One piercing tone gonged loudly in my ears, making other sounds wooly and garbled beneath it. My stomach churned and I puked gallons of tepid water down the front of me.
I tried to brace my foot and howled as pain shot up my leg.
That pain cleared my head.
I could see.
It hadn’t been Abbi trying to pull me out of the truck; it had been Lu. She was sopping wet, a trickle of blood painted through her hair, running red threads down her pale, pale face.
“…move,” she yelled, “…truck…explode.”
Finally, one sound—fire—chewed its way through my addled brain. “Where’s…” I coughed, almost puked again, my head swimming and sick, then tried again. “Abbi? Lorde?”
Lu had me propped against her, my arm over her shoulder. The world bucked and swayed and I breathed through my mouth to keep my stomach stable. “Here,” Lu said. “Over here. Abbi’s hurt.”
We waded through the river, my ankle giving me hell, then hell and a half as we climbed the berm to the road, where water flowed, ankle deep.
The storm had shifted from a downpour to a hard rain. Lighting strobed, throwing the trees, vines, and undergrowth beside the road into mercury-bright relief. Thunder crackled and snarled.
Lu shuffled me to the other side of the road and kept us moving until the truck, which had landed upside down, the smoldering engine fire already extinguishing, was yards behind us.
Hado came into view first. He stood with shoulders hunched, arms drawn toward his chest to cradle something small as if he were trying to keep it dry.
Lorde stood facing us, her tail up, her mouth open and panting in worry, but otherwise looking unharmed.
Where was Abbi?
Hado shifted slightly, and I saw what he held. It was a tiny gray bunny. But instead of resting with legs curled up under it, the bunny sprawled on its side, limp in his arms, eyes closed, and breath coming too quickly.
Blood matted her fur.
“Abbi,” I breathed. “Is she…” Lorde moved up beside me and paced a full circle around Lu and me, making little whining noises. I dropped my free hand and rubbed at her head. She leaned into my leg. “How badly is Abbi hurt?” I asked.
Hado wasn’t much of a talker. The very few times I had heard him speak, his words had formed more in my head than in my ears. This time was no different.
“She needs a healer.”
“We can’t use the truck,” Lu said. “Your phone is broken. One of us needs to take Abbi and go for help.”
“I can—”
“You can’t,” Lu cut off my suggestion. “Your ankle won’t let you. It has to be me or Hado. I’m very fast and pass as human better than Hado does.”
“You’re bleeding,” I said.
Hado scowled and pulled Abbi closer to his chest.
“It has to be me,” Lu said. “I can find a hospital, I can talk to people, pay them money. I can find a doctor or…or a vet.”
“Healer,” Hado said again. “Not a doctor.”
“Doctor is the best we’ll find.” Lu reached for Abbi. “I’ll take her with me. I’ll take care of her, Hado. You protect Brogan until I can get a car here to you.”
“I don’t need protecting, and you’re bleeding,” I argued. “No,” I said to her glare, “I’m not saying you shouldn’t run Abbi into the nearest town, but you don’t go alone. Take Hado. Lorde and I will stay here and recover what we can from the truck.”
Lu narrowed her eyes. “Absolutely not. I’m not leaving you stranded alone in the rain.”
“Rain ain’t gonna last forever. We’ll be fine.” Despite my best effort, a shiver rattled me head to heel. Shock, I supposed, from banging my head and almost drowning.
