Page 100 of Clearly Charmed

Bryce kept walking until Clo, using a low and measured voice, ordered him to bring me inside. The jarring clomp up the stairs made my head ache.

‘I need to know what is wrong with my fucking sister!’ Lia demanded.

‘Stop yelling,’ I managed to say as her cursing rang in my ears.

‘Set her down on the couch,’ Clo said.

A second later my back was against a firm cushion. There were a dozen hammers beating against my skull, but I forced my eyes open.

‘Dani.’ Aster sank down beside me. ‘Where are you hurt?’

I started to sit up, but Bryce’s warm hand pressed me back into the cushion. ‘You have a cut on your head. Clo’s gone to get the first aid kit.’

‘Does she have a concussion?’ Belladonna’s voice wasn’t too far off.

Flashes of her in the forest. Water seeping up from the ground. Flooding its way toward the trees. The images were hazy and the smoke was dark. Was I imagining things?

‘Can someone please tell me how Dani got like this?’ Lia’s voice was too thick. Too scared.

Bryce slid his hand over my palm and gripped my fingers. ‘A rogue spark flew into a tree. The branches caught flame. One snapped loose, dropping down close to where she was standing.’

‘He pushed Dandelion out of the way. Kept it from falling right on top of her.’

Was that a sob in Belladonna’s voice? I’d never seen her show any emotion, much less shed a tear.

Clo hustled out of the bathroom with a basket full of supplies. She stopped in front of me, her hair a fuzzy cloud around her face. ‘Can you sit up?’

‘Of course.’

‘Take it easy,’ Bryce whispered as I moved.

‘She hit her head against a tree.’ Belladonna paced in front of the wall of windows. Her dark hair fell in tangles around her face.

Clo looked to where Lia leaned against the kitchen counter. ‘Should we check for a concussion?’

Lia pushed her way forward until she was crouched in front of me.

‘Her pupils look equal.’ She cupped her hand over my right eye and then pulled it away, repeating the same motion with the left. ‘Good reactions.’ Her gaze moved to the cut in the center of my forehead. ‘Do you have a headache? Are you dizzy? Any blurry vision?’

‘No. I’m fine, Lee.’

‘She did pass out for a second,’ Bryce offered.

‘It was all the smoke. I’m okay now,’ I insisted.

‘Let’s get you patched up. That scratch is superficial, but it needs to be cleaned,’ Lia said.

Clo held onto the basket, shoving around the items like she was unsure what to do next.

‘Hand me an alcohol swab and one of the small gauze bandages with adhesive,’ Lia said in between bursts of static and muffled voices squawking out of her walkie-talkie.

‘We have to get back to soaking the roof. The fire, it was coming for the clearing Grandpa Beau made for us as kids.’ I tried to stand but Bryce nudged me back onto the couch.

‘The wind has shifted. Fire is moving to the west. They’ve already got it forty percent contained,’ Lia said, dabbing an alcohol pad against my head.

‘But it was coming down the mountain.’ I winced at the sting. ‘I saw it until…’ That image of rising water filled my vision again. Belladonna and I locked eyes. I searched for an answer in her face, but before I could get any kind of read on her, she turned and headed into the kitchen.

Lia gently pressed the bandage against my head. ‘Until what?’