"Stop you from what?" Whatever the djinn's master plan turned out to be, Farren had to prevent it.

Betina sniffed. "The master wants you to come into the fold. I told him I could do it."

"You lied to gain his favour. Nothing new. I'm sure you can lie your way out of it."

Farren had never seen fear in Betina's eyes before. "He doesn't take no for an answer."

Betina rolled up her sleeve to expose a handprint burned into her flesh.

"You got too close to him." Farren narrowed his eyes. "You called him without a protective field."

"Protection is for pussies," Betina scoffed.

"Or smart people. If you'd had a protective field, he wouldn't have been able to hurt you," Farren pointed out.

"You always thought you were better than me. That's why I enjoyed hurting you."

"A two year old doesn't have an opinion about who's better than anyone. You hurt me because you're a psychopath. Now you have an equally crazy master. Enjoy." Farren turned to walk away, his heart pounding so loudly in his chest he was surprised the librarians weren't shushing him.

"If you walk away, I'll burn down the campus," Betina said, her tone casual as if they were discussing the weather.

74.

Farren spun back around. "It was you!"

He'd known the fires were suspicious, but he'd been blaming himself for it.

"Yep." Her smug grin had fire crackling along Farren's fingers.

Only the fact she was immune to fire kept him from trying anything. Besides, what could he do in a building full of paper products that wouldn't endanger lives?

"Why?"

"To get your attention, idiot. Unfortunately, you don't have any sense at all. You could be top dog. Instead you play along at being a student. You're better than all of them."

Anyone else and Farren would've thought she was giving a pep talk, but years of injuries that only healed because of Farren's magic had his suspicions raised. The only use Betina had for Farren was to further her own agenda.

"What do you want?"

"Your cooperation. If you don't get in my way, I won't kill your lover."

There was no concern in her eyes. Farren knew she could easily kill someone and sleep as well as a child hugging its teddy bear. Not all killers gave off angry vibes, some of them had sweet smiles and empty eyes.

"The djinn is just using you, you know. He calls you his minion." Farren didn't know why he taunted her, but the idea that she could harm Dan had him wanting to hurt her back.

With Betina the quickest way to the core was to insult her ego.

Betina scowled. "He underestimates me. I'll get everything I need then take over. After all, I'm going to be the head of the fire people, not that foolish djinn. That's why I took Mama's bracelet after all. Too bad she wouldn't just hand it over."

Shock held Farren still for a moment. "What are you talking about?"

Betina smiled the slow Cheshire cat smile he'd always hated. When it came to the family, she'd always had the inside track. Good behaviour was not rewarded. "I thought that would get your attention."

"What did you do to your mother?" Aunt Jane had always been too busy to pay attention to Farren but whenever she bothered to notice what was going on, she'd hold Betina responsible. That had always been good for a few days reprieve before his cousin started terrorizing him again. Flashbacks still hit him in the middle of the night. Sometimes he still woke up screaming.

75.

"I persuaded her to give me her bracelet. She was resistant at first, but I made her see things my way," Betina said. She flicked back her hair with her silver-tipped nails. "Don't look at me that way. I didn't kill her, yet."

Farren clenched his fingers into fists. Only with a great deal of self-control did he unfurl them. This wasn't the time or the place to battle his cousin. She didn't care how many people she injured. The fact she'd casually mentioned killing her own mother told Farren she'd finally cracked that last restraint on her sanity.

"You're making a mistake." Farren didn't try to sugarcoat it even as he knew she wouldn't pay attention to what he said.

A wide smile crossed her face, giving her the look of an evil doll. Her curly blonde hair only helped with the illusion.

"Well, I'm sure you can think of something to stop me." Betina's glee only enforced Farren's fear. "And you aren't like Mom. I mean after what happened to her, I'm sure you must be worried."

Farren sighed. Betina would string out the suspense like chewing gum, only delaying the inevitable mess. "What happened to her?"

"Doctors say she lost control of her gift. What, no one called you?"

A flush of anger rushed through Farren. For a second he lost a smidgen of his hard-won control. The fire serpent slithered down his body then headed towards Betina with slinky grace.

"Wh-what's that!" Fear crossed Betina's face. "G-get it away from me."

