Page 60 of Protect Me

I glare at him. “You don’t have to brute force your way into power if you can alter the way someone sees the world,” I snap. Of all the reactions I expected, dismissing my power is not even close to what I’d pictured. “Why do you think you lost at ring toss tonight?”

He straightens. “What?”

“I told you to mute your senses; you said you couldn’t. But it got you thinking about doing just that, and my power made it happen.”

His gaze widens. “Youcheated?”

I chew on my bottom lip. “Not on purpose. It just happened, and then by the time I realized what I’d done—I’m sorry. It’s what happened with Robert, too. I didn’t do any of it on purpose. It just happened because I can’t mute myself all the time.”

Duncan shakes his head. “Making Bracken suck ass at ring toss is completely different than shifting an entire House’s fucking power dynamic.”

I gape at them. They don’t believe me.

That pisses me off.

I shift my attention to Bracken, letting my magic seep out of my body and latch onto him. His cheeks flush, and he pushes off from the doorframe, his body swaying like he can’t hold still. His gaze lands on Killian, and he bites his lower lip.

Killian side-eyes him though most of his focus is on me.

Picking out the thread of lust for me that’s still alive inside him, I urge Bracken to take things further, and he removes his shirt.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Duncan demands.

“I—” Bracken turns away from Killian and walks up to Duncan instead. He reaches out and caresses Duncan’s jaw, so Duncan jumps back.

“The fuck, man?” Duncan asks.

“I don’t know. I think I want you, dude. Ugh. What the hell is happening to me?” Bracken demands.

I turn it off.

Bracken whirls on me.“You!”

“I’m the catalyst that can alter the course of history,” I say.

“Fucking shit,” Bracken breathes. Then he looks at Duncan sheepishly. “Sorry, bro.”

“That was fucking weird,” Duncan comments.

“Can someone fill me in?” Killian demands, looking back and forth between his brothers.

“Go ahead, Bracken, fill him in,” I reply sweetly as I cross both arms. “Tell them about how turned on their presence made you just now.”

His eyes widen, and he looks at both of them.

“I sensed your lust from earlier,” I tell Bracken, “And I used it to make you want that same thing from both of them.”

Duncan and Killian look stunned, and if I weren’t so afraid for my already bleak future, I might have laughed.

“Thatis what I am capable of,” I reply. “Only, the man hunting me wants me to influence an entire House to oust their current leader.”

“What else have you used your powers for since arriving here?” Duncan demands. I can see the anger on his face, and that leads me to understand just where his mind has gone. My temper flares at his insinuation.

“I never wanted to sleep with any of you, so if you think for a second I used my power to make you, you’re a damned moron.” I wipe the tears from my cheeks. “Besides, my power won’t work unless there’s already a seed planted. I can’t conjure doubt or inspire an idea when there’s nothing there to latch onto.”

Killian grins at Bracken. “So, my presence turns you on?”

Bracken growls. “Not a fucking chance.”