Lying on top of my bedcovers stretched out like a starfish, I barely flinch as Kelly loudly lets herself into the room, clumsily slamming the door behind her.

“Hey, Kenz,” she greets cheerily.

I only groan in response. My whole body is aching. If I thought Mr. Daniels was going to take it easy on me after finding out that I had been zapped with pain, I was very wrong. We spent the next three hours with him effectively just knocking me to the ground a hundred or so times. He also was shooting jets of icy-cold water at me, which I was meant to dodge or block. My clothes were drenched, and my body was aching. I clearly did a sucky job at both of those things.

“That bad, huh? Yeah, East was saying that he was a slave driver,” Kelly says with a laugh. East? When was she with East? I try to stamp down on the jealous feeling that rises in me. He probably mentioned it when she was looking for me earlier. But, why did she go to East to find me?

“East?” I mumble, trying to make it sound casual.

“Yup! Easton was talking for a good hour about how hardcore Mr. Daniels is, total man-crush I think. Logan and Locke were the same. They seem to worship him like a god,” she chatters away, almost mindlessly. I try to ignore the pangs I feel at her mentioning each of them. Do I like them, too? Ugh, play it cool, Kenzie.

“Did they mention me at all today?” I ask, and then immediately cringe. Cool as a fucking cucumber.

“Oh. My. Gods!” Kelly says, her voice excited. Oh no. “You like them, don’t you!” she accuses.

“They’re attractive,” I grumble, wishing my bed would just swallow me whole.

“You know I’m not into them right, Kenz? Even if I was, you’d have nothing to worry about,” she replies.

“Of course, I would have something to worry about, you’re a knockout, Kells,” I say, and she narrows her eyes at me. I’m sure she is going to come back with some remark when my iPad starts buzzing. I groan as I roll on my side and grab it. I accept the Facetime call and two of my dads’ faces come into view, way too close to the camera. They’re so close I can just see two noses. Despite the fact they both have technomancy marks, they are useless with technology.

“Move back guys, you’re too close,” I say with a small laugh.

“Little Kennie! We miss you, baby,” Dad P says when they both move and hold their iPad a good distance away. I groan when I hear that nickname; they all call me it. Thank God that East doesn’t, he heard it enough. Dad P has wavy, blond hair, bright-green eyes, and a cheeky smile as he leans back a little. I know it’s likely he isn’t my real dad, but he has been in every way that’s possible.

“Hey Dad!” I say, and Dad L replies to me. Dad L has short, black hair and a serious expression. I would assume he is my biological dad, but who knows? My mum has dark hair too. Ryan has dark hair too, but he has bright-green eyes, so I always guessed he might be Dad P’s son. I laugh when I see him being shoved out of the way by Dad M, who comes to sit in the middle of them on the sofa. Dad M has brown hair, it’s messy with curls, and he is built like a giant. Their nicknames are based on their names, Mike, Pete, and Liam. I look at all three of them sitting there smiling. Where’s mum?

“How’s our little Kennie?” Dad M asks, leaning forward, so I can see his brown eyes in the camera.

“All good. Everything is—” I start to say, but I’m cut off.

“Don’t try that with me. We can all tell when you’re lying, Kennie and have done so since you were five, and you lied about who ate all the Smarties off your birthday cake, before your birthday. When were you going to tell us about your twelve marks?” Dad M says, narrowing his eyes on me in a way that tells me I’m in trouble. Shit, who told him?

I’ve been ignoring my brother’s calls in case he tells them, and they panic. One look at all their worried faces, and I know I was right not to tell them.

“I know it’s a lot of marks, but come on, it’s not that bad,” I answer, and they all look at me like I’m stupid. I might be. I glance at the door as Kelly slides out of it and mouths ‘later’. She’s just abandoning me to my fate. I glare at her, which just makes her laugh as she leaves.

“Do you know how many marked I treat in the hospital that lose control of their powers and just about survive?” Dad P asks.

“Yes, Dad,” I answer, and he continues on.

“Too many, and every goddamn day there is more. Our kind can’t handle that amount of power without losing control, and I’m worried. I don’t want to treat you for losing control or lose you altogether. So, you need to study and keep your emotions in check.” I don’t know about my emotions, but my hormones need controlling around all the sexy guys here. Not that I’m going to enlighten any of my dads to that particular fact.

