Chapter 3

"A Wild Power!" Susie whispered, horrified, as Blade sat on the edge of the windowsill. He nodded, eyes grim. "Your mother isn't happy about it, at all."

"And why should she?" Susie said fervently, nervous.

"The Wild Powers are good," Blade reminded her.

"So far," Susie said darkly. "We don't know anything about Kierlan, though. Blade, we don't know anything about who brought him up, why he was brought here…anything!"

Blade hesitated. "We know where he came from. Chicago." He met her eyes. "And he is related to you. Distantly, but still…"

"And I could find out about him," Susie finished, nibbling her lip.

"Just chat to a few cousins," Blade suggested evasively.

"But mother would kill me if she knew," Susie whispered, eyes troubled. "And what if I accidentally let slip a clue that Kierlan's here? There must be a reason for him being here, after all, and not where the other Wild Powers are."

Sarah stirred slightly, then opened her eyes, blinking first at Susie, then at Blade. A small, sweet smile curved her lips. "Where've you been?"

He smiled back at her, his smile just as guileless, as she leaned forwards and kissed him softly on the lips.

"One day, I've gotta try and get a boyfriend," Susie sighed, jealousy in her gaze.

"He's more than a boyfriend," Sarah said immediately, and Blade laughed softly, kissed her again, drawing her into his lap where she lay her head on his shoulder, listening as he spoke to her mind. Glad to know you haven't forgotten me, he teased, now that this Kierlan is around.

She laughed back at him. "He's snobby," she assured him. "I'd go insane if I had to stay in the same room as him for too long!"

"I bet there's something nice enough about him," Blade said wryly.

"Hmm," Sarah said distractedly, unconvinced as he kissed her again, passionately. I don't think there is any niceness in Kierlan Harman, she thought.

"Just give him a chance," Blade suggested softly. "Like you gave me a chance."

"But you're a good guy," Sarah protested. "You're sweet, and kind, and funny, and nice…Kierlan's sour as a lemon, ungrateful and acts like he's cool as ice!"

"Guys act like that when they're insecure," Blade said tentatively.

Sarah smiled at him. "You weren't like that when we first met. You just shook my hand, smiled at me and introduced yourself like I was important."

"You are important," Blade said insistently.

"Not compared to you vampires, witches, Wild Powers, shapeshifters and everything else," she was only half-joking.

"I'm no wicked powerful witch," Susie said harshly. "And you're way better at math than me. And geography."

"But you can practically see through walls," Sarah said quietly. "You see important things where I'd see plain, ordinary things, if I'd even see them at all."

"Oh stop it!" Susie snapped, distressed. Taking hold of Sarah's palm, she sketched a symbol on it with her fingertips before Sarah could tug free. Sarah closed her eyes, mildly annoyed, unable to catch, let alone fight, the symbol's swift action, draining her negativity away.

"Don't do that, Susie," Blade said, frowning. "Your mother would call that an abuse of magic."

"It's helping her feel good about herself," Susie objected.

"It's messing with my emotions," Sarah said quietly. "Please…don't, Susie."

"Fine," Susie said grumpily. "I'll leave you to deal with your own emotions. I won't help you out. Good night."

With that, she buried her face in her pillow as Sarah's face fell. "Suze…that's not what I mean. I just want to deal with things like a human should…"

"And not magic," Susie muttered. "But everything is magic."

You say that almost every day, Sarah almost said, but bit her tongue just in time.

"I'd best go on guard," Blade teasingly pushed Sarah off his lap and she pouted at him.

But her words weren't so teasing. "Be careful," she said softly, feeling more fearful now that she knew there was a Wild Power so near, like danger was lying so much closer, just waiting.

"Always," Blade assured her, kissed her on the forehead then went to the window, climbing out, back into the night and disappearing.

"I'm sorry, Susie," Sarah told the witch earnestly. "I don't know. My nerves are on edge, ever since having to talk to Kierlan."

"Kierlan won't get to me like that," Susie declared stubbornly. "He can be as spoilt as he likes, and I swear I'll still be smiling."

