No. No. No.
Tianna, splattered in black demon blood, crouched down, one eyebrow raised. “I think the water’s trying to tell you something.”
Well, I didn’t speak water, so we were fucked.
“What’s it saying?” I growled. The fae-witch had better know, or there was no chance at all at saving Molly. Her shivering had picked up, making her body rack against my hold. We had minutes, maybe seconds before it’d be too late.
Tianna pointed to my arms. “The water can’t heal her, but I think maybe you can.”
The purple glow.Mypurple magic.My healing power.
Haru nodded. “It’s never been done before that I know of, but it’s possible that your kitsune healing, combined with your witch magic, could extend to a human being.”
The normally stoic warrior was misty-eyed. He ran a hand through his dark, short-cropped hair, his lament tangible. It made me think something had gone down between him and Molly. Maybe between Reo and Molly too. Reo also seemed pretty shaken, and he was ordinarily as composed as his brother. I was sure Molly liked both of them. She didn’t do subtle well, nor did she hide the many looks she gave them. God, I wanted her to survive to enjoy … whatever it was she had going on here. The warriors were beautiful, and she deserved all the passion they might share with her.
Molly was staring off into the sky above us. We didn’t have a second to waste. It was time for last resorts.
Taking a deep breath, I called my magic forward. It was like tensing my muscles while also simultaneously letting them relax. Summoning magic was super hard, at least for a newbie like me. I still wasn’t entirely sure what I was doing, so when the purple light surged and flowed down my arms, pooling in the surface of my palms, I sighed in relief.
“Tell it what to do,” Tianna said, her voice urgent.
The purple glow was the product of both my witch and kitsune magic, a hybrid combination of powers no one knew much about, not even the hybrid fae-witch. My power could rip Molly in two for all we knew, but telling it what to do, as I had the water, seemed like a good place to start.
As I would with an ordinary incantation, I muttered a few words about healing Molly, allowing myself to relax and float with Molly draped across my lap. The warm water was spinning around us, almost as if it were cheering us on. My purple light pulsed and flooded from my palms, pouring over Molly’s pierced and bleeding abdomen. Her drooping eyelids snapped open.
“It tickles,” she mumbled, her voice little more than a croak.
I was hoping the tickling sensation was a good thing.
Blocking out the friends and selkies who surrounded us, I focused all my energy on Molly’s wound. I envisioned purple light pouring from my palms, and instructed the magic to enter her and heal her.
Help me, Gran. I sent up the prayer in a last-ditch effort. If Gran could help me from wherever she was, I knew she’d find a way. The wind picked up, caressing my face, and my eyes widened as the distinct scent of vanilla and sage brushed past my nose.
Gran.
Tears lined my eyes again and my healing energy poured from my palms, as if a dam had broken, surrounding Molly and me. My purple magic overwhelmed the entire pool, swirling in non-stop waves of color. It was a good thing all the seals were out of the water, because I had no idea what my power might have done to them.
Even in death Gran had my back. Good ole Gran, kicking ass from the beyond.
Tianna made a noise in her throat and I looked up to find her staring curiously in the direction of the wind. “Ancestor magic,” she said.
I didn’t know what that was, but if it meant Gran was helping me from the spirit world, then I was all for it.
Molly’s coloring had improved. Her cheeks were slightly pink again, which I’d take any day over the deathly pallor that had begun to tint her skin. I didn’t stop though. I pressed on, channeling all the healing through me that I could, directing it into Molly.
“That should be enough,” Brock cautioned. “Check her wound. Don’t overexert yourself.”
My baby daddy was always looking out for the baby and me. I guess someone had to.
Molly was more energetic, no longer a lifeless lump draped across my outstretched arms. She peeled back her shirt.
About four inches above her belly button, there was a small, gray puckered scar. The wound was completely closed.
Holy shit. I’d healed her.
19Surprise
Our crew was coveredin either black, nasty, foul-smelling Akuma gunk, Molly’s blood, or water from the healing pool. Or like me, an unsettling mixture of all three, but you wouldn’t have known it from the weary smiles on our faces. We’d accomplished the goal we set out to achieve, and though Molly had almost died, I’d saved her, and my katana was one glorious, solid whole.
