“Are you able to sit?” the pretty girl asked. “I don’t want to douse you with water.”
Alec gathered his strength, opened his eyes against the light once more, and then pushed himself up to a sitting position. The girl offered him a glass and the most charming smile. He felt it in his toes. It was almost as magical as her touch had been.
After he downed more than a bit of water, Alec handed the glass back to the girl. “You’re a Seer,” he said, relieved that he sounded more like himself. His head still pulsed like the devil, but his voice sounded better to his own ears.
He noticed instantly, however, that a look of horror splashed across the girl’s face. “Um, you have a concussion.”
Alec blinked at her. “I beg your pardon?”
“Well, um, since you’re awake—” she edged toward the threshold. “I should really find Doctor Clarke.”
“Wait!” Alec shook his head, which was the wrong thing to do. Damn it all. Now the walls were spinning, and he hadn’t meant to send her scrambling from the room. “I-I don’t know your name.”
A slight pinkish hue stained her cheeks. “I’m Poppy Elstone.”
So, one of Daniel’s relations. “Poppy,” he echoed. It suited her. Pretty and mysterious all at once.
“And you’re Captain Galbraith,” she told him.
“I am,” he agreed with a smile. “How did you know?”
“Daniel told us who you are.” She stepped closer to him which felt like quite the victory, all things considered.
His friend must have survived the ambush if he’d revealed Alec’s identity to... “You’re his cousin?”
She agreed with a nod.
“Is he whole and hale?”
“Broken leg,” she said. “But awake.”
A broken leg. It could have been so much worse. “We both owe you our lives.”
She glanced toward the threshold and nibbled on her bottom lip. Then she heaved a sigh and quickly returned to Alec’s bedside. “Do you remember what happened last night?”
He would not soon forget it. “In great detail,” he told her and watched worry settle upon her pretty face once more. “What is it, Miss Elstone? You look concerned.”
“You remember in great detail?”
“I remember a blue light. A protection spell, I’d wager,” he said, watching her hazel eyes widen in surprise. He would have bet his own horse that she was the one who’d come to their rescue the night before. Her magical touch that had sent warmth coursing through him had convinced him of the fact. But perhaps another witch in the family was responsible for saving them from the pack of hell hounds? “Was it you?”
“A protection spell?” she echoed, and then the truth hit Alec.
He knewshewas magical, but she had no way of knowing that his lineage was magical as well. It wasn’t something one went around talking about, and he had no doubt that she hadnotfelt a magical sensation when she’d touched him. Even so, he could put her at ease about her secret.
“My family are Prometheans,” he admitted, even if they’d never claim him and even if he was loathe to do the same in return. It was the truth and she had nothing to fear from him.
She stared at him as though he was speaking Greek, which...Well, he sort of was. At least, Prometheus was Greek. Still, one would think a Seer would be familiar with all of the other branches of magic. One would think a Seer would have the capability of knowing everything if they were of a mind.
“Fire witches and warlocks,” he clarified. “Prometheans.”
“Please.” Poppy Elstone placed her finger over her lips and then shook her head. “Someone will hear you.”
Someone?
“Ah,” came an aged but jovial voice from the threshold. “My patient has awoken.”
An older fellow with a shock of white hair crossed the floor, carrying a black doctor’s bag in hand. He stopped at the edge of Alec’s bed.
