I turned to look as the door opened behind me, and a tall, lanky figure stepped in. Jasper Cullen’s face was expressionless and pale, his eyes betraying no emotion. “Hello, Carlisle,” he said in a quiet, deep voice. “Hello, Bella.”

I stared at Jasper and then back at Carlisle with a mortified expression. “Carlisle, what’s going on here?” I said, sounding more afraid than angry.

“As I said before, Bella, some people in my family have gifts of their own,” Carlisle said, leaning his elbows on his desk and folding his hands under his chin. “Jasper has the unique ability to tamper with people’s emotions.”

Jasper came to sit in the chair adjacent to mine and turned his full attention to me. I recoiled a little under his intense gaze and glanced at Carlisle with unease. “Now, Bella, I will be giving you instructions as Jasper works with you. If, at any given time, you feel overwhelmed or unsafe, say ‘stop’ and we will do so.”

I did not have time to protest before Jasper took my hands and made me look at him in the eye. His face contorted with concentration and I instantly felt something change inside me.

The anger began at just a slight simmer in my gut, and I struggled to fight it off as my hands began to shake in Jasper’s grip. What does he think he’s doing? This is ridiculous. I shouldn’t even be here. He’s putting himself and everyone around him in danger.

“Concentrate, Bella,” Carlisle ordered.

The rage boiled up to my throat as my vision clouded bright red. I gritted my teeth and let out a low hiss. The idiot! Doesn’t he know I could kill him any second now? Oh, god, what am I doing?

“Bella,” Carlisle said, more urgently now. “You can control this. You want the anger to go away, remember? Will it away, Bella! Concentrate!”

I growled furiously and writhed a little in Jasper’s iron grip. Calm down. Find a happy place. Breathe. Happy place. I want this away. I can do this.

“Bella, concentrate!” Carlisle commanded as I hissed louder and snapped my teeth. The anger felt as though it was eating me from the inside, consuming everything in flames. Everything was a blinding haze of red.