Free The Sentinel by Holly Martin

powers. That was all we needed. But like I said, you spiked our curiosity. We were prepared to give school a go, but thought we had made a big mistake when Persia came home on that first day, miserable. The second day was different because you were there. You looked after her, you were kind, you kicked some boy in the shins because he was mean to her.’
    I had forgotten about that, Steven Baxter, horrid little boy who had it in for Persia, because she was new, because she had that lovely accent. He had said something nasty about red hair and dodgy accents and I’d kicked him. He never came near her again.
    ‘Persia came home that night and was full of how lovely you were, so we had to meet you. That night when you came round for tea, well, it was impossible not to like you.’
    ‘Exactly, you’re incredibly loveable,’ Quinn said, grinning at me.
    I blushed. Maybe I did have some redeeming features after all.
    ‘Anyway we are here to guide you in developing your powers, and we are here because Persia is very important to us, and as you were loyal to Persia, so we are now loyal to you too,’ Izri said.
    ‘And as I was saying, you will not find a better or more powerful teacher than Persia. You’re in good hands.’ Clementine said, like a proud mother.
    ‘You have great power too,’ grinned Persia, trying to deflect some of the attention her sisters were adorning her with back on to me. ‘We just have to develop it. I’m sure we can get you to do something with them today. Let’s start with something we know you can do. Eli said you shot at him last night with a sphere of lightning, that’s very advanced. Do you think you can do it again?’
    I remembered the lightning, when it shot from my hand it was such a shock. ‘I don’t even know how I did it in the first place, it just sort of happened.’
    ‘Ok, what were you thinking of when it happened?’
    I thought back to the night before, running from Eli, desperate for that moment of freedom and how angry I had been that I was never going to get away from them.
    ‘I was angry.’
    ‘Ok, any chance you can try to get angry again.’ Persia smiled encouragingly.
    ‘It’s not that easy, I can’t just get angry, I have to be provoked. Ok, let me think about how I felt, let me see if I can recreate the moment.’ I closed my eyes and thought back to the moment I was standing on the river bank. I tried to picture it clearly in my head. The men were after me, there was nothing I could do to escape them, my house had been set on fire, there was so much deceit. I clenched my fists, waiting for the anger to consume me. But as I waited for the anger, I couldn’t help thinking about how stupid I had been that night, of what could have happened to me if the Putarians or the Reapers got to me. I thought how the Guardians had always only wanted the best for me, to protect me no matter what, how my personal guard had pledged their allegiance to me. I couldn’t get angry over someone who was that loyal to me, they had committed themselves to me for life. I sighed, opening my eyes ‘I can’t Persia, like I said I need to be provoked.’
    ‘Ok a heat source. That is probably easier to produce than the defensive energy you produced last night. Your power can produce incredible amounts of heat. Think about that heat in your hand, think about creating a small ball of fire.’
    ‘Won’t I get burned?’
    ‘Not by your own power.’
    And to prove it a small ball of fire appeared in her hand for a few seconds before she let it wink out. It was a small but wonderful thing to see. Finally confirmation that I wasn’t going mad. Persia had powers too.
    I nodded and closed my eyes, imagining a hot burning ball of fire in my hand. I felt myself getting hotter and I tried to focus that heat into my hand. I opened my eyes in time to see a wall of fire explode from me. The Guardians, with their super speedy reflexes hit the floor in a blur. Persia and her sisters simultaneously