as soon as I came up with a reason for what happened. Preferably one that didn’t sound completely insane.

And David . . .

If there had been any doubt in my mind that David Stark was involved in whatever was going on with me, it was gone now. I’d flipped Ryan to keep David safe. And something told me that if Ryan hadn’t been joking about kicking David’s ass earlier, I would have done that ninja thing on him then, too.

But why? That was the thing that didn’t make any sense. Okay, it was one of the many, many things about this that didn’t make any sense, but it was definitely the most pressing. The why would lead to the who and the how. And that meant I didn’t have time for this middle of the sidewalk pity party I was currently throwing. I had to get back to the Grove, and I had to talk to—

Suddenly, pain slammed into my chest, like someone punched me in the sternum. It was so intense that I gasped. Then, as quickly as it had come, it was gone, leaving behind a heavy pressure that made me wonder if my lungs had been replaced with bricks.

I stood there, my hands clenched at my sides, sucking in deep breaths. I had felt this way before.

Right before Dr. DuPont burst through that bathroom door.

“Pres?”

The pain had crowded so much of my mind that I hadn’t heard David’s Dodge pull up alongside me, which meant I had been really out of it, because that thing had to have a hole in the muffler or something.

“Oh God, seriously?”