But the uneasy glance exchanged between Ted and JJ tells me they are not entirely convinced. The seed of doubt takes root, and suddenly the room is too small, the air too dense.
Dame Kiki’s advice returns to me.“You have a second power.”
That’s. . . that’s ridiculous.
I surge to my feet and pace back and forth. I need a breather, a moment to sift through the swirling chaos within me. I need to. . . but Ted's hand finds mine, a grounding force, pulling me back from the spiraling path of my thoughts. His touch is both a balm and a trigger, soothing and igniting a fire in me simultaneously. He pulls me toward him, as he stands, towering over me. In his shadow, I feel strangely grounded, safe even.
But I’m not safe. That video proves it.
My gaze collides with Ted's, an unspoken conversation happening in the silent exchange. His eyes are a stormy sea, reflecting turmoil. For a man I thought to be so unfeeling, I realize I couldn’t be more wrong. He feels everything far too deeply.
"That’s why everything is locked up even after you get in," Ted says finally, his voice steady, yet carrying an undercurrent of concern. “You never use the front door.”
“Jeez,” JJ says, tipping his chair back. “Seems like your subconscious knew when to get you out of there even when you consciously didn’t.”
“Two sides of the same coin,” I say, the room turning unfocused.
“What?” Ted asks,
He threads his fingers into my hair, forcing me to look at him.
“It’s what the Fairy Godmother, er, Dame Kiki said. I have two powers.”
Eli snorts. “First humans get powers, and now they can get two?”
“Shut it,” Ted snaps at his brother before looking at me, his eyes softening. “What did she say exactly?”
“She said I have a secondary power, and whatever it is, likely complements the first one somehow. Or be an opposing force.”
“That makes sense,” JJ says with a nod at the computer, arms crossed, chair still tipped back.
“Don’t act like you know everything,” Eli hisses.
Ted lets me go so he can reach out and smack Eli up the backside of the head. “If you aren’t going to be helpful, shut up. This may be your fault after all.”
Okay, rounding back to that as soon as I can but first. “How the hell does that make sense?” I ask JJ.
He shrugs. “Zeros and ones, babe.”
Ted growls, his body suddenly larger than it was a moment ago. “Don’t call her babe.”
I set a palm on Ted’s chest to appease him and keep the beast at bay so I can get some answers. “Meaning?”
“You’re a siren, right?” JJ looks up at me with those eerily familiar eyes. “You attract. Apparently, you can attract too much until your own power becomes a danger to you. So what is the other side of your power? Poof.” He explodes his fists like a puff of smoke. “When the enchanted close in on you and you’re in danger, you can zappo out of dodge.”
“Whoa,” I say, taking a moment to digest that. That does make a kind of perfect sense.
“Whoa is right, babe,” JJ says with a cocky smile.
Ted kicks one of the back supports on the chair and JJ goes down in a clatter and jumble of limbs. In a second, JJ is back on his feet, brushing the hair back from his face, trying to recover his cool.
“What did I say about calling her babe?” Ted practically roars.
I add a second hand to Ted’s chest and turn my attention to him, throwing the other bear brother under the bus to give the first one some slack. “You said this was all Eli’s fault. How so?
Ted’s face breaks into despair and guilt, and I hear something crack in my chest. Again, his hand gets lost in my hair as he says, “Who do you think would want to hurt you? The only one I know is one of those fuckers Eli led straight here, straight to you.”
Oh.
