"I'm warning you, Julia. You push me too far!"
"I would push you further if I could," she told him, and she tilted her head to one side, her gaze cold and considering.
"Actually, I think I must. My attorney will deliver the divorce papers to you tomorrow. And if you breathe a word to anyone about iron metabolisers, not only will they think you insane, but I will ensure that you are penniless too. The children stay with me." She paused, as if she had run out of things to say. "Now, leave."
He glared at her and ground his teeth for a few seconds, while the vein on his forehead pulsed, and then he turned abruptly and stalked out. Julia sighed again and sat down. Marcus smiled reassuringly at her, his eyes shining with admiration and what could have been hope. I was pleased for him.
"I was meaning to tell you about that," Rebecca spoke hesitantly. "I think I may have electrocuted that James person." She stopped, reluctant to go on.
"What do you mean?" Marcus asked eagerly, his attention focusing suddenly on Rebecca.
"I was very angry with him, and I reached out to grab his wrist and I felt a fizzing sensation and then he collapsed and started twitching. His wrist had a burn in the shape of a handprint around it. My handprint..."
Marcus was nodding rapidly, and speaking even faster. "It's possible. You could use the strong emotion generated by neurons firing in your brain, which is basically electricity anyway, and you could amplify it somehow, and conduct it through your tissues, which contain loads of iron, which as you all know, conducts electricity..."
"Breathe, Marcus," Fergus said dryly.
Marcus ignored him. "We need to do a few experiments, just to see what she's capable of."
Rebecca looked worried. I decided to put a stop to the inexorable force of Marcus' quest for knowledge.
"No, Marcus." He looked at me, bewildered.
"Why?" he wanted to know. "We need to know what she can do."
"He's right," Rebecca interjected. "I'd also like to know. Probably more than everyone here."
"Not more than Marcus," chuckled Fergus.
I shrugged. "OK then. As long as she's happy with it. And nothing risky," I added. I knew what it was like to be under my brother's microscope, and I remembered participating in several experiments myself. "Or painful."
"Slightly painful?" Marcus asked hopefully.
"No!" Fergus and I spoke at the same time. Julia burst out laughing.
"I'll keep an eye on him," she promised us. "We will design the experiments together, and Rebecca will be fine."
I saw the relief on Rebecca's face, and thanked Julia.