Fall into Fire (Shamans of the Divide, Book 2)

Chapter Twenty-two

Billie was alive, but just barely.

Leonard fell to his knees by her head and gently rolled her over and I backed up. She looked similar to Adoette, with the gash marks across her chest and the bloody face and neck. But Billie was gurgling, trying to talk even though her eyes were closed.

"Call an ambulance," Silas called from the living room and I pulled my phone from my back pocket. Renn was down by Adoette and I saw him shake his head to Skye. Asha was still screaming and rocking back and forth. It took both Renn and Skye to pull her up and out of the house.

I tried to talk to the dispatch above the chaos and the crying.

"What's your emergency?" The woman on the other end asked.

"There's been a..." I faltered. What did I say? "An animal attack. Two people have been hurt and I think one might be..."

I couldn't finish.

The dispatcher took the information and kept me on the line until I heard the far whine of an ambulance in the distance. The medical teams rushed in and loaded both Adoette and Billie onto gurneys. I noticed the bodies of the two creatures were gone, leaving just their tell-tale destruction all over the house. Claw marks all over the furniture and walls. Splintered furniture was everywhere. And blood. There was so much blood all over the house, I didn't know where to begin.

Coyote had driven Silas and Leonard to the hospital a couple towns over—the only one with a trauma center for Billie. Cody had gone home and I think Renn and Skye had driven over in Coyote's truck.

I'm sure Adoette's body went, too—it would take a doctor to declare her officially dead. I'm not sure who had given Asha a ride.

Standing in the Whalen's home, I was numb.

Had I somehow caused all of this? Was I some crazy disturbance to the balance that the council had kept for thousands of years?

I stayed close by as the county's sheriff and a team of deputies came in to ask questions and take pictures.

The sheriff was a paunchy, older man with a big bushy mustache and a close, military haircut. Earlier in the summer, I'd heard Billie talk about how long they'd known Sheriff Baines—a couple decades at least. Did he know what they did? Would he try asking me a million questions I couldn't answer?

The sun was setting when the last of the deputies pulled down the police tape and gathered their gear up.

Sheriff Baines handed me his business card.

"I'm headed over to the hospital now," he said. He was a kind man, though he looked tired and worn down by the looks of the bags under his eyes. "I'm going to talk to Leonard and get some more information from him, but if you remember anything else, or if you see something, don't hesitate to call my cell phone."

"Yes, sir," I said and nodded.

With a soft click, the door shut behind the last deputy and I was left alone in the Whalen's house. I looked around at the destruction and tried to catch my breath. The tears started burning the edges of my eyes and without thinking, I turned on the hot water and let it run as I set out looking for every cleaning agent Billie might keep in the house.

Within ten minutes, I had buckets, bleach, rubber gloves, and all sorts of cleaning supplies at the ready. I had nothing else to do with my time and who else would do this for Billie? Whenever Leonard came back, the last thing he'd be able to worry about was removing Adoette's blood from the walls.