Page 79 of Captive of Outlaws
A few feet away, Tuck sighs, nodding. “LJ,” he agrees, “doesn’t want anyone getting mixed up with us. Not just you personally, but anybody. He never trusts anyone—no offense.”
“None taken,” I say. “More or less.”
“But then the other day, after you passed out and we realized what you were—”
Wait. “What I was?” I ask. “What I...am?” I look aroundat them. “What do you mean? That I have epilepsy? I mean, yeah, I got a little dizzy. But it’s fine. I mean, I’m used to this. You all know that now. I have seizures.”
“That’s the thing, though,” Will says. “You don’t.”
I frown. “What do you mean, I don’t?”
“You don’t have seizures,” Rob says. “You have powers.”
Chapter Twenty-One
I LAST ABOUT THIRTYseconds before I speak again.
“Excuse me?”
I blink.
“Wait. Wait. Hold on. What thefuckdoes that mean?” I shake my head. “I don’t have seizures? Except I know I do. I have epilepsy. Spells. I pass out—”
“Yeah, and you don’t know what happens during them, do you?” Will interrupts. “You’re just taking everyone’s word for it that they’re regular seizures, but how would you know if you’re unconscious?”
Okay, fair point, I guess. But...
“But I’ve seen a doctor,” I say. “He ran tests—”
“A doctor your uncle found, presumably,” Rob says gently.
I freeze. That can’t be—
“You mean...” I flutter my eyes closed, piecing it together. “Uncle John knew. Knows. He knows I’m...that I can do...that I have some kind of powers?” I shake my head harder,press my palms into my forehead. “Sorry, but this is all a bit fucking much.” I blow out a breath.
“Of course it is,” Tuck says gently.
“Here’s what we know,” Will says, striding over and perching on the deck chair next to me. “After you and LJ had that little...run-in at the auto parts place, LJ brought you back here, unconscious, and we knew. We could all tell. The aura around you was different. Charged, kind of.”
“Like you’d had a kind of electrical surge,” Tuck says. “It can happen when someone’s supernatural powers are repressed. If you don’t know about them, don’t channel them properly, they come out in fits and starts.” He winces. “Pardon the expression.”
“It’s fine,” I say, waving him away. “So...when I was with LJ, and that guy was bothering me—”
“Like an immune reaction,” Will says. “Your body was just doing what it could to activate some protection. But the system’s immature, not trained properly, so it just sort of...” He explodes his fingertips with awhooshsound.
I nod. It sort of makes sense, even if it’s fucking insane. “Okay,” I say. “But...then why just now, when Tuck and I...”
I stop short.
It only now occurs to me that Tuck and I might have broken a rule.
I totally fucking forgot.
Will raises an eyebrow. “When you and Tuck...?” he prompts. I’m frozen, can’t say anything, but Tuck isn’t.
He licks his lips and looks at Rob and Will sheepishly. Rob’s the first to grin, then Will.
“You did not,” Rob says, his smile broadening.