"It's just a snake." Farren smiled. He'd forgotten about her fear of reptiles. Betina had been bitten as a kid and had never recovered from the trauma. Whenever she spotted one she set them on fire. Fire serpents couldn't be handled like that. A sliver of optimism had Farren stepping forward. "You might want to reconsider your plans, Betina. My avatar will hunt you down if you don't leave me alone."

"I-it can't hurt me."

Farren should've been the bigger person. He scrambled to find his moral high ground.

Huh, apparently his morals had hit a flood plain.

"You're probably safe. I mean he's only made from divine fire. I'm sure you'll be fine."

76.

He truly didn't think the snake could hurt Betina. One of the benefits of being a fire djinn descendent was they were all fireproof. However, there were different types of fire, and a super-heated god flame might have different qualities.

Betina stepped back and away from the avatar. "I'll get even with you for this, Farren.

When I'm running the world you'll wish you'd been nicer."

Before Farren could retaliate, Betina fled.

Farren sighed then leaned against the closest bookcase. The musty smell of old volumes and the crackle of arcane knowledge soothed him. His snake slid back to him and up Farren's leg to settle once more around his wrist.

"I'm going to have to name you eventually."

Farren had held out the hope that Xiuhcoatl would change his mind and come back for his offspring. The longer the snake stayed with him and bonded, the less likely that hope appeared to be realistic.

"My life just keeps getting weirder and weirder."

Giving up on his research for the day, Farren headed outside. He pulled out his phone and dialled a number he'd thought he'd never call again.

"Hi, Dad, it's Farren."

He'd vowed never to call home, but he had to find out what was going on. How had Betina come in direct contact with the djinn?

"Farren, what did you call for?" His father's voice wasn't welcoming, but he didn't hang up either.

"I just had a visit from Betina."

The silence over the line hung heavy between them.

"Really?" His father's voice shook.

"Yes, did you know she was in town?"

"I had heard she might travel that way." His dad's voice had gone cautious.

Great! Thanks for the warning! Farren kept the words inside. It wouldn't do any good to vent. His father would have to care for them to have any affect.

"Is it true Aunt Jane is in the hospital?" Betina wasn't above lying.

The long pause wasn't encouraging.

"Yes, they don't know if she's going to make it."

77.

"Why didn't anyone call me?"

"Why would we?"

Farren opened his mouth to object. Instead he disconnected the call. The pain of being unwanted hadn't faded with time. His mother had died when Farren was a young child.

Farren barely remembered her. The rest of his family had stepped around him as if he didn't exist. All except Betina. She'd gone out of her way to torment him.

Despite the consequences, Farren needed help. His first impulse was to tell Dan, but he didn't want his lover involved. What if Betina got hold of Dan? He couldn't chance it. Maybe he could talk to the council. However, the chances of powerful wizards listening to Farren were minimal.

Frustrated and exhausted, Farren headed back to the triplets' dorm. He needed sleep.

He hadn't fully recovered. He thought briefly of going to the wolf pack party, but he didn't have the energy. He just wanted sleep.

Exhausted, Farren stripped down to his boxer shorts climbed into bed. Maybe things would look better in the morning. Or maybe worse. Probably worse with his current run of luck. At least his pillow smelt of Dan.

The sound of the door slamming snapped Farren out of his slumber. Before he could summon his fire, he recognised the intruders. Dan stood on the threshold with his brothers.

Dan scooted onto the bed beside Farren. "Babe, we need to talk."

"Why? What's going on?" Farren's voice shook. He had a bad feeling about this.

"No." Dan took Farren's hands in his own. "Jay told me about the mark on your shoulder."

"What about it?" Farren's muscles tensed, trembled. The axe would fall on him soon, severing his first serious relationship.

"Dude, you're a djinn!" Devin shouted. "What the fuck! I thought all you guys were dead or exiled."

Farren rubbed his palms along the blanket. "Do you want me to leave?"

"No, honey." Dan's gentle touch melted Farren faster than djinn fire to wax. "But I want you to come see my friend Jay."

"Why?"

78.

Dan carded his fingers through Farren's hair, a soothing pet. "Am I right in thinking the fires have something to do with you?"