A wave of cold fear washed through her. Devon was in the States. Leila's eyes closed and her breathing slowed. Rylie gently shook her friend.
"Leila, no. Wake up." Two more tears slid down her cheeks, and she let out a small sigh of relief when the girl opened her eyes. "Don't sleep. You have to get cleaned up. Come on." Standing, Rylie bent and helped her friend to her feet, and they hobbled to the stairs.
"No," Leila hissed. "Can't. Do. Stairs. Pain."
Anger flooded her body. How dare he do this to her friend! She turned to the boys, who were all watching in silent shock. "A little help?" Rylie snapped.
To her surprise, Tyler hurried forward and held out his arms. He carefully lifted Leila and looked at Rylie. "Where to?"
"Bathroom." Tyler nodded and rushed up the stairs. Rylie started to follow, but someone grabbed her arm.
"What's going on? Who's that?" Caleb asked.
"Not now, Caleb," Rylie said. She quickly ascended the stairs and went to the bathroom. Tyler stood near the sink, still cradling Leila in his arms. Rylie gave him a small smile. "Didn't know you were so strong, baby boy."
He shrugged slightly. "Can't turn down a woman in need."
"Are you okay holding her for a little while longer?"
He nodded.
Rylie turned on the hot water in the large tub and began drawing a bath. When the tub was full enough, she shut off the water and turned to Tyler. "You can set her on her feet, gently, and then go back down." She stepped forward and took Leila's weight as Tyler set her feet on the floor and left, closing the door behind him.
"Can you stand?"
Leila nodded.
Rylie carefully stripped the clothes from her friend's body and helped her into the tub. Leila hissed as she slowly sank into the warm water. Blood swirled around her. Rylie grabbed a washcloth from a small cabinet and kneeled by the edge of the tub, dipping the cloth into the water.
"Why did he do this?" Rylie asked.
Leila sucked in a shaky breath. "Because I was going to warn you. About him."
"You could've called." She gently dabbed at the cuts, and winced when her friend hissed and pulled away briefly.
"No. Cassandra was trying to track me down. I had to get her off my trail."
"Lay back," Rylie ordered.
Leila slowly shifted her body back so that all but her head were submerged. "Dammit, it stings."
They sat there for a while in silence, Rylie letting the water clean her friend. When the water temperature began to cool, Rylie grabbed a large towel from the cabinet. Leila stood and wrapped the towel around her body, and then carefully stepped out.
"How do you feel?" Rylie asked.
"Like hell," Leila answered.
"You look like hell, too," Rylie commented, and her friend flashed her a sarcastic smile.
"Thanks."
"I'll wash your clothes, and in the meantime you can borrow some of mine."
The two girls walked down the hallway and into Rylie's bedroom. Rylie shut the door and moved to her closet and began rifling through her clothes. She pulled out a pair of sweats and a tank top and tossed them on the bed, along with undergarments.
"One sec." Rylie hurried into the bathroom again and grabbed the bottle of Peroxide from the medicine cabinet, along with a new washcloth, and went back to her room, closing the door.
"Here. Your cuts have to be cleaned out more."
For the next five minutes, Rylie poured the liquid onto the girl's cuts, letting them bubble before dumping another dose on the wounds. After, Leila pulled on the clothes, quietly swearing with each movement.
Once dressed, Leila sat on the bed. "Why haven't you told them?"
"What makes you think I haven't told them?" Rylie asked, plopping down on the bed as well.
Leila raised an eyebrow.
"Sometimes I really hate that you're psychic." Her friend gave her a brief smile, and then her expression turned expectant. Rylie sighed, and relayed what Caleb and his friends had said the night before.
"Ry. You have to tell them. They're big boys now, they can handle the truth."
"But I don't know if I can handle them knowing the truth."
Leila's gaze became distant for a minute, and then her eyes locked with he friend's. "Well then you better come up with a good explanation for my showing up like I did."
"What did you see?" Rylie asked. "Are they mad?"
"Confused, definitely," Leila answered. "Mad? Not so sure. They're your family. You should know."
Rylie groaned. "Ugh. They'll be pissed." She ran a hand through her hair and then looked at her friend. "How close is Devon?"
Leila's gaze became distant once more. A few minutes later she shook her head. "I don't know. It's not clear."
"Oh, great," Rylie sighed. "Okay. Just keep checking."
Leila nodded.
Rylie looked at the door. "I suppose we should go down, before the four of them barge into my bedroom."
"They can't be that bad," Leila offered.
"They may not show it, but you'll be able to feel their anger. Trust me."
Standing, the two girls walked out and down the hall, and descended the stairs. The living room became silent as they entered, and all four pairs of eyes were trained on Rylie.
"Guys, this is Leila Devlin. A friend of mine from Ireland," Rylie said, motioning to the girl beside her. "Leila, this is my brother Caleb Danvers, Tyler Simms, Pogue Parry, and Reid Garwin."
"Reid? I've heard about you," Leila said.
Rylie's eyes widened as she shot her friend a warning look. Reid raised an eyebrow in her direction.
"Well, I've heard about all of you. Rylie talks about her family nonstop," Leila added, smiling.
"Nice save," Rylie hissed under her breath. When Rylie looked at the boys, she was met with four slightly confused pairs of eyes.
"What's going on?" Caleb asked, folding his arms.
Rylie shot a glance at Leila, who shrugged. "Don't look at me. He asked you."
"Well I wouldn't have to explain anything if someone remembered how to use a phone," Rylie said.
"I told you, I had to lose her," Leila replied sharply.
Rylie opened her mouth to retort, but was cut off.
"Rylie," Caleb growled.
"Fine. Devon is a powerful warlock who's been chasing us for a… few years," Rylie started.
"Why?" Pogue asked slowly.
Rylie glanced at the girl next to her, who gave her a small, encouraging smile.
"Just… because," Rylie replied. "He's a warlock, what do you expect? It's his job to terrorize people."
"You're lying," Tyler commented.
"Rylie. Tell us the truth," Caleb ordered.
Rylie's gaze darted around the room. "Okay. He's after us because… Leila's psychic."
All eyes went to the blonde girl beside the young Danvers.
"Psychic?" Tyler asked.
Leila sighed after glancing at Rylie. "Yeah. I have the gift of premonition, and Devon wants it. But that's not all he wants, right Rylie?" Leila asked, looking at her.
Rylie's eyes narrowed at her friend.
"Rylie?" Reid asked.
"Yeah, Rylie. Tell them," Leila said, smiling.
"I hate you, Devlin," Rylie hissed.
Leila's smile grew. "No you don't, Danvers. You love me."
"Rylie." Caleb's voice was stern.
Rylie sighed. "A few months after I arrived in Ireland, I met Leila. A couple weeks after we both turned fourteen, we ran into Devon and Cassandra."
"Who's Cassandra?" Tyler asked.
"An incredibly bitchy witch," Leila answered.
Chuckling, Rylie added, "She's Devon's girlfriend, and when together, they're just about unbeatable." Her smile faded. "The two of them have been after us ever since."
"You've been running from them since you were fourteen?" Pogue asked.
The two girls nodded.
"Okay. So they're after Leila for her gift. But why are they after you?"
Rylie dropped her gaze to the floor and closed her eyes. "Because they want my Power."