Wounded: Book 8 (A Rylee Adamson Novel) by Shannon Mayer Page A

was Zane. I think she would like it if her baby was named for him.”
    “Zane, good name fors him.” Charlie leaned over and touched the boy on the forehead. “Looks like his mammy.”
    That he did; the resemblance was strong both in his coloring and the shape of his face, right down to his eyes which were already green. Unusual for a baby, at least from what I understood.
    I leaned back in the hay, biting the groan of pain that bubbled up with the movement. Zane snuggled against me and I couldn’t help but love him. Shit, I was turning into a sappy mush. But Milly knew me well, better probably than anyone but Liam. She’d known I would protect Zane with my life, if need be. I let out a sigh and closed my eyes. Protecting him was all well and good, but only if Pamela could heal the mess of my hands.

    I rode on Eve by myself as we flew for the farm. Erik and Alex rode Marco. I couldn’t stand to have anyone touch me. Anger and rage still flowed through me like hot lava, making my magic burn inside.
    “Charlie said she’s hurt bad, but that there is a surprise too,” I said as Eve dipped low, avoiding a cloud.
    “Surprises can be good, Pam,” Eve said.
    I snorted, unable to keep the bite from my words. “Not usually in our world.”
    Giselle’s words came back and swirled around in my head. “You will face darkness, and you will have to fight through it.”
    At the time, I hadn’t understood what she’d meant. But now I was starting to see. I couldn’t stop the anger that flowered and grew within my heart. All I wanted was to wipe out those who would hurt us. I wanted to rip them apart, piece by piece, with no thought of what would come after. The darkness of those thoughts grew each moment and I worried I would turn into someone bad. Really bad.
    I swallowed hard as Eve spiraled down to the farm. With only the barn left intact the place was a strange sight. The burned remains of the house had crumpled and were partially covered with snow, leaving bits and pieces sticking out like lumpy bones.
    Eve landed lightly and I slid from her back, running toward the barn. I burst through the door, ready for an attack, for the surprise to be bad. So when I took in what I was seeing, I couldn’t understand it at first.
    Rylee was holding a … baby?
    Then I saw her arms and hands and I couldn’t stop the gasp that slipped out. “Rylee.”
    “Yeah, I look like shit. Don’t need a mirror to see it this time.”
    Charlie took the baby from her arms. “Do yous stuff, young witch.”
    Healing was not something I was good at and that normally only frustrated me. I’d been better at it when I first learned, and slowly, my skill with it had slipped, though I didn’t know why. I swallowed hard, then went and sat beside Rylee in the hay.
    “I have to touch your hands.” I didn’t want to, not just because I didn’t want to hurt her, but they looked awful and smelled like burnt meat.
    “It’s okay. Just do it.” She closed her eyes and I carefully wrapped my fingers around hers, the skin under mine flaking away. Rylee sucked in a sharp breath and I closed my eyes, focusing on the parts of the healing I needed.
    Water, air, and earth blended to put the pieces back together, but fire was needed too and I was afraid to use it. Afraid I would somehow make the burns worse.
    “What if I can’t, what if I make it hurt more instead of heal it?” I whispered.
    “Then we’ll find someone else. You can’t make it worse, Pam.” She said those words with confidence, but I saw the sweat break out on her forehead.
    Before I started, Alex and Erik came into the barn. Erik sucked in a sharp breath, but Alex was oblivious. He ran to Rylee’s side and curled up around her, hugging her tight and almost pulling her from me.
    “Alex!” I snapped. “Not now.”
    He cringed and his lower lip stuck out. “You is not the boss of me.”
    I let go of Rylee and flicked my hand at him. He flipped over once in the air before adhering