Thoughts of the night before filled Jake’s mind as the vehicle carrying Samara into a whole new world passed out of his sight. He had recognized the expression of desperation on Samara’s face when she got home from the concert last night. Dane’s presence was an unfortunate occurrence for her, but it was not the cause of her anguish. 

Jake knew what would happen to her because it had been happening all her life, well all the time he had known her anyway. She would run immediately to her room and stay in complete silence for several minutes before she began to cry. He used to hold her until she stopped when she was younger, but as age crept up on them, Samara decided that she was going to have to learn to deal with the sadness on her own as Jake would not be with her forever. It only seemed to happen after concerts now, a detail that confused and concerned Jake. It seemed obvious to Jake that if something made you cry, like going to concerts, you should avoid it. There was clearly more to it then she was able to explain. At first Jake thought it was the reverberations in her mind from the trauma of her past, but as time sailed forwards he began to suspect there was much more to it than that. 

Of course there was another cause for his current trepidation: the Academy. For a decade he had kept Samara and the Courts apart. After all that effort he had been undone by a fluke when she had seen that Deborah’s parents had a very similar tattoo to his. It was bad luck, but some things could never be unseen. For better or for worse Samara and the Courts were going to clash. He hoped she would keep a low profile and lose interest after she had her first sigil. It might help to know a few things about the Courts and gain some power of her own to defend herself, because if things went badly, the Courts themselves would be coming after her. 

It was a delicate situation, and Jake had hoped that keeping Samara in the dark was the best option. If she did not know anything she could not be caught in a lie. 

The store on the corner had his favorite flavor: chocolate mint. He paid for it and walked back towards his house. The four blocks passed quickly, but when his house appeared in sight he saw three people standing in his yard. They were young men, early or mid twenties, and as he got closer he realized that one of them bore a striking resemblance to the kid he had slapped some sense into the night before. 

Jake did not break his stride as he strode past them towards the door.

“You Jake?” The one with the similar face said. 

“Yup.”

“You hit my brother last night.” He looked angry.

Jake stopped and faced him. The other two took up positions behind the offended party and tried their best to look intimidating. 

“Is that a question?” Jake said.

The young man’s eyes narrowed. “You like beating up kids you sack of-”

“You here to apologize for your idiot brother stalking my niece?” Jake interrupted. 

“What?” He blinked in surprise.

“Or did you and your friends drag your knuckles all the way down here for an ass kicking.”

The man glared at him.

“Well?” Jake said.

“You should watch your mouth. You don’t want to screw with us.”

Jake dropped his ice cream box on the ground and slipped out of his jacket. “Either come at me or walk away. I want breakfast.”

They came at him. It did not last very long. From a few of the punches and kicks that landed Jake could tell that the three of them had some training, probably kick boxing. It did not matter either way because they were not strong enough to hurt him. It took four calculated strikes to level all three of the assailants. Dane’s older brother gasped for air on the ground from Jake’s powerful kick. Jake kneeled down beside him.

“If you ever come here again I’ll break both your legs and throw you into traffic. Now drag your dumb-ass friends off my lawn.” Jake gathered his jacket and ice cream. “I can’t believe I took my coat off for this.