Healing Hands (The Queen of the Night series Book 2) by Laura Emmons Page B

Pre-Calculus. He told me he’d wait for me by the flag post after seventh period and he’d drive me home. I had no idea which bus to take or where to get it. In Santa Monica we all rode the Blue Bus. As students we received free passes, but we used the same mass transit system as everyone else in the city. Riding a school bus was going to be a transition.
    ***
    I left AP Physics and went straight out the main doors. When the doors opened, I was carried along in a current of students all crisscrossing each other at top speed trying to get on their particular buses. Craning my neck to look over the sea of heads for the flagpole, it was a surprise when Evan came up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder.
    “Hey,” I said, relieved.
    “Hi. You ready to go?”
    “How’d you find me so fast in this crowd?”
    “I scanned for your aura. It was easy.”
    I looked at him, dumbfounded.
    He shrugged and said, “Go ahead, take a look around, you’ll see what I mean.”
    I opened my Healer vision and did as he’d suggested. There were clusters of gold here and there; it seemed kids from the clan tended to hang out together, or perhaps they all lived in the same neighborhoods since almost everyone was sorted into their buses now. Several of the teachers and a majority of the staff had magic. About half of the bus drivers were also in the clan. My gaze swept around back to Evan. I understood. Evan’s aura glowed with a brilliance that outshone everyone else’s. That’s why Healers and Seers were at the top of the pecking order. Our magic was just stronger than other professions.
    I nodded. “I get your point.”
    “Good, can we go now?”  He tilted his head off to the right.
    I looked in that direction. My Healer vision was still open. One person stood next to a car in the far end of the parking lot, staring at us. Gold and purple and brown emanated from the person. I turned off my vision and spotted a petite woman with short black hair with a purple stripe painted down one side of it.
    “Is that Madison?” I said, shocked.
    “Yes,” he replied, grimly. “She’s here almost every day, watching me leave.”
    “That’s just creepy,” I said, shaking off a shiver running down my spine.
    “Tell me about it.”
    ***
    When we got back to the happy, yellow house, things were not so relaxed. I could feel the tension in the air even before reaching the kitchen.
    “Corey, OhmyGoddess!  What happened?”  Corey sat at the table.
    Rose put together an ice pack for his left eye.
    He didn’t answer.
    Evan answered for him. “He got in a fight with one of the Wallace boys walking home from school.”
    “The guy’s an air hole,” Corey complained.
    “Corey!” I chastised him, shocked. “Watch your language!  Why would you get in a fight?”
    Again, Evan did the talking. “The Wallace boys have always been a problem. This one said something inappropriate about your mom. You threw a great punch, by the way. He definitely deserved it.”
    Corey tried to grin at the praise, but grimaced in pain instead.
    “Are they Deputy Wallace’s boys,” I asked, curious.
    “No, they’re definitely not from his part of the family. I suppose they’re distant cousins of his. They live near River Road and shouldn’t have been anywhere near Corey’s walk home, unless they waited for him. Next time, let him throw the first punch.”
    I gasped in shock. “You threw the first punch?  What on earth did he say to you?”  I couldn’t imagine what would make my brother start a fight.
    “Don’t tell her, dude,” he growled at Evan. “Or I’ll tell her what I know, and good luck keeping your promise, by the way.”
    Evan’s attitude toward Corey instantly switched from admiring to antagonistic. “Keep out of my head, Corey,” he said with a hint of menace.
    “Likewise, dude. I can’t help it, you know. We have something in common that links us together.”  He glanced pointedly to me. Then he turned to Aunt Rose. “Can I