He cocked his head. "Or maybe you're not supporting Daddy."
I scowled. "Now what do you mean by that?"
"You've never wanted to fight me before. Maybe this whole 'protect the innocents' crap isn't about the rules at all. Maybe it's just about her."
I clenched my teeth together. "You need to go away now, Williams."
He smiled. "That's it, isn't it? Even after all these years, you've still got a thing for the redheaded freak! Wow, what a freakin' hypocrite. All that talk about following the rules, but really you want to break the biggest one of all."
"I said drop it."
"Ooo woo, your mommy and daddy would love that, wouldn't they? Their precious baby boy dirtying himself with the one girl who is off-limits. And a freak at that."
Fury flash boiled my skin. "I told you, leave her alone!"
"What's wrong, Coleman? Don't like me calling her a freak?"
"Dylan..." I was on the edge, could feel the anger crowding out rational thought.
"Just remember, if the leader's son can get it on with the freak, so can I," he murmured, his smile turning into a leer.
I snapped.
My hands shot out at Dylan's chest. To everyone else, it must have looked like a hard shove. But while my hands were still inches away from contact, my energy and will burst out, an invisible force that slammed into him. It knocked him off his feet and sent him sliding five yards away on his back.
For five short seconds, seeing the shock on his face was worth it. Until I remembered where we were.
Aw, hell, I was in for it now. No way had any descendants here missed that. Including my parents up in the bleachers.
Mom hadn't stopped shrieking for the past forty-five minutes. It was all along the same lines.
"What were you thinking, using power in public like that? You've jeopardized everything we have here. And not just our family, but everyone else in the Clann, as well! I can't believe I raised such an irresponsible idiot for a son." Her heels were wearing a path in the rug. If she kept this up, she'd have to buy a new one for Dad's study soon. "How many times do we have to tell you? Our power here is fragile. If any of these farm-loving bigots ever found out what we can do, every one of us would be run out of town faster than you could say witch hunt."
Up to that point, Dad had sat in a glaring silence propped up on the corner of his desk. But now he jumped in. "Well, now, I wouldn't go that far, Nancy-"
"And you! You're responsible for his training," she snapped at him. "What were you thinking, teaching him to use power like that? We haven't taught combat training since the vampire wars ended, Samuel. And even then, they're to be used against that undead filth, not on our own kind."
"But-" I began.
Dad flashed me a look of warning, and I shut up again, slouching in the leather chair in front of his desk.
"Nancy, why don't you head on up to bed and let me handle this?" he said.
"I want him off that team."
No way. Mom couldn't do this to me. She knew I wanted to play for the NFL someday. I always had. If she yanked me out of football my sophomore year, it would look bad to the coaches and college recruiters. Not to mention hurting my stats.
"Nancy-" Dad tried again.
"No, Sam." Her eyes blazed with determination as she stared down at me. "I never wanted him to play a contact sport, and you know it. It isn't safe for any descendant. Dylan shouldn't be playing sports, either. But at least he's not the future leader of the Clann. Tristan is. And tonight just proves my point. Tristan could lose control again, but worse. What if he really hurts someone? Or gets hurt by someone else? Where would the Clann be then?"
"Mom, I-"
"You screwed up, Tristan Glenn Coleman," she shrieked. "You know the rules as well as everyone else. If we don't punish you, the Clann will. So no more football. Or basketball. Or any other sports. Maybe then you'll finally focus on your magic training instead of wasting your time."
And that's when I knew the truth. I could see the victory in her eyes. Tonight, my stupidity had given her the perfect opportunity to make sure I never did anything other than school and magic training again. Exactly what she had always wanted.
Rage burned in my chest, but I held on to my energy with everything I had, keeping the power level down by sheer will alone.
"Your mother is right." Dad sighed. "You have to be punished, at least for the rest of the year, and it's got to be a public one. Otherwise the Clann will start making demands. At least if we're proactive with your punishment, we'll retain control over what that punishment is."
"So, what, you want me to join the chess club now?" This wasn't really happening, was it? It was a bad dream. I'd wake up soon, right?
"Chess club, Spanish club, I don't care as long as it's not sports," Mom replied. Then she left the room.
"Sorry, son." Dad walked over to clap a heavy paw of a hand on my shoulder. "At least there was only a month left in the season."
"But we're in the playoffs."
"Well, there's always next year. If you keep your nose clean. And I better not hear about any revenge taken against Dylan, either. It's not his fault you couldn't control your temper."
I glared at him.
"What do you want me to say? You really screwed up to night. The only reason the Clann's not ringing my phone off the hook already is because from the bleachers it looked like just a regular shove. What did you do to Dylan anyway? You and I both know I didn't teach you anything like that."
I lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. "I hit him with my energy."
"Impressive. Did you think any spell words or...?"
I shook my head. I hadn't even meant to use magic on him.
"Wow, son." He stared at me for a minute, his thoughtful frown nearly lost within his silver-white beard. "Well, guess we'd better add to your training time, then. Teach you how to control it better mentally."
I managed a nod. "Can I go? I've got to figure out the least socially dead activity I can do now instead of football." I choked on the last word.
"Sure. Just one more thing. What did Dylan say to tick you off so bad?"
I rose from the chair. "Oh, you know all those Williamses. They like to push people's buttons. Dylan just finally found mine." And then some.