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"Ready?" Reid asked. Although Rebeka had sounded confident, he knew she was nervous. He couldn't blame her; after seeing Chase use to scare her (and Reid was reasonably sure that he only did it to freak her out and not to hurt her, at least not yet), he knew it was probably a bit of a shock finding out that him and the others had the same cursed ability.

Her eyes were fixed on his as she nodded. Reid concentrated on the lock, and the Power tingled in his body, knowing it was about to be used. He let his eyes flash and he could feel the release of Power as the door unlocked. He cut off the flow of Power quickly.

"Ow!" Rebeka nearly fell over. Reid held on to her relatively uninjured right arm to steady her. He frowned; he didn't like the way the Power affected her, and he just knew something bad was going to happen because of it.

"Sorry. I did it as fast as I could." Reid opened the door and followed her inside, releasing her arm once she had made it in.

"It's okay, it's gone now," she reassured him. He followed her down the short hall, past the kitchen, into a spacious bathroom. He heard her sharp intake of breath as she saw herself in the mirror for the first time that night since Chase found her.

Reid leaned against a convenient wall and watched her, almost protectively, as she assessed the damage. Rebeka gently touched her face, then her arms. "Anything I can do to help?" he asked quietly.

Rebeka leaned closer to view the side of her face better. She straightened back up and answered, "I think it looks worse than it is. If I clean myself up, it shouldn't be too bad. Dad shouldn't notice." She went to the cupboard next to the sink and pulled out a towel. She went back to the sink, wet a corner of the towel and proceeded to clean the blood on her arm. She paused and glanced at him. "Thanks for, well, everything; telling me, helping me…"

Reid smiled and nodded. "No problem. You needed to know." For some reason, and he had an idea of what that reason was, his usual barriers that kept the world out seemed to crumble when he was with her now.

She smiled back. "I hope Caleb doesn't kill you; I like having you around."

Reid lifted his chin. "It's my irresistible charm."

Rebeka rolled her eyes. "I'm sure that's it." She continued to clean, moving to her face now. She hissed. "God this stings."

Reid watched her, feeling her pain and unable to do much about it. He didn't like seeing her in pain. He looked away, and his gaze fell on the street outside. Headlights appeared as a car came around the corner. Reid glanced at the clock-radio that sat on the counter. It was almost nine-thirty. "I'd better leave in case that's your dad; Tyler's Hummer is kind of conspicuous." Rebeka's shoulders slumped and she frowned. Reid grinned at her reaction. He made an unconscious decision. "Nicky's tomorrow night?"

That seemed to cheer her up a bit. "Definitely."

Reid dipped his head, half bowing, and brought a hand to his forelock as if tipping an invisible hat. He stood back up. "I'll pick you up at seven, then."

"Sounds good." Rebeka looked out the little window, and turned back to him. "That looks like my dad's car; you'd better hurry." She sounded sad again.

He wanted to hold her, to kiss her, so they could both forget about their problems. He wanted to tell her that everything would be okay. Oh, she seemed fine, but Reid was a master at hiding his feelings behind a mask of annoying arrogance. She may be able to fool her father, maybe even the other Sons, but not him.

Instead, he turned and strode quickly down the little hall to the door.

"Seven!" He heard her call behind him. He waved over his shoulder and closed the door.

The car was still a couple houses away. Reid jumped in the Hummer and turned the ignition, throwing the SUV in reverse. He drove away, leaving the lights off in case Rebeka's dad was one of those dads; the kind that had a heart attack when they discovered their daughter in the company of a boy… especially a playboy like him.

He was a ways away when the car finally turned into the driveway. He turned the headlights on.

Caleb was going to flip. Caleb was going to flip, and he, Reid, was going to be killed. He wasn't going to tell Caleb of course, but Caleb always ended up finding out somehow anyway.

It was a fact of life: Caleb and Reid had opposing views on almost everything. Caleb was strict with Power usage, while Reid went behind his back (and right in front of him) and used for things even when there was no need, like beating Abbot at pool.

Reid was sorely tempted to turn around and go back and hide at Rebeka's. He turned down a barely visible side road, which forked a couple minutes later. He took the left fork and traveled down it for another minute before the road widened into a curvy driveway, the imposing gates closed against trespassers. He stopped next to an intercom, rolled down the window and pushed the button.

"Simms residence," said a static voice.

"Benson, it's Reid. Just dropping off Tyler's car for him."

"Little early for you, isn't it? Very well, Mister Garwin," said the butler. "In you go." The iron gates creaked open. Reid drove up to the house and got out, leaving it for Tyler to put away.

He cut right, running across the side yard. He jumped over the knee-high line of trimmed bushes and landed in a flower bed on the other side. His mother wasn't going to be happy about that. He let his eyes flash black, resurrecting the crushed roses. Good as new.

Reid walked around the back of the Garwin estate. The light from the full moon above reflected off the water of the large coy pond Mrs. Garwin had installed three years ago. A chill breeze rustled the leaves in the trees that surrounded the property as Reid sat at the edge of the pond, staring unseeingly into the opaque black water.

He wondered idly if Rebeka was thinking about him like he was thinking about her, like he'd never thought about any other girl in his life; how her green eyes lit up when he'd asked her out to Nicky's again, how the angry red color flushed her cheeks when she was annoyed… how her soft lips felt on his…

Suddenly, the playboy life didn't seem as appealing anymore. Rebeka Aarons was a tornado that was changing the mental geography of Reid Garwin. For better or worse, he wanted her in his life. He –

"Reid Alexander Garwin! Come inside child, before you catch your death of cold!" Reid obediently did as he was told; he always did as Mrs. Bailey said, otherwise the housekeeper would give him laundry duties for a month. "Oh, and Caleb called, dear," she said as he entered the vast living room from the back door. "He'd like to talk to the rest of you tomorrow morning, at the Danvers' Manor I believe." She bustled off.

Reid groaned inwardly. He should have turned around when he'd had the chance.