Free The Burning Bush by Kenya Wright

bet on?” I asked.
    “It’s a secret.” Angel picked up some books and started piling them into a stack. “But I bet on the best one.”

My alarm went off, blasting the Captain Habitat theme song all over the bedroom.
    Supernaturals prevail.
    In the weakest moments, we never fail.
    I snatched the clock out of the wall and smashed it against my dresser. Sniffing, I realized I’d woken up in other people’s fluids. Ben had pissed in the bed on my right. On my left, blood seeped out of Angel’s nostrils for the third time this month. It happened every time she absorbed powers, and it scared me to my core.
    “Yuck!” I wiped the sticky stuff off my cheek as more blood pooled around my pillow. After the factory bombing, I’d vowed to stay away from blood as much as possible, and here I was lying in it. This is the last time I’ll let either one of them sleep in my bed.
    MeShack stomped into my room, bending his copper-toned body under my doorway. A coffee-colored towel stretched around his waist. He held a bag of sugar cubes in his hand. I struggled not to peek or drool at him, half-naked in my room. No big deal. He’s just naked. I bit my bottom lip and let my eyes stray to his bare thighs for a moment.
    It was his week to take Ben to school. MeShack stood at the end of my bed and didn’t look at me as he kneeled down and tossed the bag of sugar cubes into the box of Pixies on my night stand. I smelled the spice rum cologne he liked to splash on after his showers.
    “You have to feed them three times a day,” he mumbled.
    “I did.” At least I think I did.
    Those long kinky curls fell across his face, hiding it as he swooped Ben up in one quick motion and marched away. The towel stretched around his hard muscled behind. I caught myself ogling him and averted my eyes.
    “So you’re still not talking to me?” I yelled at his back.
    “Are you still a terrorist?” he replied.
    Last night, MeShack had come into my room and cleaned up the damage he and Zulu had caused. We talked for a while until Ben arrived full of pizza and soda. To say our conversation last night didn’t end well was an understatement.
    “Ben peed in the bed so he needs to take a shower before you drop him off at school,” I called out. MeShack grunted and slammed his bedroom door. I climbed over the urine-stained sheets.
    “I hate my life.” I entered my destroyed bathroom, stepping over the pile of glass in front of the doorway. It took so much time to clean my bedroom that we’d given up on sorting the bathroom. I shouted, “Get up, Angel. We have a long day.”
    The sooner I finished Rivera’s investigation, the better. I stepped into the shower and turned on the hot water. It sprayed all over the bathroom walls, drenching my once beautiful carpet and wetting the blood-stained mosaic. I should set MeShack’s bed on fire. Rule number one: Don’t ever mess with a woman’s shower! But in reality, it was actually Zulu’s shower, since this was all his property. I couldn’t have stayed here that long anyway.
    I leaned back against the wall, relishing the hot water and attempting to fit apartment hunting somewhere into my busy schedule for the day. We had to get out of this warehouse. Zulu had welcomed us in, not asking for rent or anything else, and we’d destroyed his place. Even worse, now he was pissed at me. As soon as I move into my new place, things will be better.
    “Lanore, I bled again.” Angel came into the bathroom, pulled her pajama pants down, and sat on the toilet.
    “Absolutely not. This morning is bad enough already!” I motioned for her to get out.
    Blood covered the area from her nose down to her neck, soaking her pajama top.
    “I have to go,” she whined.
    “There are other bathrooms,” I insisted.
    She stomped out.
    “And you wouldn’t have bled if you hadn’t taken Quinn’s ability to shift,” I called. “Magic addict!”
    I need coffee and a newspaper’s classified section.
    We had one week to