time to properly wake the guardian magic in them.”
“You’re not making any sense. I want you to leave.” Hard to sound forceful when you’re dizzy in bed, soaking the sheets, and pretty sure you smell like a locker room full of hockey players just coming off the ice and a hard practice.
“I’ll go but think upon my words. When the time comes, we can do this the easy way, or the hard.” Darryl left, and I heaved out a breath.
What the hell was that about? And could it be true? Had Kane died in the crash?
I lay there, shell shocked and sweaty, which was how Winnie found me.
“Mom. You’re awake!” She threw herself at me for a hug. It took me a second to squeeze her back. “Figures you’d regain consciousness when I go for a pee.”
“I thought peeing was an old lady thing,” was my weak croak.
Winnie pulled away and offered a wan smile. “You’re not old. How do you feel?”
I felt…remarkably better than expected. “I’m okay. I think. What happened? How long was I out?” I didn’t ask the most burning question yet: Where was Kane?
“You’ve been unconscious since New Year’s Day. The accident happened after midnight sometime.”
“How long have I been unconscious?” I expected to hear hours, maybe days.
“Almost a month.”
My jaw hit the floor, crawled away, and left me unable to speak.
Winnie hastened to explain. “You were hurt really bad when the car hit that tree.”
“Because of the moose. It came out of nowhere,” I whispered. “It was huge.”
“So was the tree.” Winnie’s laughter was shrill. “It didn’t help that, for some reason, the air bags didn’t deploy and your seatbelt snapped. You shot out the windshield and hit the ground over twenty feet away.”
I had a vague recollection of Kane yelling and flinging out his hand. Saving me?
“How badly was I hurt?”
Winnie glanced away. “Bad. The doctors didn’t think you’d survive.”
I clutched at the sheet and shifted. Where was the pain? Shouldn’t there be pain? “What kind of injuries did I have?” Obviously not that severe given I’d healed in a month.
“So this is the weird thing. You had just about every bone broken. You were in a cast, Mom. Neck to toe. They said you’d never walk again your spine was so messed up.”
“Impossible.” I glanced down at my body hidden by the bedding. I wiggled my feet and legs. Saw them moving. “I feel fine.” A bit sluggish and lightheaded, but otherwise fine.
“No kidding, impossible. The doctors are calling you a medical miracle.”
It was then I understood what had happened. “You used a magical sigil to heal me.”
“Not me. And not for lack of trying. You’d think Grandma’s book of spells would have something about healing. Even my online sources didn’t have anything that could do more than ease a fever or help hair grow.”
“The healing sigil is easy. It looks like this.” I went to trace it on the sheet covering my lap, only to pause. My finger hovered as the shaped dangled out of my reach. “I can’t remember,” I muttered.
“Are you saying you healed yourself?” Winnie squeaked. “Since when can you do magic? I thought you didn’t believe.”
“Hard to ignore it when it tries to kill you.”
Rather than look shocked, Winnie nodded. “I heard about some of the attempts, but Jace says most of them stopped once you fully activated the house defenses.”
“Exactly how much does Jace know?” And why hadn’t he told me? He’d certainly done his damnedest to convince me to leave. Why not give me the real reason why?
“He knows more than he’s telling, that’s for sure.” Winnie grimaced. “And trust me, I’ve been trying to loosen his tongue.” I really didn’t want to know how she attempted that.
“You’re still together?” I asked.
“And going strong. What can I say? I like my men mature.”
“Be careful.” I couldn’t help the mommy moment.
“I will, Mom. I’m not expecting marriage and kids, if that’s what you’re worrying about. It’s more that he’s hot, excellent in bed, plus he knows stuff about this lake.”
“Good luck getting him to talk. Kane never would.” I said his name and waited. Waited for her to tell me he was in a bed down the hall.
Winnie’s gaze dropped, and she clasped and unclasped her hands. “About Kane.”
My stomach turned into a marble-sized ball. “He’s dead, isn’t he?”
“That’s the belief.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Didn’t they find his body?”
“The car burned.”
“And? Remains don’t evaporate. There would have been bones.”
She shook her head.
“Then he must have been