Walking two miles had warmed me up nicely, and I tossed my jacket over a chair in the kitchen. I glanced at the clock. If I assumed my family followed their usual routine at the diner, they wouldn't be home for another hour or so. It would be nice to have the house to myself for a while.

A thump overhead made me freeze. Weirdly, the first thought I had was that Bree was in my house, possibly with Raven, and they were casting a spell on my bedroom or something. I don't know why I didn't think of burglars or a stray squirrel that had somehow gotten in—I just immediately thought of Bree.

I heard scuffling sounds and the loud scraping noise of a piece of furniture being jolted out of place. I quietly opened the mudroom door and picked up my baseball bat Then I kicked off my shoes and headed upstairs in my stocking feet.

By the time I reached the top of the landing, I could tell the sounds were coming from Mary K.'s room. Then I heard her voice, saying, "Ow! Stop it! Damn it, Bakker!"

I stopped, unsure of what to do.

"Get off me," Mary K. said angrily.

"Oh, come on, Mary K.," was Bakker's response. "You said you loved me! I thought that meant—"

"I told you I didn't want to do that!" Mary K. cried. I flung open the door to find Bakker Blackburn entangled with my sister on her single bed. Her legs were kicking.

"Hey!" I said loudly, making them both jump. Their heads turned to stare at me, and I saw relief in Mary K.'s eyes. "You heard her," I said loudly. "Get off!"

"We're just talking," said Bakker. Mary K.'s hands pushed against his chest, and he resisted it. Fury roiled inside me, and I raised the bat.

Whap! I gave Bakker a smart rap on his shoulder to get his attention. I hadn't been this furious since Bree and I'd had our last fight.

"Ow!" Bakker yelled. "What are you doing? Are you nuts?"

"Bakker, get off!" Mary K. said again, pushing at him.

I thrust my face close to Bakker's, and with my teeth clenched, I spoke as menacingly as I could. "Get the hell off her!"

Bakker's face went stiff, and he quickly moved away from the bed. He looked embarrassed and angry, his eyes dark. Then he snapped out his hand and knocked the bat out of my grip. My jaw dropped in surprise as the wood went flying across the room.

"Stay out of this, Morgan," he said. "You don't know what's going on. Mary K. and I are just talking."

"Ha!" said Mary K., jumping up from the bed and yanking down her shirt. "You're being an ass! Now get out!"

"Not until you tell me what's going on," Bakker said. "You said come over!" He was almost yelling, his voice filling the room. "You said come up here! What was I supposed to think? We've been going out almost two months!"

Mary K. was crying now. "I didn't mean that," she said, holding her pillow to her stomach. "I just wanted to be alone with you."

"What did you think being alone with me was all about?" he asked, his arms wide. He took a step closer to her.

"Watch it, Bakker," I warned, but he ignored me.

"I didn't mean that," Mary K. repeated, crying.

"Jesus!" he said, leaning over her. My teeth clenched, and I started edging over toward the bat. "You don't know what you want."

"Shut up, Bakker," I snapped. "For God's sake, she's fourteen."

Mary K. cried into her pillow.

"She's my girlfriend!" Bakker shouted. "I love her, and she loves me, so stay out of this! It's none of your business!"

"None of my business?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "That's my little sister you're talking about!"

Without planning it, I snapped out my arm, finger pointed at Bakker. Before my eyes a small ball of spitting, crackly blue light shot out of my finger and streaked toward him, hitting him in the side. It was like the light I had given to Jenna last night, but different Bakker yelped and stumbled, clutching his side and clawing at the bedspread. I stared at him, horrified, and he stared back at me as if I had suddenly sprouted wings and claws.

"What the hell—," he gasped, clasping his side. I was praying blood wouldn't start running out through his fingers. When he took his hand away, there were no marks on hit shirt no blood. I breathed out in relief.

"I'm out of here," he said in a strangled voice, lurching to his feet He turned back to look at Mary K. one last time. She had her face buried in her pillow, and she didn't look up. With a last glare at me Bakker stormed through the bedroom door and pounded down the steps. The front door slammed moments later, and I peeked out down the stairwell to make sure he was gone. Through the front door sidelight I saw him striding fast down the street rubbing his side. His lips were moving as if he was swearing to himself.

Back in Mary K.'s room, she was holding a tissue to her eyes and sniffling.

"Jesus, Mary K.," I said, sitting next to her on the bed. "What was that about? Why aren't you at the diner?"

She started crying again and leaned forward into me. I put my arms around her and held her, so thankful she hadn't been hurt, that I had come home when I had for the first time in a week it felt like the two of us again, the way we used to be. Close. Comfortable. Trusting each other. I had missed that so much.

"Don't tell Mom and Dad," she said, tears wetting her cheeks. "I just wanted to see Bakker alone, so I told them I needed to study, and I had them drop me off here while they went to lunch. Its just—we're always with other people. I didn't know he would think—"

"Oh, Mary K.," I said, trying to soothe her. "It was a huge misunderstanding, but it wasn't your fault. Just because you said you wanted to see him alone doesn't mean that you're obligated to go to bed with him. You meant one thing; he understood another. What's awful is what an ass he was being. I should have called the cops."

Mary K. sniffled and drew back. "I don't really think he was going to… hurt me," she said. "I think it kind of looked worse than it was."

"I can't believe you're defending him!"

"I'm not," said my sister. "I'm not defending him, and I'm definitely breaking up with him."

"Good," I said strongly.

"But I have to say, it really wasn't like him," Mary K. went on. "He's never pushed me too far, always listened when I said no. I'm sure he'll be really sorry tomorrow."

My eyes narrowed as I looked at her. "Mary Kathleen Rowlands, that's not good enough. Don't you dare make excuses for him. When I walked in here, he was pinning you down!"

Her brows creased. "Yeah," she said.

"And he knocked the bat out of my hands," I said. "And he was yelling at us."

"I know," said Mary K., looking angry. "I can't believe him."

"That's more like it," I said, standing up. "Tell me you're breaking up with him."

"I'm breaking up with him," my sister repeated.

"Okay. Now I'm going to go change. You better wash your face and straighten your room before Mom and Dad come home."

"Okay," said Mary K., standing up. She gave me a watery smile. "Thanks for rescuing me." She reached out to hug me.

"You're welcome," I said, and turned to go.

"How did you stop him, anyway? He said. 'Ow! and then fell against the bed. What did you do?"

I thought fast. "I kicked his knee and made it buckle," I said. "Made him lose his balance."

Mary K. laughed. "I bet he was surprised."

"I think we both were," I said honestly. Then, feeling a little shaky, I went downstairs. I had shot a bolt of light at someone. Surely that was strange, even for a witch.