“And I was trying to attack the magic-users—I’d transformed, and I just wanted to, you know, trap them or something—and Darren was supposed to back me up, and he was trying. I mean, it was totally obvious he was trying really hard, but . . .” “But what?” Mack asked impatiently. Gabriella shook her head. “It’s like the harder he tried, the less control he had,” she explained. “His lightning was flying everywhere. I was spending all my energy trying to dodge it. It felt—” Gabriella’s voice broke off unexpectedly. “You can say it,” Fiona said. “Whatever it is, you can tell us.” “I know it’s wrong, but it almost felt like I was fighting three enemies,” Gabriella finished. She looked ashamed to have spoken those words aloud. Mack frowned. “But Darren would never try to hurt you,” he said. “Of course he wasn’t trying to,” Gabriella retorted. “But he did all the same.” She flicked her long, black hair over her shoulder to reveal her left ear, which had a red, oozing welt on it.
