She groaned, her eyes drifted open, staring at me, but almost as if through me.
“Are you okay?” The silence that followed was long and insufferable. She wasn’t okay, how could she hit a tree that hard and be okay? I rasped, “Dahlia. Answer me.Are you okay?”
“I think so,” she breathed.
She pulled her right arm in and used it to push up off the ground. She flinched, her face was as white as plaster. She whined and dropped back down.
“Lay still,” I said, fighting the panic. “You might have really hurt yourself. I’ll go and get Karson.” I started to rise, already calculating if he could hear me, or how close I’d need to run before he could if I yelled out.
“Fuck off,” she said, her voice suddenly strong. “He’s not fucking touching me.”
“You might have spinal injuries. You need to keep still.”
She shook her head slowly. “No, I’m okay, just winded and bruised.” She grimaced. “And maybe a few broken bones.” She chuckled, but the laugh twisted into a grunt.
Using her hands, she pushed again and climbed, with agonizing slowness, to her knees. She paused there for a long stretch, bowed forward, sucking in air.
“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry. I don’t even know how—” I stood up and shook my head. It thundered against my skull.
She held a hand up to cut me off. “It’s okay, don’t worry. I’ve been through worse. Help me up.”
I reached down, grabbed her arm and helped her rise slowly to her feet. She flinched and grunted and finally stood, albeit bending at a half right side angle.
“At least we know how to access your powers, all I have to do is piss you off.” She attempted a smile.
It dawned on me what she’d done. She’d lied to bait me into responding with anger. I felt the anger flare. “Seriously?” I hissed, “you could have been hurt. You idiot.”
She shrugged. “Whatever works.”
I strode off before I pushed her again. Snatching the backpack off the ground. Adrenaline seemed to leak from my body, the energy dispersed and suddenly I felt drained. I tossed the water, the knives, and the arrow in the backpack. Removed the target and collected the last of the knives.
“Serves yourself right,” I said, glancing at her as she tried to straighten and flinched. Guilt rose up, the anger had abated, but not entirely. Each shuffled step she took, her face twisted. I winced as if the pain were my own. It would be a long, slow walk home.
“Do you want me to go and get help? It doesn’t have to be Karson.” I threw the backpack over my shoulder.
“Nope, it will be okay once I get moving. I should loosen. I will get it fixed later. You’re going to have to learn to control your anger, hold the pressure. You’re not practicing on me again today though, I may be a witch, but my body breaks. I’ll be back tomorrow—ask Ethan to pad the walls of his gym.”
I didn’t think she’d be back tomorrow, unless she knew a good healer and an even better chiropractor, and had access to some strong drugs. “I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“It’s my fault, I didn’t expect you to be so strong.”
“I don’t understand why I didn’t know before now I had powers,” I said, perplexed. “It’s not like I haven’t had temper flares in the past.”
“The ring you wore was spelled so your powers didn’t work.” She glanced sideways, gauging my response.
“My mother knew?” I stopped in my tracks. She kept walking. I stared at her with increasing perplexity.
It will always keep you safe. It will always protect you.
Chills whipped over my body. If she knew, did my father know? Did he see the evil inside and wasn’t able to bear it any longer? The broken pieces, all those years of growing up and feeling different but never quite able to understand why. If someone had explained all those years of angst, of feeling like I wasn’t right, it could have made some resemblance of sense.
She nodded. “Yes, and before you ask, I don’t know who your real parents are. They kept it a secret, even if you look you won’t find out. You were adopted out to keep you safe. Your adoptive mother and father knew something, but how much? I don’t know.”
Safe? Safe from what? I wasn’t adopted, I was thrown into the foster system; a system not known for its stability, nor any guarantee a child would be loved, or even treated kindly. My so-called family didn’t find a loving family to adopt me, they threw me to the wolves and left me there to rot. I was overcome with feelings of bitterness and a hatred for two people I’d never met. I wondered if Dahlia knew I had been fostered, I assumed not. I said nothing and walked to catch up with her.
“You were born to a long line of genetically powerful witches who have abilities that protect the waters. That’s why we need to train you quickly.” She stopped, resting her hands on her thighs and taking a few quick breaths.
“Are you okay?”
