Page 28 of Dallas

A strangled cry from Callie pulled us apart. “

What was that noise?” she asked, then let out an anguished whimper.

12

While I would’ve preferred Callie didn’t wake up this way, if she had to, she’d done it at the best possible time. I was just about to do something supremely ill-advised when her voice broke through the strange hold he had over me.

“Oh, Callie, I’m sorry!” I crawled to her. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I lost control over our connection. I lost it. I’m so sorry.”

Her wide, blue eyes searched mine. “Please help me,” she whimpered. “Please, Hecate, I need help.”

“I know.” I stroked her cheeks, her forehead, her hair. “I am so sorry. I want to help you. I’ll do anything.”

“Where are we?” she whispered, looking around in a panic.

“Just rest,” I cooed, kissing her forehead before easing her head back against the makeshift pillow I’d created. “We’re in a cave not far from where the crash occurred. Still waiting for help, but the storm has not yet ended. A tree fell just now. That’s what surprised me and woke you as a result.”

“My legs…” She reached for them.

“No, sweetheart, no.” I held her hands back, the two of us weeping. “I know it hurts. We’re going to try to help you. I promise.”

“Where is Dallas?”

I looked around. Where was he? The cave was only so large, and we were trapped inside.

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that he was moving the tree out of the way. An entire tree.

“Is he really doing that?” Callie whispered. For a moment, it, seemed, she forgot the pain and confusion. “Am I imagining this?”

“No,” I murmured, awed, watching him move the massive thing aside. “I see it, too.” Even at our strongest, none of us could move something so large and solid. We could make things appear out of thin air, but we couldn’t have pushed a full-grown, ancient tree aside as easily as he did.

The muscles of his arms, shoulders, and back flexed and bunched as he worked. Impossibly large, impossibly strong, impossible to look away from. Awareness sprang to life inside me, deep in my core, flooding my body with a telltale warmth. My mouth went dry, palms clammy.

He turned to us once the job was done, standing just outside the cave mouth. “Aye?” he asked, looking from one to the other. As if there was nothing out of the ordinary going on. His hands rested on his narrow hips, his solid chest rose and fell as he caught his breath.

To my surprise and dismay, my heart skipped a beat.

“Lie back,” I urged Callie after managing to pry my eyes from him. “You must rest.”

“My shoulder is dislocated,” she observed. There was no blame in her voice, only wonder. “I still can’t use my arm.”

“I know, I know.” I cast a worried look toward Dallas, but he pretended not to notice.

Instead, he knelt beside me, smiling down at my sister. “It’s good to see you awake again. Though I understand you’re suffering, and I’m sorry for it. I truly am. I would like to help you, if I can.”

I listened and watched with my heart in my throat. If she accepted him, there was nothing I could do to stop her. Frankly, watching her like this, listening to her pitiful, pained whimpers and knowing her legs could become infected was torture. I couldn’t imagine anything worse.

“How could you help me?” she whispered, all innocence. Like a child. Like the child she used to be, my baby sister. Mine to protect. I’d done nothing to protect her until now.

“Hecate, could you put more wood on the fire?” he asked without turning my way. “We need warmth in here. Once Callie’s bones begin to mend, we’ll be able to change her clothing and make her more comfortable.”

“Tell her what you have to do to help,” I hissed. “She needs to decide for herself.”

“Decide what? No matter what it is, I’ll do it. No matter the price. Please, please…” A single tear trickled down the side of her face, soaking into her hair. I turned away, unable to watch anymore.

“Wait until I make my offer before you accept,” he advised with a smile in his voice. He sounded warm, friendly, tender. It brought to mind the great gentleness he employed while carrying her from the SUV. “You might already know this, but dragon blood is very powerful. We were taken prisoner for the express purpose of bleeding us, that our blood might be used or sold or some such thing. I want to give you some of my blood now. It will heal you.”

She was silent for a beat. “Your blood?”

---