Page 16 of Dallas

Isla tried to slide her arm between the seat and the door, but shook her head. “I can’t reach the lever!”

“Pull it back, damn it!” She had the strength, we all knew she did. All of us did.

“It might jar her too greatly!” Owen argued.

I remained there, crouched on the hood, looking down the road. Where were the others? They should’ve been following more closely, though I could understand why they’d take their time. The thought that they might have met up with an accident of their own sent a bolt of stark, flaming fear through my chest.

Then, as if in answer, a pair of headlights shone through the darkness.

Within moments, the SUV came to a stop, and one of the doors opened.

Hecate’s stature and auburn hair with its gold streaks set her apart from the others with whom she’d been riding. She slipped and slid her way through the mud as she fought to reach us.

“What happened?” She shrieked when she caught sight of the interior. “Callie!”

“She’s injured.” For the first time, I felt something deeper than resentment or irritation toward her. Especially when her face crumpled just like the hood of the SUV on which I crouched.

“Callie!” She opened the driver’s door and all but hurled Owen out from behind the wheel without so much as lifting a finger.

“Hold on, now!” I jumped to the ground and helped Owen to his feet.

She didn’t care. She climbed into the SUV, kneeling on the seat to examine her sister.

“You okay?” I asked Owen, who only nodded with a grim smile. He didn’t much care for being handled that way, but instinct told us both not to bother fighting her just then. Not when there wasn’t any time.

“What happened?” Leslie reached us, the rain and wind making it all but impossible to hear her. She looked into the vehicle and backed away with a distraught expression. She wiped the hair which plastered itself to her face away, looking from one of us to the other.

“What are we doing to do?” Owen looked at me, and the fear and guilt and panic in his voice spoke of responsibility. He felt responsible for this, though there was nothing he could’ve done to stop it. That was our way. We took seriously that which was our responsibility to protect, and we’d flown overseas to protect the witches on their mission.

To say nothing of the responsibility we felt toward each other.

I didn’t answer. Instead, I went to the driver’s door, where Isla and Hecate were still examining Callie’s situation. I could just make out Callie’s profile. Her closed eyes, the blood trickling down the side of her face. Still unconscious, though breathing.

“She’s pinned beneath the dash,” Isla called out from inside the vehicle. “Her legs are likely broken.”

Iris joined us, then Electra. The energy which built between them was enough to make me fear for our safety, seeing as how there was already a deadly storm bearing down on us and the trees which swayed and creaked in the wind sounded near ready to topple.

I didn’t need a bunch of emotional witches to heighten the odds that I’d be crushed.

“What about our blood?” I called out, looking to Iris and Electra.

“No!” Hecate shouted, glaring at me over her shoulder. “No, absolutely not!”

“It could heal her,” Isla urged. “She could be better so quickly.”

“I said, absolutely not!”

“Iris. Electra. Please, have some sense!” I couldn’t help but flinch as a bolt of lightning struck dangerously near us. “She needs help, and we cannot stay out here much longer!”

“Can we fly?” Leslie asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t think we’re far enough up the mountain to avoid being seen by those below, and I wouldn’t fly in this storm,” I added. The wind was nearly enough to knock me off my feet, no matter how sturdily I planted myself.

“What’s the point of being a dragon if you can’t fly?” Hecate snarled.

“What’s the point of having blood that could save her if I can’t use it?” I shouted in reply. “If she dies, it’ll be on your hands!”

I regretted it as soon as the words were out of my mouth, but there was no taking them back. Even Leslie gasped in surprise, clutching my arm when Hecate jumped from the SUV like a wildcat about to pounce on her prey.

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