GAME ON - GoM 2

3

"Tom! NO!"

Alex jolted up and looked around, panting, not really seeing what was around her. Then she registered that Led Zeppelin's volume went down and she felt a firm hand on her shoulder.

"Easy, Princess. It's okay."

She realized she was in the Challenger's passenger seat. At her left, Aidan drove down the road by the lake toward Main Street. Looking out through the windshield, she spotted the Hilux a few yards ahead.

"Where's Tom? Where's Claire?" she asked with a hoarse thread of voice.

"Sulky was knocked out and Padre Thames is taking him to your place in your truck. Claire and Mark are taking Claire's boyfriend to the hospital."

"What!? What happened?"

"You tell me, Princess. All I know is that the Keepers are dust in the wind. What the hell did you do? What kinda spell was that?"

"I channeled. What happened to Ollie? Why are they taking him to the hospital? He okay?"

She was still talking when Aidan swerved to the right and made the Challenger squeal to a rough stop on the shoulder of the road.

"You WHAT!?"

Alex held his eyes without a blink and replied with a flat tone. "I channeled. Are you taking me home or what."

Aidan scowled at her, his lips moving without a sound. To Alex's surprise, his face softened and he rested a hand on her cheek, shaking his head slowly.

"Oh, no, Princess," he muttered. "Not you..."

His concern was so honest that Alex put her worries aside and took his hand, forcing a tight smile.

"It's okay, Aidan-Knight," she said gently. "Trust me: it's still me and I'm fine."

Aidan freed his hand to gear in, snorting as he re-entered the road. "No, it's not okay! Don't you get it? Whose idea was this? Was it Thames who talked you into this shit? Well, that's it! You ain't doing it no more! Never! Jesus! What the hell were you thinking?"

Alex didn't interrupt Aidan's outraged scold. There was no grays with him, only black and white. She could punch her lights out for yelling at her like that. Or she could let his true intention reach her.

"Oh, my, you're parenting me," she said, soft and mocking. "Are you gonna ground me, too?"

Aiden glowered at her and cursed under his breath. Because she knew her smile would defuse him in a blink. And that was exactly why her lips were curled up like that.

"Let me check on my friends and I'll tell you everything," she said. "Turn right."

Aidan grunted again while she produced her phone to call Claire.

"We're at the ER and Dr. Jackson's stitching Ollie's side," the girl said. "We're going with the hunting accident. Linda's on the way. As soon as she gets here, I'm leaving Ollie to his mom and going back home with Mark."

"Okay. See you there."

The next call was to Graham. His report on Bass and the others was like Claire's: they were bruised and shaken, but sort of fine. They'd tripped down the same slope, trying to help Ollie-such a clumsy bunch, all of them.

She disconnected as Aidan pulled over outside her house behind the Hilux. Thames helped Tom to step out of the truck and headed for the front door. Tom kept a hand to his head, struggling to keep his balance.

Alex jumped out of the Challenger, calling out, "Tom!"

He stopped at her voice and managed to turn his head toward her about two inches. Alex was already by his side. He rested his arm around her shoulders, stepping away from Thames to let her help him into the house. She noticed the way he breathed through clenched teeth, controlling the pain, and took him straight to her room.

"Here," she said, helping him lie down on bed. "What d'you need? D'you have anything worse than bruises?"

He shook his head, studying her with concerned eyes. She kissed his hand and smiled.

"Don't worry about me. Channeling even healed the bruises I got at the construction site."

"You sure?" he muttered.

"You bet, Mr. Sutton." She knew that calling him that would give him some peace of mind. "Now you need to..."

She trailed off when Aidan's rough voice filled the house from the living room, as he addressed Thames harshly.

"I better go," she said, leaning in to kiss Tom's forehead. "Aidan's not happy about what I did." She saw Tom raise his eyebrows and scoffed. "Oh, now you like'im, huh."