Power of the Witch

Chapter 6

''You'd better be,'' Rachel said. She held Megs gaze a moment, then said, ''You could have gotten yourself killed, witch - and for absolutely no good reason.'' Meg grimaced. ''I know. I lost it. I'm sorry.'' But she smiled timidly at Rachel afterward. Rachel's team knew how to read her. ''Sorry, too, Boss,'' Ruby said from the front seat. She slanted a glance at Rachel from her mink-coloured eyes. ''I wasn't supposed to leave the car.'' ''But you thought we might need a little help,'' Rachel said. She nodded, meeting Ruby's eyes in the mirror. ''I'm glad you did.'' The faintest flush of pleasure coloured Ruby's cheeks. Galen cleared his throat. ''Um, for the record, I'm sorry, too. I didn't mean to charge in like that in the middle of your operation.'' Rachel looked at him. He was smiling slightly, hesitantly, the way Meg had. A nice smile. The corner of his mouth naturally quirked upward, giving him a hint of mischief in all but the most serious moments. His blue-gold eyes were apologetic but hopeful. ''Yeah, who are you, guy?'' Meg was looking him up and down, her dark lashes twinkling. ''Did Circle Daybreak send you? I thought we were on this mission alone.'' ''You were. I belong to Circle Daybreak, but they didn't send me. I just - well, I was outside the shop, and I couldn't just stand there....'' His voice died. The smile died, too. ''You're really mad, aren't you?'' he said to Rachel. ''Mad?'' She took a slow breath. ''I'm furious.'' He blinked. ''I don't -'' ''You stopped me. I could have killed him!''

His gold-blue eyes opend in shock and something like remembered pain. ''He was killing you.'' ''I know that.'' Rachel snarled. ''It doesn't matter what happens to me. What matters is that now he's free. Don't you understand what he is?'' Megara was looking sober. ''I don't know. But he hit me with something powerful. Pure energy like what I use, but about a hundred times stronger.'' ''He's a dragon.'' Rachel said. She saw Ruby's shoulders stiffen, but Meg just shook her head, bewildered. ''A kind of shapeshifter that hasn't been around for about thirty thousand years.'' ''He can turn into a dragon?'' Rachel didn't smile. ''No, of course not. Don't be silly. I dont know what he can do - but a dragon is what he is. Inside.'' Meg suddenly looked queasy as this hit home. Rachel turned to Gabriel. ''And that's what you let loose on the world. It was the only chance to kill him - nobody will be able to take him by surprise like that again. Which means that everything he does after this is going to be your fault.'' Gabriel shut his eyes, looking dizzy. ''I'm sorry. But when I saw you - I couldn't let you die...'' ''I'm expendable. I don't know who you are, but I'm willing to bet you're expendable. The only one here who isn't expendable is her.'' Rachel jerked a thumb at Rebecka, who lay in a pool of pale silver-blond hair on the seat beside Galen. ''And if you think that dragon isn't going to come back and try to get her again, you're crazy. I'd have died happy knowing that I'd gotten rid of him.'' Gabriel's eyes were open again, and Rachel saw a flicker in them at the 'don't know who you are'. But at the end, he said quietly, ''I'm expendable. And I'm sorry. I didn't think -'' 

''That's right! You didn't! And now the whole world is going to suffer.'' Gabriel shut up and sat back. And Rachel felt odd. She wasn't sorry for slapping him down, she told herself. He deserved it. But his face was so pale now, and his expression was so bleak. As if he'd not only understood everything she'd said but expanded on it in his own mind. And the look of hurt in his eyes was almost insupportable. Good, Rachel told herself. But then she remembered the moment she'd spent inside his mind. It had been a sunlit place, warm and open, without dark corners or shadowed crevasses. Now that would be gone forever. There was going to be a huge black fissure in it, full of horror and shame. A mark he would carry for the rest of his life. Well, welcome to the real world, Rachel thought, and her throat tightened and hurt. She stared out the window angrily. ''See, it's really important that we keep Rebecka safe,'' Megara was saying quietly to Gabriel. He didn't ask why, and Rachel had noticed before that he hadn't asked why Rebecka wasn't expendable. But Meg went on telling him anyway. ''She's a Wild Power. You know about those?'' ''Who doesn't these days?'' He said it almost in a whisper. ''Well, most humans, for one thing. But she's not just a Wild Power, she's the Witch Child. Somebody we witches have been expecting for centuries. The prophecies say she's going to unite the shapeshifters and the witches. She's going to marry the son of the First House of the shapeshifters. And then the two races will be united, and all the shapeshifters will join Circle Daybreak, and we'll be able to hold off the end of the world at the millennium.'' Meg finished out of breath. Then she cocked her dark-blond head.

