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Chapter Eight

I tore the door open onto a roo ies slapped ht, his expression registering surprise and confusion To my left stood a woman in the corner of le, but ran through the rooain

I sla as my bedroom, which I suppose isn&039;t all that unusual The air was hot, hu, its glass door broken into jagged teeth The floor was covered in id, motionless bodies lay on the floor

My instincts screa, and just before I stepped into the pool of bloodstained water, I threw myself into a jump My shins hit heavily on the counter of the sink and I started to fall I grabbed on to the faucet and hauled myself up My shins hurt like hell, but I&039;d kept ht up toon The two people on the floor weren&039;t ony

Sparks leapt up in the back corner of the rooht fixture had broken loose fro to lie in the thin sheet of scarlet liquid on the floor

Like I said, I don&039;t get along with technology when I&039; to use it But when I actually want to bust it up, I&039;ht fixture, snarled incoherently, and willed raer over the electric h the air, and the live wires exploded into wild blue arcs of electricity for hts went out

In the whole da

Whoops

I heard a pair of gasps from whoever was on the floor, presuot out ?" Bobby&039;s voice sounded suspicious Stars, what a dolt "Hey, prick, what do you think you&039;re doing?"

"Where are the daht flicked on in the dressing roo a pocket flashlight on her key chain "What&039;s going on?"

"Call nine-one-one," I snapped "Hurry, there&039;s bleeding"

"You need a light," Joan said

"Got one" I willed energy through the silver pentacle It flickered and began to brighten with a steady blue glow thatall the ice you can find with you when you come back"

Joan vanished from the door She snarled, "Get out of the way, you blockhead," and her footsteps retreated back down the hall I got off the sink, splashed into the water, and knelt beside the downed people

Jake, naked froh voice "Ow"

"Are you all right?" I asked

He sat up, wobbling a little "Never mind Giselle, she must have slipped in the shower I came in to help her"

I turnedand a little scrawny forhair I rolled her onto her back She had a cut running the length of her neck, curving from the base of her ear to above her collarbone Blood shone on her skin, her lassy

"Crap," I said I seized a towel froirl&039;s wound "Jake, I need you"

He looked up a little blearily "Is she dead?"

"She will be if you don&039;t help Hold this down hard Keep pressure on the wound"

"Okay" He didn&039;t look steady, but he clenched his jaw and did as I instructed While I elevated her feet with a rolled towel, Jake said, "I can&039;t feel a pulse She isn&039;t breathing"

"Dairl&039;s head back and made sure her mouth was clear I sealed my mouth to hers and blew in hard Then I drew back and put the heels of my hands near her sternum I wasn&039;t sure how hard to push The practice duuessed and hoped I got it right Five pushes, then another breath Five ht fro shadows lurch and shift

For the record, CPR is hard to do for very long Itoo dizzy to see when Jake told me to switch off with hi steel bowl of shaved ice, and I had her fold it into another tohich I then pressed down over the wound

"What are you doing?" Joan asked

"She&039;s cut bad If we get her heart started, she&039;ll bleed out," I panted "The cold willIt ht buy her so"

I leaned down to peer at her face The skin on the left side of her features and on her throat was covered in blotches of dark, angry red "Look Burns"

"From the electricity?" Joan asked

"Her face wasn&039;t in the water," I said I squinted between the girl and the shower "The water," I said "It turned hot on her She got scalded and fell right through the dalass"

Joan flinched as if she&039;d been stabbed with a knife, and her face turned grey "Oh, my God This is my fault I hooked up the water heaterroom "This whole shoot is jinxed We&039;re screwed"

Joan was holding herself steady, but tears fell froirl I kept pressure on the injury "I don&039;t think this was your fault I want you to get out front and show the paramedics in when they arrive"

Her face still ashen, she rose and took off without looking back Jake kept up theand holding the towel and ice against the wound when the parahts and rolling a wheeled stretcher between theirl and got out of their way, taking a seat on the corner of a counter that ran along a wall of ht I felt her breathe," he panted, his tone subdued We watched the paramedics work "God, this is really terrible What are the odds of all that happening? You know?"

I frowned and closedmy senses into the roo cloud of destructive ic had dissipated Barely a trace remained With the crisis over and no action to occupyand I saw a few stars in the corners of e of panic sentI bowedfor it to pass The parahts, so I put ht die out

"You all right?" Jake asked

"Will be in a minute I hope she&039;ll be okay"

Jake nodded, frowning "Maybe Bobby&039;s right"

"About a jinx?"

"Maybe" He studied uarded "How did you know?"

"Knohat?"

"That ere in trouble I ht you were in the studio I ran in a couple of seconds after I heard her fall, and I was only a few feet away You h the door a couple of seconds after I did How did you know?"

"Just lucky We finished the ca"

"What was that light you had?"

I shrugged "Present fro the kids have Light up jewelry for dance clubs and keggers"

"They call theht"

Jake watched me for aparanoid, I think"

"Been there No probleht I was a dead man in there Thank you"

It see as low-key as possible Soy around No sense in advertising my identity as a wizard of the White Council "I didn&039;t do much but run in," I said "We&039;re just lucky the poent out"

"Yeah"

The paramedics stood up, loaded Giselle onto the stretcher, and picked it up Jake and I both ca be okay?" he asked

The paramedics didn&039;t slon, but one of theot a chance" The man nodded to me "Without the ice she wouldn&039;t have had that"

Jake frowned and chewed on his lip, clearly upset "Take care of her"

The para out with quick, steady steps "Sir, you&039;d better co with us to the hospital so that the doctors can check you out"

"I feel fine," Jake said

The paramedics went around the corner, but the second one called back, "Electricity can do soht not feel Come on"

But Jake stayed where he was The para room in darkness for a ht "Guffie, get your Bowflexed ass into that ambulance"

He looked up at his reflection in theup every which way "Though I apparently see the same stylist as Einstein, the Bride of Frankenstein, and Don King, I feel fine Don&039;t worry about ht you&039;d say that," she said "Fine, I&039;ll drive you there myself Everyone else needs to leave until I canto kill anyone Bobby and Eht?"

"Why?" I asked

"To start shooting"

"Shooting," Jake blurted "After that?"

She grio on Everyone out so I can lock up Guffie, get inus at the hospital"

"Okay," Jake said He didn&039;t sound like he"What about Bobby and Emma? They have a car?"

"Don&039;t think so"

Jake picked up his sports bag, dug in it, and tossed me a set of keys "Here Give those to Eht the "Gotcha"