“Yes, Mike is right, you need to focus,” Dad P says, nodding just before my mum comes into view of the camera.

“Oh, Kennie, what trouble have you gotten yourself into now? I got a frantic call from your brother telling us about your marks. Everyone is talking about you and how we could finally find out what the twelfth power is,” she says as she sits on Dad P’s lap.

“I don’t know what it is. Mr. Daniels is doing classes with me, so I can learn,” I say, deciding to use the word ‘classes’ and not ‘detention’. I don’t need them freaking about that, too.

“I want you to be careful, there has been—” my mum starts.

“That’s enough, love,” Dad M cuts her off.

“There’s been what?” I ask, and they all look at each other.

“She should know, it’s too much of a coincidence that this all started getting worse when she got her twelve powers,” she says, and they all sigh. Her word is law with them. They rarely tell her no.

“The rebels have been getting stronger recently; more attacks, and more marked have been going missing,” Dad M explains, running a hand through his curly hair.

“They killed one of the high council members and took something; we aren’t sure what. I’m sure you will hear about it tomorrow around school, but I treated him. They killed twenty marked before they got to him. I don’t know how they got so powerful or what they wanted, but I don’t like it,” Dad P says with a serious look. I know why he is worried. The high council members are the most powerful of our kind. All of them ten marks or eleven, and to beat one, you have to have some serious power. They were the ones with extreme power, but they also have the control to handle it, making them a force to be reckoned with.

“What could they possibly want?” I reply after a moment of silence.

“I don’t know, Kennie, but train and stay safe. Watch your back, okay?” she answers with a serious look, and I nod. “And, call your brother,” she adds, before she and the others say goodbye.

I turn the iPad off and reach for my phone on the side, every part of my body feeling like I’ve been run over from my torture earlier. I dial Ryan’s number, and he answers on the third ring.

“Well, well, look who finally decided to call me back,” the deep, sarcastic voice of my brother comes through the line.

“Don’t be a little shit. I know you told our mum and dads about my marks,” I say, and he laughs.

“Kennie, how did you expect to hide that?” he asks, and I hear the sounds of a chair creaking in the background.

“I don’t know, but you know how they worry,” I say.

“Shit, alright I’m sorry. How’s the academy?” he asks, not sounding the least bit sorry.

“Full of drama, I can see why you didn’t like it here. I just had detention, and I feel like death,” I say.

“Who with?” he asks.

“Mr. Daniels,” I say.

“Holy shit, that man is a god. Everyone knows about him and his family. His parents died protecting his sister, apparently,” he says.

“Do you know much more?” I ask, wanting to know about him.

“No, but I feel sorry for his sister. I mean, I heard she joined the rebels because they want humans to know about us and so we don’t have to hide. When the council found out, they tried to kill her, like they do all rebels, and her parents defended her,” he says.

“Yeah, but the rebels don’t just want the humans to find out. They want war, Ryan.” I say, not liking how he is making them out to sound good. They aren’t.

“Why is that so bad?” he asks. There’s an awkward silence where I don’t know how to respond, and he changes the subject. I’m sure he didn’t mean it.

“Is Kelly okay? Has she met anyone?” he asks me.

“Why?” I ask.

“Just wondering, shit, can’t I ask about your friend?” he says. Ryan has never asked about Kelly and ignored her a lot growing up, as much as he ignored me. The only time I saw them talk was last Christmas when Kelly came to dinner with us because her parents were out of town on business. Even then, it wasn’t much more than a simple chat about something random on telly.

“Kelly is fine,” I say slowly, and he clears his throat.

“How many marks did she get? I bet she got a lot,” he asks.

“Two,” I say

“Fuck, do her dads know?” he asks, reminding me that both her dads are part of London’s council. There are twenty-four council members in each district, and there are five districts around the world. Her parents have an immense amount of power and growing up, they made it clear that they wanted Kelly to follow in their footsteps.

“No, they don’t, but if they can’t accept it . . . well they can go and fuck themselves,” I say, and he laughs.

“Tell her, well I don’t know, just that I said hello,” he says, sounding awkward. What the hell?

“Right . . .,” I say, trailing off.

“Gotta go, Kennie, later,” Ryan quickly replies, and puts the phone down. I lie on my back on the bed and look up at the ceiling, coming to the conclusion that my brother is even weirder than I’d previously given him credit for being.