Chapter 12

Ava tried to see out the window. How long did it take for help to arrive? It felt like hours since she’d dragged herself through that window. The flames were slowly eating their way along the inside of the bus. The seats up top had caught fire, and she knew it would only be a matter of moments before the entire bus was engulfed. She leaned down and looked out the window again and then jerked back from it. The pretty man was looking back at her. There was no time for questions and answers right now. “I can’t get out.”

He looked at her for longer than she would have preferred. “Use your wings.” She saw his mouth move but heard his voice inside her head. “I can’t interfere in Interealm events unless magic was used.”

Are you serious? If she spoke out loud, she sucked in smoke.

“Use your wings. They won’t catch fire.”

When she got out of here, and she would, she was going to have to have a chat with him about how useless her wings were.

“Avalie.” His tone was firmer. “Focus on the child. Focus on doing anything to get her to safety. Don’t think about the flames. Don’t think about anything beyond this moment. Stand up and use your wings.”

Some part of her responded to his tone, and she nodded. Now or never. She got to her feet and hugged the girl close. Closing her eyes for a moment, she thought of walking off this bus and taking the girl to get her medical help. Opening her eyes, she stiffened her spine and felt her wings wrap around her. It had to be the smoke and reflection of the flames, but her wings weren’t like they normally were. They looked thick and dark in color, red but almost black at the same time. “Okay, Isabel, let’s get out of here.” She ducked her head down so the child’s head was covered by her own and walked toward the front of the bus. She could hear the fire next to her head and felt the air changing around her, but she kept moving, one foot in front of the other, until she reached the door. Jamming her shoulder into the glass, she leaned and made it big enough that they could both go out of it.

When she sucked clean air into her lungs, she gasped and looked behind them. They were out of the bus. She hurried until they were a far enough distance away and then dropped to her knees and looked at the girl. She wasn’t burned at all.

“There they are.” She heard someone call out.

Getting to her knees, she looked around for the pretty man. He stood thirty feet away from them in the shadow of a tree. He nodded to her and then disappeared.

“What…”

“Are you okay?”

She turned to see a firefighter running toward her. “The girl is hurt.” She set Isabel on the ground.

He dropped down when he reached them and looked at Isabel. “Come on. It’s not safe to stay this close.” He scooped her up into his arms.

When Ava stood up, she looked to see firefighters around the bus. Had they seen the man? She lifted her shoulders and checked that her wings weren’t there now. Had they seen her? She watched them as she climbed the ditch. None of them were looking at her with a ‘what the hell’ expression, so she supposed no one had seen.

When she reached the top, the young girl who had stayed with Isabel rushed toward her. She was holding Ava’s jacket and phone. She held them out to her.

“Thank you.”

Ava took the jacket and nodded. “Is everyone okay?”

“Thanks to you.” She smiled, a tear running down her smoke-stained face.

“Go back over there with the others where it’s safe.” Ava shoved her arms in her jacket and headed toward her bike.

“Miss?”

She turned to see one of the firefighters walking toward her.

“The driver?”

Ava shook her head. “I didn’t have time to get him out. I think he had a heart attack or something.”

“We’ll get a statement from you shortly.” He turned back around and started talking into the radio he carried.

Ava went over and picked up her helmet. She went to her bike and then stopped to look around. The bus was still on fire. The kids were all safe. She looked down into the trees on the other side of the ditch. There was no sign of him. Jamming the helmet on, she got on her bike and kicked the stand back. She wasn’t needed here. The kids knew the answers. Starting the bike, she revved it and then nodded to the girl, who turned to look at her. Turning it, she watched an ambulance pull away and knew Isabel was in good hands.

She didn’t glance back as she drove away. Looking back didn’t change what had happened. As soon as she was far enough away, she’d pull over and try to figure out who that man was and how she had heard him in her head. Even Capri couldn’t do that to her. The next time she saw him, and she somehow knew there would be a next time, she was getting some answers.