“I can’t afford going to the ER,” I said.

Rob hovered between us. “You could go to your mom’s house.”

“Oh yeah that’s right,” I said. I recalled the healing power of the Oak tree. “All I need to do is draw power from the Oak tree.”

“We can’t lead the Gwyllgi there and put them in danger,” said Gavin.

“That’s not why I said to go to your Mom’s house,” said Rob. “Although the Oak tree could heal you, you can find sanctuary behind the closed doors of the house you grew up in. There’s powerful magic in a home, a place full of love and memories.”

My eyebrows furrowed. “So you’re saying that back when I initially fought the Banshee, all we had to do was stay inside the house and we would have been fine?”

Rob nodded. “The most she could have done was huff and puff, damage the exterior of the place a little, but no harm would have come to you from her Chaotic blasts.”

Nehemiah had given me the same instructions, several times on that very night, both when I intervened in the laundromat, and later that night after everything was said and done. Rob’s tip checked out.

“So the only place to find rest from the pursuit of the hellhound is the very place that I’m trying not to go to keep my family safe,” said Gavin with a sigh. “Figures.”

I lifted up my hands showing him the damage again. “I at least have to heal these,” I scowled. “What about your hands? My hands are killing me over here.”

He shrugged. “They’re fine I guess.”

His eyes had glowed, and the strength it would’ve taken to lift the Gwyllgi and throw it was outside of my comprehension. And his hands weren’t burned at all. What kind of latent power did my brother have?

“So that’s the power Dad saw in you.”

“I guess,” said Gavin. “I don’t really know.”

My eyebrows shot up when I recalled our last phone call. “That death dog… your powers. That’s what you called me about last week.”

He nodded.

“So you have raw super strength. Invulnerability to fire?”

Gavin turned and looked at me eyes wide. “And migraines. Terrible, horrible migraines.”

“And enemies apparently,” said Rob.

“Keep your eyes peeled for that Gwyllgi,” I told Rob. “Don’t let it sneak up on us again.” Then I turned to my brother. “What kind of powers did Dad have?”

“Extra strength. Healing.”

“But he didn’t use Luck magic, like me?”

Gavin shrugged.

“How could you not know?”

“My powers kicked in days before Dad died. He didn’t have time to show or explain much. His plan was to ease me into it. But he didn’t get to. That’s why I left so abruptly. I didn’t know if something killed Dad, and if it would come after me as the next of kin. And if they came after me, they’d come after the rest of the family too.”

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In silence I absorbed it all while my hands throbbed. “But now you’ve ditched Washington because of the Gwyllgi.”

He nodded. “Also, I felt like it was time for a visit, especially after Mom informed me of the PCP lady, I mean, Banshee incident.”

All these thoughts raced through my head. Our whole life Gavin and I had been somewhat opposite. Early on I had developed a taste for heavy metal and later death metal. Gavin had always been more of a country boy. The heaviest band he listened to was Lincoln Park, which is radio mainstream metal at best. So to say that we had lots of disagreements and differing tastes was an understatement.

But now for the first time in my life we had a common ground, a shared understanding of something that almost nobody else could grasp. And I saw the glimpse of what could be camaraderie, true brotherhood. “Gavin you have powers. I’ve got powers… just think bro, all the things we could do if we teamed up. If we combine our powers.”

“Like Captain Planet!” said Rob.

Gavin glanced at us, a face of stone.

I started talking louder, maybe because of the pain I tried to ignore, or because excitement took hold of me and a need to prove my point. “Dude I’m super stoked. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Nehemiah is cool and all. But us, we’re brothers, so we share a common bond. We’re family dude. We can get so much accomplished now that we’re on the same page.”

“But were not on the same page Sean,” said Gavin gruffly. “We don’t have powers, we have problems. Our family is cursed. I mean what don’t you freakin’ understand about Dad’s tombstone? We were literally just looking at it.”

I threw my head back and rolled my eyes. “Yeah I saw Dad’s tombstone all right. It said Friend, Father and Fighter to the end. You can’t be any of those things in seclusion by yourself.”

“Are you calling me a coward?” Gavin snarled.

“I’m saying you can’t run from your problems man.”

Gavin exhaled sharply. “You can’t go looking for problems either. You saved Mom and Aiden. Whoop-de-freakin-do. But did you even try to get rid of the Keening? You should be doing that instead of using it as some kind of spider-sense-bat-signal to seek out thrills and adventure.”

“I’m not some adrenaline junkie. A month may seem like a long time, but I’ve been so slammed with juggling school, work, dojo volunteering, and a girlfriend. Plus I happen to fight monsters at night. There’s been no time to research the Keening. I actually give a crap about the people around me and their well-being.”

“I thought that way too, Sean. And then Dad died. Right after Anna. It hurt me so much, and I know it hurt you a lot too, but I knew the truth and had to take it with me. I left because I gave a crap about you guys. You think I took the easy way out? I managed to lay low in Washington all this time and then I opened myself up a few times, to use my power to help people. All that resulted is more harm. Every time. And now the Gwyllgi is after us.

“These migraines,” Gavin continued, “these strengths or whatever I have, they’re a curse. It’s all a curse. You may be having a good time with your pal Nehemiah but eventually what goes around comes around. You’re gonna figure out the hard way. Unless we shut ourselves off to this magic stuff we’re accepting the curse and giving it power over our lives.”

I rolled down my window and spit out the passenger side. “I don’t think Dad viewed it that way. If he knew about my powers he would’ve trained me too. I don’t think he’d want us to run from our problems. He’d want us to face them head on.”

“And look where that’s got you. You didn’t see how Dad changed after Anna died. Not like I did. He stopped training me, saw the error in his ways. He saw our powers for what they truly are. Curses. Anna didn’t even die from supernatural means and it changed Dad.”

I shook my head. “That’s where you’re wrong. Anna’s death was supernatural.”

“Anna drowned herself bro. Not sure if you remember that,” Gavin said coldly.

“She and I were close. I know she wouldn’t have done that just because she was depressed. Something changed her, drew her to the water. I’m telling you something supernatural killed her.”

“If that helps you justify what you’re doing, go ahead and believe whatever you want.”

I gritted my teeth. Gavin simply wouldn’t see things my way. He never had. Which was the real reason he left two years ago in the first place, no matter what he told me now.

Gavin steered the car down Georgia Street, the opposite way to the freeway, not towards Mom’s house at all.

“I need to get to Mom’s. To heal at least.”

“Nope. It’s too far. You need an Oak tree to heal you? There’s plenty of those at Lake Herman.”