Page 5 of Seduced
“Could you try to fix her? Set her bones?” he asks quietly.
Still, sea dragon shifter hearing is much better than human, and all eyes in the room focus on me.
“Can you do that?” Jack’s mother asks. “Do…do you know how to help her?”
Her voice shakes, and her eyes are rimmed with red. She’s a lovely woman in her early fifties, with wheat-brown hair braided around her head to give her a regal look. Her hands tremble as she reaches forward as if to touch me, then pulls back, rethinking her decision. I don’t know whether she’s afraid of me or trying to curb the dragons’ natural urge to comfort each other.
There’s nothing I want to do more than to heal Maya right now, but I only ever tried that spell once, on myself. I have no idea if I even have the ability to influence sea dragon bodies, let alone readjust injuries as extensive as hers.
“I’m not—” I pause and glance at Aiden. “Healing isn’t my talent. The first time I tried it on myself, I succeeded, but that might have been a fluke. And I had Jack, Ty, and Aiden helping me because my own power isn’t enough. I can’t do anything to help her by myself.”
This wasn’t the time to go into the particulars of my magic, which only influences technology, nothing else. I’d pulled the power from the three men to fix my broken bone. And they’d been willing to give it. To even attempt a spell like that again, I’d need all their help and more.
“Can you try?” Juniper’s dark features are pinched in anguish. “She’s strong enough to heal herself, but not if the bones aren’t set right.”
I look from one face to the other, all expressing various shades of hope. “Yes. Of course.”
Nurse MacLeod doesn’t seem happy, but since there’s nothing she can do for Maya, she agrees to let us use the spacious office next to the clinic for the ritual. I send Jack out to bring a candle and incense from my cabin and ask Mrs. Thomas for some salt. She bustles out as though she’s happy to be given a purpose. Ty, Aiden, and Mr. Thomas lift the door on which Maya is lying and place it in the middle of the room. It’ll be a tight fit to cast a circle around it, but moving Maya off it would hurt her even more.
“What else do you need?” Aiden asks.
His shoulders are tense under his shirt, and I wish I could give him a hug to comfort him. None of this was his fault, but I know he’s blaming himself. If I could get my hands on Devlin Ward, I’d kick his sorry ass, dragon or not.
“A rock,” I say. “Something to use for Earth.”
He dips his chin in a curt nod and strides out.
Nurse MacLeod huffs a disgruntled, “I’ll be next door if you need me,” and leaves.
It shouldn’t surprise me that she doesn’t want to be a part of this, and her clear rejection of what I’m about to do shouldn’t sting—I don’t even know the woman. But this is exactly how things will be from now on in the village. People know I’m a witch, and they’ll react however they see fit.
I glance up to find Jack’s father staring at me. It’s an awkward moment for sure, but I don’t want it to be.
“Hi, Mr. Thomas. I’m Skye. We haven’t had a chance to meet properly yet.”
I extend my hand, and after a moment’s pause, he shakes it.
“Nice to meet you. Jack’s told us a lot about you,” he says. “But he somehow forgot to mention you’re a witch.”
My mouth pulls to the side in a grimace. “Yeah, it’s not exactly great dinner conversation.”
He doesn’t smile—I think he’s too worried about Maya—but his eyes twinkle with a glimpse of humor. Whatever the other villagers will do, I don’t think Mr. Thomas will reject me. The thought gives me strength.
I crouch next to Maya and wave Cora and Juniper over. “Can you help me get these clothes off her? I think it might work better if I’m touching her skin in the right places.”
Honestly, I have no real clue if this is how it works when you perform a healing spell on another person. But skin-to-skin contact was necessary for me to draw the magic out of the dragons, so it makes sense it’ll help with sending itintoa dragon as well.
We try to salvage Maya’s parka, but it becomes clear we’d need to jostle her to remove it. Cora finds a pair of scissors in the office drawers, and we set to cutting the clothes off Maya until all she’s got left is her jeans and camisole.
“This should do it,” I pant as we clear away the tattered remains of her t-shirt and sweater.
“I’ve got the salt.” Jack’s mother bursts in and hands over a two-pound bag. “Will this be enough? I can get more.”
“This is great,” I tell her. “Now stand back, please.”
The dragons all pile in a corner, and I take fistfuls of the salt, pouring it on the floor in a circle around Maya and the door. It’s not great—more of a potato than a perfect shape—but it’ll do for holding in the focus.
Jack and Aiden return with the items I’d requested, and we place them at the appropriate ends of the circle to represent the elements. A coffee mug filled with water rounds up the collection—it’s not a very mystical object but it’ll function fine in this situation. What concerns me is that we’ll have an audience for the ritual. My nerves are shot, and there’s a distinct chance that I’ll fuck this up because I’m too aware of Jack’s parents and Maya’s partners staring at me.
