Ocean brought me a cup of tea and sat on the couch next to Jasmine before answering. She crossed her long legs, baring more thigh as her already short shorts crept up higher. Even in the winter she showed more skin than most people did in the summer, but she got away with it. Ocean was like her name, vast and strong and inviting. She could have been a mermaid in another life with her long red hair full of wild curls and green eyes full of mischief. But any playfulness had been dampened by what happened.
Now, she was all business. "Rainbow had Blake take the guy that attacked us back to their property, and he's getting the cars fixed. No one blames you, Rose. You did what you had to do to protect your mother and yourself."
I ignored her last statement, took a sip of my tea, and thought about all that had happened last night. One thing didn't make sense. "Why was he here at all?"
Ocean frowned. "Who?"
"The wolf guy. What was he doing here? How'd he get in Mother's room in the first place?"
Jasmine huffed in annoyance. "Why even ask something like that? Who knows why these creeps do anything? They could have killed our mom."
I looked at my sixteen-year-old sister. "How is Mother?"
She shrugged and ran a hand through her dark bob with purple highlights. "You know. Normal. Nothing phases her. She wasn't happy you missed the meeting this morning, though."
Ocean kicked Jasmine and shot her a nasty look. "You had to bring that up?"
I sat my tea down on the table so hard the water sloshed out. "What? Seriously? I was unconscious. After saving her life. That's a legit reason to miss a 4 a.m. meeting."
Jasmine narrowed her hazel eyes at Ocean. "What? I'm just giving her the heads up. She should know. I'm not saying I agree with Mother." She looked at me. "Obviously, you couldn't have been at the meeting. I'm sure she's grateful for what you did, but everyone else is really nervous. You haven't done that since you were little. People forget, but now… I don't think they'll forget anytime soon."
"Right. I'll be even more of a leper. Great."
Ocean grabbed my hand, my bare hand, and held it, looking me square in the eye. "They can go screw themselves as far as I'm concerned. You did what you had to do, and I'll never be scared of you, Rose. Never."
I squeezed her hand and then pulled away, scared enough for the both of us. People had a right to be worried. What I could do shouldn't have even existed or been possible, and I'd never known how to handle it. It's why I was home schooled in high school, why I took online classes for college, and why I had no friends or social groups outside of our coven. I was too dangerous to be around people. Rose—the beautiful flower with the deadly thorns.
Outside, the stillness of the morning gave false-promises of peace. I knew the truth, nothing about this day held peace, but I had to find some way through this. "I'm getting dressed, and then I'm going to find someone who will teach me self-defense."
Ocean smiled with as much force as Jasmine frowned, and my sister jumped on the attack. "You know Mother has forbidden that. People might find out about you, about us. It's too risky. You could hurt someone."
I pulled a long-sleeved cotton shirt and another pair of jeans from my drawer, then slammed it shut. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Sis."
"I'm not trying to be mean, but you know this is a bad idea."
"No, I really don't know that." My voice escalated with my own anger. "What I know is that draining people of their life is a bad idea. What I know is that I can never do this again and still live with myself. I need other tools, other ways of defending myself and others. If I'd done this earlier, that boy might still be alive."
Jasmine crossed her arms over her chest. "He is alive, Rose. Don't be dramatic."
"Dramatic? Seriously?" Oh if only I could hit my sister. "You weren't there, Jas. You didn't see him after I touched him. You don't know anything about what I can do, or how it makes me feel."
She stood and stomped her foot. "You always think you're so special, so much better than everyone else. Well, I'm sick of it. Do what you want, but don't blame me when it all goes wrong."
The door slammed hard behind her, shaking the windows and causing Sandy to bark. Ocean and I looked at each other with matching stunned expressions. My heart felt heavy. "Does she really hate me that much? Does she really think I think that I'm better than everyone else?"
Ocean shook her head. "She doesn't know what she feels or thinks right now. She's sixteen and full of conflicting hormones. Don't take it personally, Rose. It'll pass. Jasmine loves you. We all love you."
I tried to remember being sixteen. It wasn't that long ago, but it all blurred together. Nothing ever seemed to change in my life, and all my memories felt like photocopies of each other. Always the same.