Thirty-seven
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Gisela made her way back downstairs, to the dining room. Sundark hadn't calmed down noticeably; she was all but attacked.

With proper healer composure, she leaned against the doorway and waited for them to stop all talking at once.

“There were two constructs shaped like wolves chasing Jess,” she explained calmly. “Kev and I got there at almost the same time. He destroyed them. Better yet, he did it without losing control. He's pretty badly shaken up, though. They're both up in Jesse's room, I'm going to get Kev something to eat, and after that, don't even think about disturbing either one.”

The phone rang; Cynthia picked it up. “Heya, Lori. Here, ask 'Sela.”

Gisela crossed the room to take the phone, repeat the story for Lori—she'd felt the disturbance, she said—and ask her to explain to the other Haven mages.

“I'll tell Katherine and Tomas,” Lori promised. “Everybody else will be calling them to ask, only Tomas and Moira and I would be familiar enough with Kev's signature to identify it that fast from a distance. Naomi picked up the fringes of it too, so it was strong enough for at least the witches who know Kev to sense.”

“I'll call Winter. Any other witches who noticed can find out on their own.”

“He's all right?”

“They both are.”

“Leave it to Kev... Right. I'll talk to you later.”

Gisela hung up, dialled Coven Winter's number. Liam answered.

“Is Nick okay?” she asked him.

“He and Sonja are cuddled together on the couch and I'm not sure which one is more shaken up. What's going on?”

Typical that hypersensitive Sonja would also catch it. She repeated her account yet again.

“Why am I not surprised at that being the source? Need me for Jess?”

“Wouldn't hurt, but it can wait until you take care of Sonja and Nick. It'll be mostly trying to clear out the fatigue poisons faster than his body can plus some overextended muscles. Other than that, there are a couple of bites, that's about it.”

“I'll be over in a while, then.”

“Right. 'Bye.” She returned the phone to its cradle. “It even hit Naomi and Nick and Sonja,” she told Sundark.

“Typical,” Bane growled softly. “When phoenix gets angry, he has to let everyone in Haven know.”

“You know it's going to hurt Kev if you say things like that in his hearing. If I could, I would've done the same thing, after what they were doing to Jess.” Just the thought was enough to put unhealerlike visions in her head. What depths of cruelty did it take to try to kill a wolf by running him until he collapsed?

She got her feelings back under control firmly. “I'll be up in Kev's room. Liam will be over sooner or later.”

She detoured to the kitchen to fill a plate with Kevin's ever-present homemade cookies and a large cup with juice, added a hasty sandwich of leftover roast beef, delivered it, and roused Kevin enough for him to start automatically eating.

Kevin wasn't going to mind if she sat here on his bed across the hall, legs crossed tailor-fashion. There were prices on being a healer and helping her friends, and one of them was self-discipline. Less than two months shy of nineteen, she was no longer an apprentice with the luxury of letting her feelings show; she was a healer, finished the basic training every healer had, and near the end of the somewhat more complex training necessary for a healer who routinely dealt with all four races, if nowhere near to the height of her power.

Self-discipline was as important to a healer as it was to a witch or an elvenmage: to the witch because loss of control made the elements respond, the mage because loss of control could be extremely destructive, and to a healer because if her feelings ruled they would hinder her in what her first priority must always be.

She closed her eyes, slowed her breathing, reached to the earth to ask it to give her energy and accept her chaotic feelings.

A gentle psychic touch, the equivalent of a knock at the door: Liam letting her know he was there and asking her to come back. There was no hurry, she could take her time coming out of the trance.

“Are you all right?” he asked quietly.

“Mmhmm.”

“Don't lie to the healer, 'Sela.”

“Really. Just a lot of feelings hitting me all at once. Anger at whoever did this, relief that Jesse's home... but I'm scared of what'll happen when he wakes up. If he sees this as a betrayal... Liam, I'm the only one that won't make either one throw up all shields.”

“You'll talk them through it, if you need to.”

“Sure, if I don't mess up. You know as well as I do how hard it is to judge Jess.”

“I know.”

Evaline and Bryan had done as much research as they could on runaways and homelessness, and shared the results. The most common theme was that they were fleeing home situations that made even street life a better option, and that most of them were frighteningly trapped by the system, and mistrust became a survival trait. That made it easier to understand Jesse's sometimes erratic behaviour; it was enough to make Gisela certain that she truly didn't know nearly enough.

Liam leaned forward and hugged her. “Trust your instincts, and don't forget loving them both, and you'll do fine.”

“Right. Let's go see what we can do about the easy part.”

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