Page 9 of Claimed By The Tracker

No time to breathe through it. No chance to press it down and become the good daughter with the controlled smile.

Gold power tore through my palms like it had been waiting twelve years for exactly this moment.

The blast hit him square in the chest.

He flew backward.

Two feet.

Maybe three.

His shoulder slammed against the Civic. One hand caught the doorframe and stopped his fall.

Silence swallowed the parking lot.

I stared at my hands.

Gold light crackled between my fingers.

Visible.

Real.

Impossible to hide.

For the first time in twelve years, someone else could see what I was.

My stomach dropped.

I looked at him.

He wasn't angry.

He wasn't even surprised.

His expression was worse.

Raw.

Certain.

Almost undone.

Like I'd just proven something he desperately hadn't wanted proven.

He straightened slowly.

"Don't try that again."

My breath came too fast, but I held my ground.

The gold light still burned around my fingers.

I was terrified.

I was furious.

And for the first time in my life, I was completely done with being managed.