Scorched Heart (The Firebrand Series Book 4) Helen Harper (short books to read txt) 📖

afterwards and I thought that would be enough. It didn’t occur to me that the blood would transfer from me to Sammy. The police took his clothing and examined it.’ She shrugged helplessly. ‘They found what they thought they needed to prove his guilt.’ She allowed a beat of silence before murmuring, ‘I wasn’t the only one who paid the price for the magic I invoked that night.’

I squeezed Lukas’s hand. His skin felt even hotter than normal, but I was so glad of his touch. It grounded me. I wasn’t alone.

‘What then?’ I asked. ‘What happened when you got back to the cottage?’

‘I bound all three herbs together and asked Mother Earth for help,’ Miranda said. ‘I drew her power from the ground and filled the air with her kindness. I thought perhaps I could reverse time somehow, or heal old wounds. It was only when the herbs burned that I knew. I could choose only one of you. Your parents would have chosen you, so I did the same. I drew on all my power and all the magic the earth could offer me and I sent it towards your body.’

My mouth was dry. ‘And then?’

She smiled slightly. ‘And then nothing. I expected explosions, light. Something. I’d felt the power go through me, but it seemed it had gone nowhere. I didn’t know that I’d called the phoenix upon you. That came much, much later.’

She lifted her shoulders resignedly. ‘When it seemed that my attempt had failed, Patrick wanted to call the police but I stopped him. I was worried what would happen if people found out what I’d been doing. I told him we had to leave and let someone else find the bodies. We argued about it, but eventually he agreed.’

‘He went back the next morning on his own, though,’ I said. ‘Didn’t he?’

Miranda nodded. ‘He couldn’t leave it alone. He thought he would pretend he’d gone round to do the work in the kitchen that day and then run to the police about what he’d seen. But what he saw was you, alive and well and screaming your head off. And the rest is a matter of record,’ she said simply.

‘You could have still gone to the police. You could have told them you were there the night before and—’

‘I did,’ Miranda said tiredly. ‘I spoke to them until I was blue in the face. But I was Sammy’s girlfriend and they didn’t believe me. They thought I was trying to protect him. They were never going to believe that I’d performed a magic spell and brought you back to life. And Patrick was so afraid of what we’d done and of the power we’d invoked, he couldn’t say anything.’ She looked at me. ‘It destroyed him in the end, you know, though I doubt he could have said anything that would have changed the police’s minds. They were sure that Sammy was guilty and they thought they had all the evidence they needed.’

Miranda sat down on the chair. She was far paler than before and sweat was beading her brow. Her hand shook as she reached for a glass, and she changed her mind. ‘The power and energy it took to do what I did meant that I became very ill afterwards. Even now, just talking about it brings some of the illness back. It is not an easy thing to play with life and death.’

She jerked forward, her gaze suddenly burning into mine like coal fire. ‘You’re not a child now. You have a terrible gift that a lot of people have paid for. Do not waste what you have. Do not waste what you are.’ She paused. ‘And please, do not tell anyone what I have told you. Druids don’t need to be hunted down for what little magic we possess like the –‘ She halted in mid-sentence and amended her words. ‘We don’t need to be hunted down. Life is hard enough as it is.’

I nodded. I wouldn’t say anything. But I still had one more question. ‘You said you didn’t know who killed my parents. Was that the truth?’

Miranda’s body seemed to fold in on itself. ‘It was.’ Her words were barely audible. ‘I have no idea who could have done that to them, or to a child like you.’

Chapter Nineteen

Lukas and I didn’t speak until we were back in his car. I noted the way his hands were shaking and took the keys from him, telling him I would drive. I half expected an argument but he simply nodded.

His eyes met mine. ‘Do you believe her?’ he asked.

I turned my head and stared out of the window at the dark trees. ‘Yeah, I do.’ I licked my lips. ‘Do you?’

‘Her story appears credible.’

I curled my hands into fists, my fingernails digging into my palms. ‘I’m the phoenix because of her – I’m alive because of her. All this time and…’

I shook my head, unable to finish my sentence. I hadn’t acquired my phoenix power because of genetics, or because I was special or heroic or deserving; I was the phoenix because of blind dumb luck. If Miranda hadn’t happened upon the murders at the cottage, I’d have been worm meat for the last twenty-five years.

Part of me wished she’d saved my mother or my father instead. Part of me wanted to run inside the house and fall to my knees in gratitude for the life that I had been given. My whole world was churning. I didn’t know what to think. Or to feel.

‘What about this druid stuff?’ I asked, needing something concrete to focus on. ‘If she can really wield that sort of power and there are others like her…’

‘British history is littered with references to druids. It stands to reason that some still exist.’ Lukas paused. ‘I’ve heard rumours but I didn’t pay them much attention. Druids weren’t on my radar and had no cause to be. If that woman is to be believed, exerting any