The Glass Man - Lila Gray Book 1

Chapter Seven

Blood pooled in the gravel beneath Liam's motionless body. I ripped his shirt open, pressed one hand flat against his mid-section where his heart stumbled within, and the other against his clammy forehead. My eyes closed, and the wind picked up again. I forced all thought and emotion deeper into me as I put out a call upon the breath of the earth.

Moments later, the silence shattered beneath the shrieking of thousands of birds. The whap-whapping of their wings drummed against the air above like an angelic drum chorus. A symphony of crickets began a crescendo, yips and howls bellowed from the forest all around, and the screeching of an owl came last. I'd never had so many answered my plea.

The atmosphere quivered as I soaked up energy from everything that offered it. Every bird, every furred creature that wandered the woods, every blade of grass, every insect. The heartbeat of the earth reached up through my body and joined with mine as I opened my mind to the fallen man.

I searched for his wound with my metaphysical hands. His mind's nebula wasn't simple, but vast and complex, the connection of his soul and body stronger than any I'd ever seen. A universe of neurons firing with rich emotion shook me at my core. The bullet had nicked his gallbladder and ripped open his liver.

Imagining his body healed and his heart beating strongly, I forced my will down my arms and into the fading body in my grasp. A gurgling scream burst from Liam's lips. His spine bowed as my energy wrapped itself around his wound and knitted his flesh back together. The wind fell silent as the well of energy emptied. Slowly, the ones who'd answered my call faded into the forest again.

Ruby patches of blood remained on Liam's chest, but the bullet hole had disappeared, and the light of his inner stars brightened. By my watch, it had taken more than five minutes, even though it seemed like it happened in a blink. He'd be sore, and he'd be terrified of me, but he'd live. So why did my heart still ache?

I fell back on the gravel, my energy spent, hot tears trailing down my face.

I must have slept for a while, because the sun had risen farther into the pale blue sky when I opened my eyes again. Where were the other guys? They must have heard the gunshots and my yelling. Maybe Clancy had killed them first? Please, no. Not Garret. He was just a boy.

I twisted to look for Clancy, and all of the air went out of me in a gush. He was still slumped over his earthen prison a few yards away.

I turned over and shook Liam awake.

He moaned, his eyes crimping shut.

"You're okay now," I said, tugging him into a sitting position. "We need to go into the house. Come on, help me." I pulled his right arm across my shoulders and heaved him up. If not for my greater-than-average strength, I never would have managed it. We stumbled through the bent gate and up the front steps to the house. I laid him out on the sofa, covered him in a gold afghan, and kissed him on the forehead. "You should have listened to me, you stubborn ass. Sleep now."

*****

I wiped the steam from the mirror with a corner of a ratty towel. Usually, I bathed in rivers, but once in a while I'd break into a house in an area that had power to have a quick shower with real soap, but it had been months. I'd forgotten how good it felt to be clean.

Standing in front of the mirror, I pulled my fingers through the sopping mess of hair. The sight of my reflection startled me. Even through my restored illusion, exhaustion decorated my skin with purple bruises beneath my tired, bloodshot eyes. Nice. I looked like the walking dead. At least my outside matched my inside. I closed my eyes and grabbed onto the sides of the sink, grinding my teeth.