Winter Fire (The Witchling #3)(69)

“Stop it. Both of you,” Noah snapped and rose. “Dawn is just … upset. She’s not going to hurt anyone.” He glanced at Morgan. “Your leg was an accident.”

“Ask Jason or Troy what Dawn wants with us if you don’t believe us,” Summer replied. “They were both in the forest when Alexa taser-d Morgan.”

Noah paced.

“Ice,” Morgan reminded him.

“Don’t move. Either of you.” He strode towards the door and left.

After a moment, Morgan glanced at Summer. “Now would be a good time for you to run.”

“Probably,” Summer said, smiling. “But I’m not leaving you here.”

“I’d leave you.”

Summer laughed.

“Okay, so I wouldn’t,” Morgan said with a sigh.

“No, you wouldn’t. Just like you didn’t burn down the tree and whatever happened with Beck, it wasn’t because of you,” Summer said firmly.

“You’re right about everything but Beck,” Morgan replied. She’d never burn down another tree, now that she knew they had their own spirits. The idea alone hurt her to think about.

“I see how good you are, Morgan. It’s one of my gifts. I see the good in Decker, who’s possessed by Darkness,” Summer said. “I see it in you, too.”

Morgan’s throat grew tight. “You’re the only one,” she whispered.

Noah entered the room with a block of ice. He rustled through a backpack and pulled out a t-shirt. He wrapped the ice in it then approached Morgan and knelt beside her again.

“This is heavy. You might want to hold it,” he said. He rested it on her shin, and she jerked.

Noah’s eyes flew up to hers. In that moment, Morgan sensed something. Pain. Not physical, but mental pain. Something was wrong, and she didn’t know what. He was beyond troubled. He was distressed.

A curse in the hallway outside the door made him twist. Morgan took the ice before he lost focus on her. Noah stood, and she rested the cold t-shirt gingerly on her calf.

“We lost her,” the third dark teen, Jason, said. He flung his coat in frustration.

“Lost her?” Noah asked. “Biji?”

“She’s fast, man. You’ve never seen her run track,” the other Dark boy said. “She won’t get far. There’s a storm coming tonight.”

“We need to find her,” Noah said. “She’ll freeze to death otherwise.”

The boy shrugged. Morgan felt Noah’s pain and anger increase. She glanced at Summer, who was also studying Dawn’s brother.

“That’s what you get if you’re stupid enough to run out into a storm,” Jason said.

“She doesn’t even have a coat,” Summer said quietly.

Noah glanced at her. Morgan saw his indecision. Summer wanted him to go after her. Morgan wasn’t so sure. Was it really worse to be out there than here with Dawn? Summer’s words returned to her. She saw good in people who seemed beyond redemption.

“No gloves or boots, either,” Morgan added.

“Her problem, not ours,” Jason said and sat beside the fire. “Dawn won’t care. She wanted these two.”

“Biji was just caught in the crossfire,” Summer said.

Morgan saw Noah’s resolution.

“I’m going to find her,” he said and strode towards the door.

“Whatever. Just be back before the storm. Your sister is supposed to be here soon, too,” Jason said, unconcerned.

Noah left, tugging his coat on as he did. The two Dark teens waited until he was gone before they glanced at each other.

“I’m guessing he doesn’t know that Dawn doesn’t intend to let Morgan and me go,” Summer said.

“Shut up,” Jason said quietly. “We don’t know what her plans are for you.” He, too, seemed suddenly uncomfortable.

“Noah thinks Biji’s hot. There’s no way he’ll find her, if Jason couldn’t,” the other boy said. “He’ll be back in an hour or so. She might’ve fallen into the lake.”

Summer grew sad. Morgan pitied her. She knew her fate, but the idea of Biji in pain somewhere made Morgan’s fire agitated. Her brow was clammy, her body starting to shake. The ice wasn’t doing much more than annoy her. If she fell into shock, there was nothing she could do to help Summer.

Please, Summer, just run. I can’t be responsible for hurting you, too.





Chapter Eighteen


Beck awoke with a start, unaccustomed to nightmares. He’d dreamt of the Darkness consuming him and then a fire that almost burned him to the core. Someone else was in his dream. Tyron-the-Bright, holding out a soul stone and uttering words Beck hadn’t been able to make out.

Panting, he glanced around his room at his parent’s cabin. It was nighttime, though the hearth in his room was lit. He was surprised to see he wasn’t alone.

“Please tell me you haven’t been sitting there watching me sleep or something weird,” he said to his brother.

Decker just glared at him from his spot standing by the fire with his arms crossed.

“How are you feeling?” his mother asked from the seat beside him.

“Hot,” Beck replied. He glanced down to make sure he was wearing clothes then tossed off the covers. “I feel like I got hit by a snow plough then run over by a bonfire.”