CHAPTER 50
“Ebenezer Oscar Anderson-Sherwood, you better wake up right now.” I hear Xander practically shout at me. I also feel someone prodding me, and not too gently, I might add. Wait, he just whole-named me!
I groan and open my eyes. I’m lying on my back on the ground. The first faces I see are a concerned Xander, then a worried Enoch. “Sly,” I say, moving quickly to sit up. I grab my head when it starts spinning.
“Careful,” I hear Sly say, kneeling down and putting his arms around me.
“Are you alright?” I ask, turning to him.
“I am, you were the only one who got hurt, sweetheart.”
Enoch moves out of the way, and Justice kneels in front of me.
“Can I check your head?”
“Please,” I reply, nodding, then wish I hadn’t as that move hurt. “While Justice is fixing my head, someone can fill me in on what I missed.”
Justice leans forward and gently places his hands on my head. I feel his magic tingling around the spot on my head that hurts. “You’ve no major damage to your head. A cut I’ve nowhealed, and the pain associated with being hit should now be fading.” There is a pause, and he takes his hands away. “How does your head feel?”
I have a think. “All better, thanks, Justice.”
He pats my leg and stands up.
“Are you sure he’s fixed?” Enoch asks him.
Justice touches his shoulder. “Completely.”
“Thanks,” Enoch replies before turning back to me and slapping the back of my head.
“Hey!” I exclaim, glaring at him. “What the hell, Enoch?”
I ignore the chuckles from those around us.
“What did you expect when you get hurt? If we had been down here with you, we could have helped.”
“Or been hurt like your brother,” Titus points out to them.
I move to stand up, Sly and Xander helping me.
I look around the now large space, the false wall having vanished. I see some of Sly’s family, down and out, and others tied up, and more than one covered in blood from bites and scratches.
“So, what did I miss?” I ask.
“We got your magical SOS and came running,” Sal says, before grinning. “Picture the scene, my friends.”
We all laugh at that, and Jude slaps his arm. “Ernest isn’t here; we don’t need a ballad.”
“True,” he admits. “Okay, so we ran down here and were momentarily stumped when we saw the wall. Titus threw magic at it, in the hopes of blowing it up, but as soon as his magic touched it, it vanished. We saw you get knocked out and jumped in to help with the fighting.”
“Kean shifted into his wolf and jumped at your attacker, getting him off you, so Xander and me ran over to protect you while the fighting went on,” Enoch’s arms are flying around as he tells me this.
I look at Kean, who is back to his human self. “Thanks.”
“We knocked out or subdued everyone,” Jude adds, waving his hand to show Sly’s family.
“That mirror is a portal; they were talking with a demon when Sly and I arrived.”
Sal walks over to the mirror and has a look, while he is doing that, I walk to the device in the corner and pick it up.
