Page 19 of Dallas

She nodded, chin quivering, eyes leaking tears onto my hands. I drew a deep breath and waited for her to follow suit. The fact that she could even do so told me her ribs were at least intact.

“Good girl,” I smiled as we exhaled together. Inhale. Exhale. Slowly, rhythmically.

For once, Dallas was smart enough to stay silent, allowing me to do what I needed to do without his interference. The more I could calm my sister, the more easily she could disconnect from the pain.

She began to loosen, the deep furrows in her brow smoothing out the more she relaxed. I allowed my consciousness to reach out to hers, imagining my energy wrapping itself around hers and absorbing the worst of the trauma.

I could see her fear there, could almost taste it. Tangy, metallic, like blood. I imagined myself loosening it like a knot, pulling this end and that end, unwinding it. Even the deafening rain and wind faded until it no longer existed. It was only the two of us and no one else.

She slowly fell into a trance, or something like it. I knew she was floating somewhere beyond us, in a place where there was no pain or fear or questions. Just peace. Only once I was certain she was in good shape did I remove my hands from her head and let out a shuddery breath.

Dallas didn’t speak until I sat up. “What did you do?” he whispered.

“She’s in a trance. Perfectly safe.” I looked around, readjusting to my surroundings.

“You all right?”

I nodded. “It’s like… coming out of deep sleep. I need a moment.”

“We’re going to have to set those bones, even if we don’t know how to do it.”

“I know that.” I couldn’t be angry. I couldn’t snap at him. Not when I was so foggy and tired. Now that the adrenaline rush was beginning to ebb, fatigue settled into my muscles and my mind.

“What did you do?” he asked again, watching as Callie slept.

She looked so peaceful, like there was no trouble whatsoever. Like she wasn’t broken and bruised and lost in the middle of a raging storm.

“It’s a lot to explain.”

“Does it look like I’m doing anything else at the moment?”

I snorted with soft laughter. “I went into her head and took it away.”

“Took what away?”

“The pain. The confusion. The fear. Fear is the worst, really, since it makes pain feel stronger. If your heart is racing, you’re unfocused. What’s going to slide in and take control of your attention? The pain, of course.”

“Of course,” he murmured. “What happens to you when you do this? You look spent.”

“I feel spent.”

“Do you take the pain on yourself? Do you feel it?”

“Yes and no. I don’t feel it in my legs or my shoulder or anywhere else. But I feel it here.” I tapped the side of my head. “Pressure, like a storm in my brain. It will subside.”

“You speak as though you know from experience.”

“I do.”

“You do this often?”

“Not often, but enough to know.” I stroked Callie’s hair, wondering what I could do about washing away the blood from the cut on her scalp. A superficial wound, nothing to be concerned with, but enough to make a mess of her hair and skin.

“Can any of the others do that? Is it something you’re all skilled in?”

I shook my head. “No. Just me. We all have something we’re best at.”

“I thought you were best at controlling others. I saw how you could freeze a person and release them at will.”

---