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She wished his hand were over her eyes. Or her ears. Especially when the man shot Michael a second time.
The earth shook and rumbled beneath them, but Irish had a tight grip. He stumbled, but he didn’t let her go.
“Stop fighting me,” he said, his voice low and close to her ear. “I need you to stop so I can call for help. Okay?”
A sob worked its way up her throat, but she choked it off.
“Come on, Blondie,” Irish whispered. “We aren’t armed. If that guy finds us . . ” He left the rest of the thought unspoken.
o;I’ll stay back here,” said Tyler. He cocked his gun and aimed at the shed. “Cover you both.”
Michael nodded and moved forward, asking the ground for silence. He and Hunter circled the shed, looking for any sign of movement. Tyler followed, going wide to keep them in his line of sight.
On the far side of the shed, Michael stopped short. “Jesus,” he whispered.
Calla was on the ground. Her clothes were torn and filthy and streaked with blood. Her skin was mottled with bruises. Blood stained her lips and trailed out of her mouth, dripping onto the ground.
Behind her was a man—what was left of one, anyway. He’d been burned beyond recognition. Clearly dead. Michael could smell the charred flesh.
Hunter knelt beside Calla. He reached out and touched two fingers to her throat. “She’s alive. Barely.”
Michael took a knee beside him. Her blood had touched the earth, and he tried to send power into her. “Calla.” He touched her face and her head moved limply. “Calla.”
“We should get her back to the car,” said Hunter. “She needs a hospital.”
Michael nodded and bent to lift her.
Calla’s eyes opened halfway. “Michael Merrick.” She coughed, and more blood wet her lips. “You came.”
“I did.”
Her eyes rolled, and she blinked as if trying to focus. “And Hunter Garrity. How funny.” She started laughing. More blood came up.
“Why is that funny?” said Hunter.
“She’s out of her mind,” said Michael. “Let’s get her to the truck.”
“I’m perfectly lucid,” she said. “Is he dead?”
Michael glanced at the charred corpse. “Yeah. I thought you said he was unconscious.”
“He was.” Her head lolled as he shifted her into his arms. “You weren’t fast enough. He woke up.”
“And you did that to him?”
“You would have done the same,” she said. Her voice gained strength. “I wasn’t going to give him the chance to trap me again. He’s not the one who really deserves it, though.”
“How many more are there?” said Hunter.
“There were three. I thought they were just going to kill me, but it turns out they were pretty mad at me for causing the accident.”
“What accident?” said Michael. They were never going to get any information from her like this. And she was responsible for so much, he was tempted to leave her dying beside the shed.
“He kept crushing me with rocks,” said Calla. “Over and over again. Then healing me in fire. Said it was poetic justice. Do you understand what that felt like?”
Tyler joined them as they stepped onto the path back to the parking lot. “There were three?” He nodded toward the charred body. “That’s one. The fire marshal killed the other. So there’s one left?”
“Just one. Hunter knows. He remembers.”
