Dark One- The Khiara Banning Series Book 1

Twenty seven

 _ SORRY GUYS!!! SCHOOL HAS BEEN KILLER STRESSFUL <3 HERE YOU GO _

"My word," breathes Grandma Coal as she takes in the state of Cara's wrist, my chin, and the blood all over Vicky. Sam is holding fast to Cara's hand, refusing to let go.

She exhales a sigh, and rolls her eyes at us, a forced smirk on her weathered face. "You'd better come in, then" she says, moving out of the doorway. "You'll do some better explaining if you're not cold."

She ushers us in, one after the other, giving Vicky an especially quizzical look.

"And who is this?" she asks, after we're all inside, awkwardly standing by the front door.

"Verchiel," says Vicky. "Angel of Affection, though Fallen. I'm called Vicky though, by friends. You can call me whatever you like. I haven't met a member of the Spirit Clann in a very long time. And this is Sam. He's a friend of my family."

Grandma Coal blinks for a second or two and then nods her head. "Right then, nice to meet you two."

"Grandma Coal, I'm sorry we didn't call you before coming. I normally would have, but the situation is...well..." Cara struggles to find the right words, and Sam blinks at her wordlessly, trying to figure out exactly what's going on before letting go of her hand and quickly grabbing mine.

The old woman smiles kindly and wraps her arms around her granddaughter. "Come now, child. You act like I'm upset. What would your father think?"

"He'd probably have some choice words," says Cara wistfully. "And then he'd make some rhubarb pie, even though it's winter and he could never explain to Mom where he'd bought it."

"I have some," says Grandma Coal. "But first, Vicky, the shower is on the top floor. I assume you can find your way there. I need to heal these two."

"Yeah," Vicky shrugs and heads off in the vague direction of the bathroom.

"Okay," says Grandma Cole, looking between Cara and myself. "Cara, give me your arm."

Cara complies, but frowns. "Will it still be broken? I tried to heal it, but I'm kind of bad at this whole healing thing since it's not my element."

"It won't be broken. But it will be sprained pretty badly, I'm afraid."

She closes her eyes and inhales a deep breath of air. Her black hair, which is grey at the temples, begins to take on a strange vibrant sheen, almost as if it's actually shining, and then as she blows the air out it turns completely white as her magic flows into Cara's arm, stitching together what's been broken.

"Wow," whispers Sam.

Cara's veins seem to turn black while everything heals until the magic flows back into her grandmother, turning her hair black once again, and Cara's veins return to their normal light blue and green. Her wrist is still swollen, but the bone isn't sticking out at that disgusting angle anymore.

"Righty then," says Grandma Coal, turning to me once Cara's sighed from the pain being lifted, and looks visibly relieved. "I think I can take care of the nasty scrape in a jiffy."

She puts her warm hands on my chin and takes a big breath, and then does the same thing for me as she did for her granddaughter. This wonderful tickling sensation flows through me, and I realize with a start that it's her magic. It feels almost playful.

"Holy crap," I say when she's finished. "That was amazing."

"I tend to be amazing," she replies. "Now, let's see about getting you that rhubarb pie while you wait for your turns in the shower. And," she turns to little Sam, "I think you'd like some hot chocolate, hmm?"