"I bet you five dollars you won't be," Sarah said confidently.

"I take you on that bet and raise you ten dollars," Susie said swiftly, cunning in her light eyes, lying back.

Sarah laughed softly. Susie didn't say anything else.

"Susie?" she whispered, but her friend didn't respond. She kept herself quiet, until she could focus on the deep, even sound of Susie's breathing: she was already fast asleep.

Lying back, she tried to empty her head of thoughts. But it was difficult: first, knowing Kierlan, the unpredictable witch was only a room away; second, knowing that he was a Wild Power and that meant she should respect him…but he's a jerk! Her mind yelled. And thirdly, that Blade wanted her to be nice to Kierlan. Oh, that's Blade, she thought wistfully. Gentler than an Old Soul.

It didn't bother her that Kierlan came from the same sort of home as her. She remembered her old home, and it was light, kind memories. Her mother had been joyful, alight with enthusiasm and adored Sarah's father. But Sarah's father had mostly been out of the house from early in the morning to late at night, so she didn't see him enough to feel his loss so deeply.

But her mother had. She'd withdrawn, become so much sadder. Only a week after, she'd contacted an old friend and asked her to take over looking after Sarah, at least until she'd recovered. It had been selfless of her, Rita Lewis had told Sarah. Sarah's mother hadn't wanted Sarah to see her in so dark a mood for fear of spoiling her childhood.

So Rita had brought Sarah back here, nine-year old Susie had taken one look at her, then gravely asked her mother in a loud whisper if Sarah was a witch.

"No, she's human," Rita had replied, smiling gently. "So be good, Susie."

And then Susie had caught a cold, spent a weekend sneezing. Sarah had sat at the end of her bed, awestruck, for each sneeze ended in a fountain of fireworks that reached the ceiling. And then Rita and Susie hadn't bothered to hide from Sarah that they were witches, even taking care to teach her about the Nightworld. Then Blade had arrived, shortly after the house had been declared a safe house by Circle Daybreak. And his amber eyes had innocently gazed upon Sarah. She spoken absent-mindedly. "You have lovely eyes."

And he'd smiled, and it had been like a glorious sunrise.

She was woken from her night-dreaming, not exactly a full sleep, by a sound from the guest room, like something…falling.

Swiftly, she eased free from her blankets. "Susie?" she whispered, but it was a frequent joke that not even earthquakes could wake Susie.

I'll just check on him, she thought, her heart thudding in her chest as she padded barefoot into the hallway, dressed in her simple nightgown.

The guest room door creaked slightly, and a slant of the light filling the hallway stealthily slid over the guest room floor, highlighting the rumpled, completely undignified heap of Kierlan, mumbling fretfully in his sleep, twisted helplessly inside his blankets, on the floor.

She muffled a giggle, relieved. He's just dreaming.

Then his violet eyes snapped open and she froze, as his instinct came into action. A crackling violet ball of magic came at her, hitting her in the side.

With a yip, she slid to the floor, terrified.

And Kierlan was terrified, fully awake, pulling himself free from the blankets, half-running, half-crawling to her, eyes wide and deeply anxious. "Goddess! I'm so sorry!" he whispered frantically, immediately prising her hand away from her side.

She whimpered, shutting her eyes in pain. Her skin felt burned and hard, hot and…

"It's not too bad," he whispered relieved. Almost mournfully, he gently pried away a bit of the burned material of her nightdress away from her skin. "Sorry about the nightdress." Sarah almost laughed at the absurdity of that.

"I know how to heal it," he whispered. "Just…trust me." He placed his hand on her waist, over the burn, his palm first cool like ice, then gradually becoming warmer, sending a shiver through her.

Then a strange, warm pain shot through her and violet fire played along the darkness behind her closed eyelids, too bright just to be the sleepy, pain-filled darkness.

Kierlan? She gasped, but her words didn't come out in a way she'd expected them to.

Sarah? Kierlan sounded just as baffled as her. What's going on?