not even a bed.”
All three were slightly bruised and a little rough around the edges, but they were whole and that was all that mattered. “Thank the gods. And thank you for finding us.”
“We didn’t,” Grace said. “It was Autumn.”
Gigi glanced around. “Where is she?”
“Inside still.” Grace kneeled beside Gigi and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Autumn’s in pretty bad shape, but I think she’ll be okay once she gets medical attention.”
“What happened?” Gigi asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.
Joy took a step forward, and that’s when Gigi realized there was blood all over her jeans. “She’s been shot twice. Once in the shoulder, the other her thigh. Her father did it because she let us in to get you out.”
Gigi glanced between Sebastian and the house, torn about what to do. She desperately wanted to be in both places at once. “Whose watching over her?” she asked.
“Her girlfriend,” Joy said.
“Go. I’ll be fine,” Sebastian said, staring up at Gigi. He gave her a weak smile as he added, “The ambulance is coming, and the coven is here to take care of me.”
She gave him another quick kiss, and then took off into the house.
Gigi found the young woman who’d dropped the fork she’d ended up using on Hope kneeling over Autumn in the foyer. Autumn was pale as a ghost, shivering, and covered in blood, but it looked like the bleeding was under control. Gigi dropped to her knees on the other side of her half sister, grabbed her free hand, and held it in both of hers. “You’re going to be okay, you know that, right?”
Autumn nodded. “That’s what Zoe keeps telling me.” She cut her gaze to the younger woman, who had a calm expression on her face and an easy smile for Autumn.
“It’s the truth,” Zoe said. “I’m really good at what I do.”
“She’s a paramedic. Deals with crazier shit than this all the time,” Autumn said in a halting voice.
“Just relax, baby. That’s the shock that’s making you stutter like that.” She glanced at the door and tightened her grip on Autumn’s hand.
“I can help,” Gigi said. “It’s magic. Are you okay with that?”
Autumn looked at Zoe for an answer.
“What kind of magic?” Zoe asked.
“Healing energy.”
Zoe’s eyes widened. “Hell yes. I’ve never seen it in action before.”
Gigi glanced at Autumn. “Are you okay with this?”
She nodded and closed her eyes, still shivering.
“Stay calm, pour your love into the energy,” Gigi told herself. She thought of soothing things, sunshine and joy and blue skies and puppies and rainbows as she focused on sending positive light into Autumn.
When she finally released the magic, she glanced down at her half sister and was pleased to see that her coloring was better and she’d stopped shivering.
Thank you, Zoe mouthed before she bent down to whisper something in Autumn’s ear.
Gigi stood just as the paramedics arrived and started loading Autumn onto a stretcher. Certain that she was in good hands, she made her way back outside, intending to go to the hospital with Sebastian. But instead, she found herself face-to-face with a very unhappy detective.
“Ms. Martin, we’re going to need to have a word with you,” the woman said.
“Yes. Of course.” She stared longingly at the ambulance they’d just loaded Sebastian into and then followed the detective inside the house and showed her the room where she’d been held captive.
Hours later, Gigi finally made it to the hospital. She stood in the doorway of Sebastian’s room while she waited for the doctor to finish reading his charts.
When Sebastian’s heartrate spiked, the doctor turned, spotted her, and started to chuckle. “Looks like someone is feeling better already.” She gestured for Gigi to enter and then said, “I’ll be back before my shift’s over to check on you again, but it looks like you’re going to be fine. Thanks to your girlfriend here, you’re probably looking at an accelerated recovery rate. Instead of a few months, it’ll probably be more like a few weeks.”
“Thanks, doc,” Sebastian said, smiling at Gigi.
“I’m going to stay after visiting hours,” Gigi told the doctor.
She laughed. “Since it’s already after hours, I assumed that was the case. Just let him get some rest and it’ll be fine.”
Gigi nodded her thanks and made her way over to Sebastian. She clasped his hand in hers and asked, “How are you?”
“Better now that you’re here.” He scooted over and patted the bed. “Sit here. I want to feel you next to me.”
“Are you sure I won’t hurt you?”
He