Page 15 of Shiny Things

It had been a long-standing argument amongst my family. Grimes witches had the power of water. Each of us manipulated it in different ways. Mine happened to be a bit more powerful than most and my family had been encouraging me, more like bullying me, into joining the fire department since I was a kid. I stubbornly refused.

I wasn’t going to sit there and let the diner I loved burn to the ground. In general, I chose not to use my powers, at least not regularly. It scared me to use them. So, more often than not, I blocked that side of me.

Once, when we were little and everyone was discovering their water abilities, I unleashed mine. The force of which water flowed through me had knocked Dan on his ass with a force so hard that it sent him flying into a brick wall. He’d battled a severe concussion that summer from it, and it had left me scarred for life, fearing that if I used my power, people I cared about would get hurt, or worse.

Through my teen years, I’d gone through a phase where I was determined to conquer my powers. I would only ever practice alone. But the more I tried and the more I used them, the stronger they seemed to be. Then one day I left a dent in the car I’d saved my whole life up to buy, my baby. After that I gave up on them.

Just because I was a witch with a water power didn’t mean I had to use it.

And until today, I rarely had.

As for Dan’s question, well, I wasn’t even going to dignify that with an answer. I would never work for the fire department. There were plenty of other Grimes and Montgomery witches for that.

Once outside, Dan finally set me down just outside an ambulance. Two others grabbed me and practically pushed me down on a gurney.

“Lie back while we check your vitals,” one of them said.

“I’m fine,” I argued.

“He’ll restrain you if he has to,” the woman threatened. “But you will be checked out.”

I huffed.

“Kim? Kim!” Gia yelled as she ran to my side.

“I’m fine. Go check on your mate.”

“David’s fine. He said you saved the diner.”

I frowned. “There’s a lot of damage, Gia.”

Probably more than was necessary since I used my powers. Good things never happened when I did that.

“If it had spread any further there would have been massive structural damage,” Dan said. “You did good little cuz.”

I rolled my eyes.

“I’m not joining your stupid fire department,” I spat back at him.

“She’s fine guys. That’s the Kim we all know and love right there,” he teased.

“Vitals look good,” the woman said.

“Still, you were in there for a while. I’d prefer you and David both come down to the clinic for at least a few hours of observation,” the man argued.

“Seriously? I have work to do.”

“No you don’t. Until we get the kitchen repaired and are cleared by the fire marshal we’re shut down. So please go andtake care of yourself,” Gia said. “David and I will be right behind you.”

“Does he have to ride in the ambulance?”

“No,” the paramedic told me.

“But I do?”

“Yes.”

“How’s that fair? He was in there longer than I was.”

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