Page 47 of In Dangerous Water

“It’s Kenna,” he said. “Someone ran her off the road. Fire and rescue have taken her to the hospital.”

“Ran her off the road?” I blinked at that. “You mean on purpose?”

“Yeah,” he said and shoved his feet into his shoes. “There were witnesses.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” I said, grabbing my keys and purse. “Why on earth would someone do that?”

Tim reached for my hand. “Because she was driving your car.”

***

Once again, I found myself in the hospital waiting room. The police presence was heavy. Detective Williams was there, as were Austin and several uniformed officers. Brynn and Skye sat together. My Aunt Portia and Grandmother Althea were there, as were my cousins: Soleil, Luna, Astrid and Orion.

At the moment my grandmother was speaking to my parents on her cell phone. Tim was across the room in a huddle with Austin and Detective Williams, and I stood alone, on the far side of the room, staring out the windows.

Which was just as well. I was trying to come to terms with everything Austin and Detective Williams had told me after I’d arrived. A dark SUV had rear-ended Kenna as she’d beendriving home. She had only begun the assent up the hill in our historic neighborhood when the other car rammed her and then forced my VW Bug off the road and down a steep ravine.

By some gracious whim of fate, a couple had been taking a walk with their dogs and had witnessed the whole thing. Once again, the driver was described as having dark hair, and the witnesses couldn’t tell if it had been male or female.

The Bug had slid down the embankment toward the creek and had flipped over. It had taken the crews a while to get her safely out of the car. My stomach churned as I imagined the car flipping while my sister had been inside.

“Hey,” a familiar voice said.

I glanced over to see my blonde cousin Soleil walking up to stand beside me.

“Don’t,” she said, slipping an arm around my shoulders. “Don’t take this on. It’s not your fault.”

“You know it is,” I whispered back. “Kenna was driving my car.”

“You arenotto blame for someone else’s actions,” Soleil said firmly.

I rubbed at my forehead. “Why the hell was she even driving the Bug?”

“Because hers was in the shop getting new tires,” Skye said, appearing on my opposite side. “If it’s anyone’s fault—then it’s mine. She had an appointment to go look at retail spaces for her bakery, and I’m the one who told her to take your car.”

Hearing that, I shut my eyes.

“You couldn’t have known,” Soleil said to Skye.

“Ishould have,” Skye said miserably. “Why my intuition decided to take the day off, I’ll never understand.”

“Just because we’re Witches,” Soleil said softly. “It doesn’t mean we’re omnipotent.”

“Speak for yourself, dear,” Grandma Althea said as she joined our group.

I knew that she’d done that trying to lighten the mood, but at the moment I was too scared to laugh.

“Ah, at last,” Grandma Althea said, and she pointed to a doctor who had entered the waiting room.

“Family of Kenna Golden?”

“Yes,” we all said in unison.

The doctor smiled. “Ms. Golden is a very lucky young woman. She has a concussion, a sprained wrist, bruised ribs, and some other bumps and bruises. We are going to admit her for observation, but if all goes well, she’ll probably be released tomorrow afternoon.”

“Is she awake?” I asked him.

“She is, and she’s asking for her sister.”

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