“Community service.” Alaric dropped his hands on the table and looked between Hope and Josie firmly. 
“I didn’t break the law!” Hope protested. Her jaw dropped and she curled her lip back in outrage.
Alaric sighed and crossed his arms. He was standing his ground, no matter how much she looked offended. “Then think of it as volunteering.”
Hope sneered back at him. “I think that goes against the very definition of ‘volunteer.’” 
“Then it’s community service.” 
Josie tilted her head and whined, “Why can’t I just be grounded?”
“To what?” Alaric tilted his own head back at her, mocking her stance. “A school you never leave?”
Josie dropped her gaze, glowering at the floor instead of her father. Hope kept glaring openly, jaw clenched and face tense. 
“Anger is good. This is how I know it’s a good punishment,” Alaric said with a triumphan4 smile, taking his stack of books and leaving them in the library. 
Josie turned to Hope. “He doesn’t usually come up with the punishments.”
“I can tell.”