The Burning Shadow (Origin 2)

Heidi whimpered as I forced her up the small grass hill, toward the line of cars. Her breath was coming out in shallow pants and strange wheezes. “Evie, I … I don’t…”

“Just hold on. Please.” The phone rang once in my ear, and then there was Luc’s voice. “I need your help. Right now.”

“Where are you?” he demanded immediately.

“Heidi is hurt—she’s hurt really badly.” My grip started to slip as we reached the second row of cars. “It was April. She’s … I don’t know what she is, but she attacked Heidi. It’s—”

“You at school? Where are you?”

“In the parking lot—Heidi!” I screamed, nearly dropping the phone.

Her knees gave out, and I eased her down the best I could. “Please, hurry. Oh God, please tell me you can get here now.”

“I’ll be right there.”

I dropped the phone and pressed my hand down on Heidi’s shoulder. The skin felt wrong under my palm, uneven and too soft to be right. “It’s going to be okay. Luc’s coming.”

Her wide-eyed stare kept darting from me to the sky. “That … that was … a dumb … idea. The … whole picture thing.”

“Stop.” Tears tracked down my face. Blood was seeping through my fingers. How could she lose so much blood and have any left? Her face was even paler, the skin starting to turn blue around her lips. Was calling Luc the right choice? “It’s okay.” I kept saying that. “It’s okay.”

“I want…” She coughed, spraying fine droplets of blood. “I want to see … Emery.”

“You will.” I leaned down, kissing her forehead. “You will totally see her.”

Suddenly, Zoe was there, her face obscured by a wealth of curls. “Luc called. He’s on his way.”

“Can you heal her?” Blood ran down my arm, under the sleeves of my shirt.

Zoe shook her head as she scrambled to Heidi’s side. With a shocking display of strength, she lifted Heidi into her arms. “My car is the closest.”

Grabbing my phone and bag, I lurched to my feet, following Zoe as she raced two rows down. Everything at this point was a blur. Zoe put Heidi in the back seat, and I had a terrible sense of déjà vu, but it was me who was now holding on to Heidi. Her head was in my lap as I kept my hand on her shoulder. Zoe climbed into the driver’s seat. She’d just turned the car on when the passenger door across from me opened.

It wasn’t Luc.

Emery climbed through, her expression stricken. “Oh, God—oh no, Heidi.” She brushed my hand aside, placing hers where mine had been. “Open those eyes for me, babe. Open those beautiful eyes for me, Heidi. Come on, please open your eyes for me.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, my hands hovering over Heidi. “I’m sorry—”

The door opened behind me, and the moment arms circled my waist, I knew it was Luc. He hauled me out of the car, keeping one arm around my waist as he leaned around me. “Get them to the club.”

He closed the door just as I saw Emery slip into her true form. The entire back seat of the car filled with brilliant white light.

“I have to go with them.” I pulled at his arm, reaching for the back door. “I have to—”

Gravel kicked up as Zoe tore out of the parking spot, flying down the narrow opening. I twisted, my blood-soaked hands slipping off Luc’s arm. “No. I need—”

“There’s nothing more you can do.” He whipped me around, keeping an arm secured around my waist as he cupped my chin. “Are you okay?”

“Emery said before she wasn’t good at healing. That’s why I called you—”

“She’s in the best possible hands. Evie, I need to know if you’re—”

“I’m okay!” I shrieked, trying to pull away, but Luc held on. “Emery said—”

“Emery loves her.” Luc pulled me against him as his hand slipped around the back of my neck. “Listen to me. You do not get between a Luxen and who they love, no matter what.”

“What?” None of that mattered to me at the moment. “Heidi can’t die, Luc. She can’t—”

“She won’t. Emery will not allow that.” He dropped his arm and took my hand. “Give me your keys. I’ll drive us to the club.”

“She’ll be okay?” I reached around, grabbing my keys out of my bag as I heard the fire trucks wailing. “She’ll be okay?”

Luc took my keys. “Emery won’t let her die.”

“I don’t understand,” I said, hands shaking as we hurried to my car. “Emery said she wasn’t good at healing.”

Luc opened the driver’s door. “Remember how I told you that all Luxen have the ability to heal? Some are better at it than others, but I’m telling you, when it’s someone they love, there is no one else better to heal them.”

“That makes no sense.” I sat in the front seat as Luc slammed the door shut behind him. “You healed me…”