Page 29 of Ellie 3

Theresa scrunched up her face. “I have no desire to see that woman ever again. Her lack of decency is—she acts like she saved me from a fate worse than death, but she has no idea what I went through, especially after she sent me away when you ran. She never cared to ask when Isufferedor find me after Father lost the coven and she just walked out with what she could.”

“You have gotten the wrong story on that,” I whispered, my eyes going wide. “She wasn’t given a choice or—” I frowned when my phone rang even if I had it on silent. It was some kind of software ASH had to override our phones if there was a big deal going on.

Apparently, Ellie got it too because she already had her phone in her hand.

“Please hold while you are connected to the President of North America,” the man on the other end of her call said, Theresa and I staring at her in shock.

But Ellie just acted like it was a Saturday like any other.

“What can I do for you, Mr. President?” Ellie asked when he came on the line.

“I need you to call in everyone you can,” he told her. “It’s bad this time and there’s no help around them. A sinkhole opened up—”

I was listening even as I checked my phone for the alert. “Holy fucking shite. A warlock opened a portal and brought a whole fuckingbusto ASH. We have to go. They need everyone emergency and—Ellie, head to my car. I’ll drive.”

Ellie handed me her keys. “Drive mine. I’m authorized for emergency lights.” She looked at Theresa. “Aurora ishere, andyou have everything wrong about what happened. I understand—we have to go.”

“I’ll come with,” she offered. “I have medic training.”

Ellie didn’t have time to debate. “Sir, we’ll do whatever we can. You heard what Dr. Clark said?”

“Yes, and I doubt that’s the last that will break protocols. Give me permission to overstep into ASH’s safety and security. I want to dispatch everyone I can. Help for you, and then we can open portals and get them—I’m getting reports the sinkhole is in a major metropolitan but nothing like Atlanta.”

That was about the nicest way to say poor backcountry with an overflowing town and no real help.

We were already hurrying along and Ellie gave permission before adding Alan to the call. He knew nothing except about the bus part and couldn’t get the emergency department attending on duty or anything. He had a feeling things were that chaotic already.

“Call in everyone,” Ellie ordered. “Mr. President, I would ask for any EMTs and first responders you can spare to help at ASH. New York, Chicago—where did this happen?”

“South America,” someone in the background said. “The President of South America is on the line and asking for immediate aid. They have reports that the sinkhole is an eighth of a mile on the east side of town. They think there used to be a mine there and people didn’t—no one cared as they built new homes for poor people.”

And new homes meant new shops, schools—all of it. Fuck.

“We’ll do the best we can, sir. Whoever you can spare that will take my orders so we’re not dealing with pissing matches,” she told him before glancing at her phone. “I’m getting a call from the ED department. I’ll update you.”

“We’ll hold,” the president said. “We’re putting you on hold as well.”

She nodded but then switched. “How is the warlock? Did he really bring a bus?”

“Yes,” a man sighed. “I doubt he’ll make it. He used too much magic too fast. He—it was a school field trip. He was one of the parent chaperones and did it to save his kid on the bus. Right before it would have dropped into the sinkhole and they would all have been toast from what the kids are saying. They were right at the center of where the ground opened up.”

“Okay, see if our magics can help the poor man. I’m on with the president and they’re sending everyone.”

We were at her SUV by then and she showed me the emergency lights. We didn’t even need them, two police cruisers waiting for us out front. I flagged them, and once they saw her in the passenger’s seat, we got an escort to ASH moving faster than I would ever have thought through traffic.

So clearly, this wasn’t the first time Ellie had needed to be escorted in like this. Wow.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing when we pulled into ASH. I headed right for the emergency department to get Ellie there faster and… My brain couldn’t make sense of it at first.

Yes, there was a bus, but the front foot of it was cut off like the warlock opened the portal while it was falling. And it had fallen through and onto its side. It was—the pretty fountain out front of the main entrance was toast. That was for sure.

And clearly, others had opened portals as well. I wasn’t sure if from their side or ours, but there was just chaos all over.

Security recognized Ellie’s vehicle and one of them jogged over. “I can park her vehicle and get her the keys, Dr. Clark.”

“Yeah, thanks, mate,” I accepted when Ellie nodded. I rushed over to where I saw Alan. I remembered Theresa at the last second and gestured to her. “This is Theresa Reed, she has medic training and wanted to help.”

Theresa elaborated and mentioned the specific certification and credentials she had. Alan was impressed, and I was pretty sure it was the European equivalent of volunteer EMT status for catastrophes. Alan called over the right person to get Theresa temp credentials and to be shown where she could lock up her stuff and change.

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