Teri took Sean’s arm. The way he offered it made him look like a gentleman from an old movie, except that he was a dark-skinned, skinny teenager with messy black hair, torn jeans, and a stained t-shirt.

  He made her nervous, but not in the way most strangers did. There was something exciting about the way he looked at her. She hadn’t meant to pick up his stray thought and made an extra effort to stay out of his mind. It was hard; out of all the thoughts around her, she was most curious about his.

  On the other hand, not knowing gave her a thrill. She let him support some of her weight as they walked.

  “I guess you can see a sunset from anywhere,” Sean said. “But the backdrop is what makes it.” He led Teri down a trail through the woods. They emerged onto a clearing filled with dozens of stone and wooden sculptures reflected in a beaver pond. An enormous bench covered with carved scenes of animals sat beside the water.

  “It’s beautiful,” she said. “It’s like a museum, or a fairy queen’s garden.”

  “Dennis and Patrick come down here in their spare time,” Sean said. “It takes them months to make the larger ones. Dennis worked on this bench for a year.”

  He sat, patting the space next to him.

  The sun was going down in the V between two distant hills. A kingfisher skittered over the surface of the pond as the last of the sun’s disc edged below the horizon.

  Teri watched the scene through the eyes of hundreds of frogs and birds, and a family of beavers. Sean wasn’t saying anything, and it was almost torture for her to keep her mind out of his.

  At last, he spoke. “Why aren’t you answering me?”

  She laughed. “I didn’t hear you. I was blocking you out so … well you know, to make it fair.”

  “I like that.” He put his arm around her. They sat in silence until the last bit of color left the sky and the stars came out.

  “That’s Nadir, Eridanus, and Pisces,” Teri said. She pointed up.

  “Where?”

  She created an illusion superimposed over the night sky that outlined and labeled all the stars and constellations.

  Sean turned to her, eyes wide. “That’s … incredible. How do you remember them all?”

  She blushed. “I don’t know. That sort of thing is easy for me.”

  “Starmind,” Sean said. “That’s my nickname for you.”

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  Teri smiled. “I think I like that.”

  “Starmind, do you mind if I kiss you?”

  Do I? she thought to herself. She felt butterflies in her stomach from the touch of his hand on her shoulder. “I ... I don’t mind,” she said.

  At first it was soft and sensual. Teri had felt this through the minds of others a thousand times, but nothing prepared her for the thrill that went down her spine. He brushed his finger lightly down the inside of her palm. When only their fingertips touched, she grasped his hand and squeezed it. A soft sigh escaped her lips.

  Sean’s kiss became more urgent. Everything turned to fear and darkness. The world went black.

  When she came to, Sean was leaning over her. Blood dripped from his nose onto her shirt.

  “Teri! You’re okay. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I didn’t know.”

  He took her hand. She could hear his thoughts. She had broadcast visions of Tip beating her to the whole village. Not just visions—they’d all experienced it.

  Penatuka stirred as people with nightmare-induced migraines moved to check on each other. Cymber was unconscious from the backlash of everyone’s pain.

  She could feel Ruddy’s panic and anger. Teri, I’m on my way. If he so much as touched you ... Violent images bled into her mind.

  No, Ruddy! Xeke said.

  He didn’t do anything wrong, Teri said. It was all my fault.

  Ruddy crashed onto the scene. “What did you do, Sean?”

  Ruddy looked even bigger than Teri remembered. His eyes were red.

  She stepped between them. “No, Ruddy. Stop. It was me. I had a flashback. He didn’t hurt me, I hurt him.”

  Ruddy snarled. “What was he doing that made you think of that?”

  Sean met Ruddy’s gaze. “We were just kissing,” he said.

  “What were you doing kissing her? She’s only fifteen.”

  Teri rolled her eyes. “I’m sixteen.”

  Xeke spoke from behind them. “Ruddy, Sean is only seventeen.”

  Ruddy blinked. Really?

  Really. Look at him. He’s hurt.

  Teri’s control broke. Tears rolled down her face. “I didn’t mean to. Oh God, I’m so sorry.” She reached up with her sleeve to wipe the blood from Sean’s face. He flinched and she sobbed.

  His expression softened and he wiped the tears from her cheek. “It’s okay, Starmind. We’ve all made mistakes with our powers. We can just be friends if you want … we can take it slow. This is my fault.”

  “Yeah, it is,” Ruddy said. “Let’s go back to the cabin, Teri.” He took her arm.

  You gonna be okay? Xeke asked her.

  Yeah, Teri said. Can you stay here with Sean? Please?

  Xeke nodded.

  As soon as Teri and Ruddy were gone, Xeke handed Sean a handkerchief.

  “Was it worth it?” It came out harsher than he intended.

  Sean wiped the blood from his face. “Yeah. It was.”

  “Dammit, Sean! She could have killed you ... and there’s no telling what she’d have done if that happened. Strong emotions are not what she needs right now. What she needs is a safe neutral place to learn to control her powers. She could make Bethel look like a damned picnic.”

  “I know, I know,” Sean said. “I’m gonna be careful, I swear.”

  Xeke frowned. He had been Sean’s age once, and he knew what careful meant when a seventeen-year-old boy was in love. Telling them they couldn’t see each other would only make things worse.

  “Well, come on then,” Xeke said. “Let’s get back home and see how bad everyone else is hurt.”

  Sean stopped in his tracks. “What do you mean, ‘everyone else’?”

  “I mean Teri gave everyone in Penatuka the fright of their lives tonight. And you know some people are more sensitive to this sort of thing than others.”

  Sean swallowed. “Cymber?”

  “She’s okay … now, thanks to Fred. But it wasn’t pretty.”

  It was harsh, but the boy needed to understand what was at stake. Next time they might not be so lucky.