''You don't seem surprised. Who are you, guy? You didn't really say before.'' ''Me?'' He was still looking into the distance.''I'm nobody, compared to you people.'' Then he gave a little wry smile that didn't reach his eyes. ''I'm expendable.'' Ruby caught Rachel's eye in the rearview mirror, looking concerned. Rachel just shrugged. Sure, Meg was telling this expandable guy a lot. But it didnt matter. He wasn't on the enemy side; and anyway, the enemy knew everything Meg was saying. They had identified Rebecka as the third Wild Power; the dragon proved that. They wouldn't have sent him if they hadn't been sure. But still, it was time to get rid of this interfering boy. They certainly couldn't take him to the safe house where they were taking Rebecka. ''Nobody tailing us?'' Rachel said. Ruby shook her head. ''We lost them all miles ago.'' ''You're sure?'' ''Dead certain.'' ''OK. Take any exit, and we'll drop him off.'' She turned to Gabriel. ''I hope you can find your way home.'' ''I want to go with you.'' ''Sorry. We have important things to do.'' Rachel didn't need to add, And you're not part of them. ''Look.'' Gabriel took a deep breath. His pale face was strained and exhausted, as if he'd somehow lost three days' sleep since he'd gotten into the limo. And there was something close to desperation in his eyes. ''I need to go with you. I need to help, to try and make up for what I did. I need to make it right.''  ''You can't.'' Rachel said it even more brusquely than she meant to. ''You're not trained, and you're not involved in this. You're no good.'' He gave her a look.

It didn't disagree with anything she'd said, but somehow, for just an instant, it made her feel small. His blue-gold eyes were just the opposite of the dragon's opaque ones. Rachel could see for miles in them, endless light-filled fathoms, and it was all despair. A sorrow so great that it shook her. She knew it must be costing him a lot to show her that, to hold himself open and vulnerable. But he kept looking at her steadily. ''You don't understand,'' he said quietly. ''I have to help you. I have to try, at least. I know I'm not in your class as a fighter. But I...'' He hesitated. ''I didnt want to say this-'' At that moment, Rebecka groaned and sat up. Or tried to. She didn't make it all the way. She put a hand to her head and started to fall off the seat. Gabriel steadied her, putting an arm around her to keep her propped up. ''Are you alright?'' Rachel asked. She leaned forward, trying to get a look at the girl's face. Meg was leaning forward, too, her expression eager. ''How're you feeling? You're not really hurt, are you? You just fainted from the shock.'' Rebecka looked arouned the limousine. She seemed utterly confused and disoriented. Rachel was struck again by the girl's unearthly beauty. This close, she looked like a flower, or maybe a girl made from flowers. She had peach-blossom skin and grey-violet coloured eyes. Her hair was like corn silk, fine and shimmering even in this dim light. Her hands were small and graceful, fingers half curled like flower petals. ''It's such an honour to meet you.'' Meg said, and her voice turned formal as she uttered the traditional greeting of the witches. ''Unity, Daughter of Hellewise. I'm Megara Arline.'' She dimpled. ''But it's really ''Arm-of-Lightning''. My family's an old one, almost as old as yours.'' Rebecka stared at her. Then she stared at the back of Ruby's black-coloured head. Then her eyes slid to Rachel. Then she sucked in a deep breath and started screaming.