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I set e My brother sat in uitar He wore his ratty navy blue “rock n’ roll” hoodie thatto throw out My first instinct was to locate Derek so I could do a little private drooling What was it about lead singers that made them so irresistible?

Derek, wearing his usual Braves cap, was over between the freezer and the oil stains froe Dylan and Austin, the guitarists, stood next to hiuy

One guy too many

Who the heck was that tall, uy with the leather jacket, CAT boots, and dark ponytail? I had to admit he was yummy, but he didn’t look like a tambourine player and he had way too roupies I felt my blood pressure jump as I clenched my fists

Ian had found someone else to play drums

How could he!

I deserved that spot

Ian saw me and tensed He was so lucky I couldn’t use my powers on him But he knew I could and would use anyhell

He stood, his chin jutting out in that defiant gesture I recognized from our preschool days Yeah, well he’d broken more than the cookie jar this tis to cool my wrath

I ht up to hi up the three inches into his eyes, I snarled, “You promised me!”

“No,” Ian said, holding up one hand and tucking his guitar under the other arm to protect it “I didn’t promise you the spot I just said that we probably wouldn’t find anyone else”

I finally understood the appeal of guitar suys today!”

“Listen, Jen” He kept his hand up in as supposed to be a caluys, and they think having a chick in our band will ruin our iuys”

I rolled my eyes He’d been ena “Aring for a spot in a band with such a repugnant name “They’re stinky and sirls chicks”

“Not to mention the fact that you’d be totally unreliable, Jen” He used the rational voice I hated “We can’t have our dru off in the middle of a show”

How dare he! “It’s not fair to use that against me, Ian You know it’s not my fault And yesterday, you were prepared to take that chance” I could fake nausea and run froe I wouldn’t actually just disappear

He shrugged “That was before we found Leo”

“Leo?” I’d neveryour mother chose, unless she was in love with Leo Dicaprio Leo was a name you chose to call yourself if you wanted to be cool He was probably Leonard Leonard was not cool

“Dylan found hireat”

I crossed uy Dylan and Derek were obviously distracting him so Ian could run interference with uys Frouessed he was older He turned as if feeling aze

Oh, yeah He looked good from the front too Masculine was the word that caht shadow on his jaw indicated that unlike h school hot He was college hot My pulse juuy

I took a step in his direction, deteret to the bottoht ti?

His eyes met reen glow in their depths Just like the glow in reen eyes

Leo wasn’t just another druenie

My first thought was to tell my brother and have him toss Leo out on his rear end Ian couldn’t see the telltale glow in Leo’s eyes because Ian wasn’t a genie Despite being a jerk about the Ar to protect me But before I could make a move, Leo walked over toall polite

I took his hand and heat shot through enie power? I probably shouldn’t have touched him Hopefully our contact hadn’t set off any alarms at the UNIVERSE headquarters I knew next to nothing about safeguards against genie fraternization

In a disturbingly deep voice, he murmured, “Give me a chance Meet ” Then he looked low expanded as he said, “It’s life or death”

I kneas being a fool to let hiuy hadn't risked going to the house of a feenie just to play alternative rock in ht hi to know “One chance,” I answered noting that he was even taller than Ian Then I turned on e, the snide reout an impossibility

Yeah, he’d gotten rid of otistical brother dicking me over with his band

If the Oversight Co within one-hundred yards of me, one or both of us could be zapped to the other realenie

The Oversight Committee was the entire justice systees, and the jury Mom said their workload had increased twenty-fold in the last year

My brothers weren’t genies God help us if they had those kind of powers Neither one of theenies ran in the feenie, and h, as well as being my mentor She’d been Grandma’s assistant and quickly worked her way up

In a faeneration either Traditionally, erous, and explosive There was a lot of infighting A teenage guy with a genie’s powers rebelling against his powerful genie father…Well, you could see how problems arose

Feenies were supposedly moody and volatile as well Since I had the red hair and the teo with my faht Co to be trouble due to e

If anyone found out that Leo was here, I’d be so screwed Fe Too much power in one place, and if they bred, well, no one knehat the result would be

Moenies exuded sexuality and

preyed on that weakness in fe, but noas not so sure A raw energy had surrounded the guy in the garage

Life or death, he’d said I didn’t necessarily believe it, but I couldn’t be sure Mo on that I’d want to know about Until now, I’d only had Mo protected all the ti out what he wanted to say

I checked the kitchen clock as I opened the fridge to pull out soe juice It was already 5:30, and Molass and took a gulp I could work off soae yet I’d thought I could talk the guys into helping et them to take me seriously at all

I clirin, I thought about the guys down below trying to play their music while my dru to go well

I’d worked up a sweat by the tiital receiver read 7:00 I definitely felte juice

Well, Leo Let’s see what you have to say

I took the stairs two at a ti around to see that the guys were already leaving, I ignored them and walked around the other side of the house to the back yard

Through the di in our tree house, his legs dangling over the side He looked e

“Make yourself right at home, why don’t you?” I snapped

He shrugged “It looked like a good place to talk”

Ian and I had begged for that tree house for years Maybe I hadn’t been up there lately but I didn’t like this intrusion I clih the hatch Standing in front of this rare creature with ar? Why did you show up here? At my house?”