“No,” I roar. “She’s breathing… just shallow. Keep going!”
“Faex,”he grunts, tightening his grip on the steering wheel. “You better be right about this.”
I ignore him, my focus solely on the frightened girl in my arms. Using one hand to cup her face, I murmur over and over again, “Estás a salvo. Por favor, regresa a mí,”until the words bleed together and slowly lose meaning.
It’s the longest twenty minutes of my life until we finally reach Callie’s home, each ticking minute making the weight pressing against my chest heavier and the air thinner, until I feel like we’re sharing each gasp for air. I barely wait for the car to stop, before I’m out and racing for the door. Felix is standing outside, looking as helpless and terrified as I feel.
Shifting Callie so I can hold her with one arm, I try the front door and finding it locked, I bang against it so hard that the surrounding window panes rattle.
“Nolan and Donovan should be here any minute,” Felix tells Kaleb over the harsh crack of my knuckles meeting wood. “They left right behind you guys.”
I can hear Mildred’s frenzied rush as she descends the stairs, followed by a muttered, “What the bloody hell?” There’s a sharp click as the door unlocks, and then there’s the liar in the flesh.
“Fix her,” I snarl, my wolf’s growl heavy in my voice. “I know you can.”
“My god,” she cries in shock, looking at her niece, rigid and unresponsive in my arms. “What happened?”
Kaleb flashes me a startled look before answering, “We were talking outside and she was fine, until she suddenly wasn’t. She saw something--”
“Fire,” Felix chokes out. “She saw the fire.”
“There was a lit fire pit,” Kaleb continues smoothly, Felix’s interruption barely noticeable. “We think that might have something to do with it.”
“Oh, darling,” she whispers, tears building in her eyes. “What did that bastard do to you?”
All of us stiffen, the hushed words our first real clue into Callie’s past. My wolf howls inside of me, pulled in two with the desire for justice battling the need to protect. I adjust Callie so that I’m once again holding her with both arms, burying my face into her hair and breathing her in, focusing my wolf on what’s important. This tiny girl with shadows in her eyes and steel in her spine, who fights for hope and laughter against the demons that constantly come for her.
“Can you help her?” Kaleb asks, uncertainty in his voice.
“I don’t know,” she replies, ushering us inside. “Go sit on the couch. Wrap her up in the afghan and don’t let go. She needs to feel safe. I might be able to ease her some, but I don’t know if I can bring her out of this.”
“I don’t understand. What are you going to do?” Kaleb demands, while I head for the couch.
I sit in the corner of the L, settling Callie more comfortably on my lap, before pulling the blanket off the back of the couch. She’s shivering now, her muscles straining under the tremors, and I do my best to tuck the blanket snugly around her. I hold her tight against me, her head resting over my heart, as if by holding her close, I can pull her nightmares away and into me.
“Can’t hide a bloody thing from a wolf,” Mildred mutters, before answering Kaleb. “I’m a witch, as Connor seems to have already gathered. I’m strong in both fire and air, but not water, so I’m no healer. However, I may be able to use air to persuade Callie to relax, and perhaps make her more open to hearing us.”
“You’re a witch, and you didn’t tell Callie?” Kaleb challenges, filled with righteous fury. “She’s been struggling with what she is, how she’s been kept in the dark her whole life, and you knew and said nothing?”
“She knows?” She gasps, then cuts me an annoyed look. “Of course, you’ve told her. Don’t dare to judge me, child. You know nothing about Callie or me, and because of you, instead of having an informed conversation with me, you’ve blurted it out, and she’s been fumbling in the dark.”
“Even if we hadn’t told her,” Kaleb grounds out, “Seeing ghosts, the freak rainstorm, gale force winds, exploding trees, shattered furniture and oh, the giant bonfire would’ve given away something was different. Thanks to us, she at least knows she’s not insane and not alone.”
“Rainstorms? Fires?” she utters, like the world is caving in on her. “Oh no. It’s worse than I thought.” Then her eyes grow round. “Ghosts? What ghosts?”
Any other time, I’d be impressed Kaleb found a reason to grow a backbone, but right now is not the time to deal with this.
“Fix her,” I growl, rubbing a hand up and down her arm, trying to chafe heat into her cold, shivering body.
“Maybe we can try splashing her with water?” Felix offers to deaf ears, pacing back and forth, his hands clenching and unclenching with each round.
There’s a loud screech of tires announcing Nolan and Donovan’s arrival. Within moments they’re both slamming through the door and racing towards us. When they see Callie catatonic in my arms, Nolan drops to his knees in front of us, while Donovan demands to know what the fuck is going on.
Nolan gently pets her hair, softly murmuring, “Callie, love, you have to come back to us. Whatever you’re seeing isn’t real.” His voice grows thick. “You’re safe, Callie. Please… please wake up.” His eyes meet mine, wide and lost, before turning to look at the others. “What happened? Why isn’t she waking up?”
“Last time, she was only out for a few minutes,” Donovan states, looking around the room. “How long has she been like this?”
“Does it matter?” Felix interjects, stopping near the arm of the couch, arms crossed and tapping his fingers against his bicep. “A minute? An hour? Point is, we can’t get her to snap out of it!”
