Page 94 of You Can Make Me

The front door flew open and three pit bulls came flying out. Dane sucked in a breath, but I wasn’t going to let any fanged beasts deter me.

“Jesus, Walter, get him inside! Hurry up, all of you.”

I stopped short at the sight of the woman the voice came from. She was not at all what I’d expected. She was older, maybe in her sixties, leaning on a cane. She was heavyset with muscular arms, and she had a buzzcut of white hair.

She took one look at my cane, then at me, and raised an eyebrow.“You, too, pretty boy. I’ll deal with you later.”

Walter carried Denny into a sitting room that had been transformed into a clinic space.

“When I Saw you were coming, I got a few things ready. Get him on the gurney and get his clothes off.” She handed Walter a pair of scissors, and he began cutting up the legs of Denny’s jeans and his shirt. The woman stopped him.

“Don’t pull that denim off yet, we have to be careful of the burns.”

“You have what you need, Charlene?”

“I do. I can dress those burns, but depending on how bad they are, he might need the ER. Let’s see what we’ve got.”

I cried out when I saw the state of his legs.

I don’t know how he’d moved at all when he got to Walter’s. The skin on his lower legs was burned, as well as on his right arm and hand.

I moved to Denny’s side and took his uninjured left hand in mine, daring anyone to move me.

The woman—the psychic, apparently—set her own cane aside and limped over to the table, where she moved swiftly, like she’d done this a million times.

“He’s got a pulse but it’s weak. Blood pressure is dropping. Has he had nitro?”

“Yeah, the fire captain said one.”

“Alright, I’m starting an IV. Let’s get him calmed down. You, Calliope Man, grab those extra blankets. We need to get him warmed up while I start working on these burns.”

Denny moved his head from side to side and his eyes fluttered open, but he didn’t speak as Kal brought the blankets over. We couldn’t wait anymore.

“We need to call an ambulance?—”

“You worry about your own task and leave him to me. You and Calliope Man, take the pretty one outside,” she gestured with her head at Dane. “And you,” she said to Ryan. “Rock Star, you stay here and help me and Walter.”

“I’m not leaving him.”

Walter put his hand on my arm, but I pulled away.

The woman rested her knuckles on the table beside Denny. “You’ve got work to do. You have to finish this. Staff Sergeant Hamilton needs you to hold up your end of the deal, now go on. Get.”

Dane took my hand as I opened my mouth to clap back at her, and he pulled me toward the door.

Kal was already there, holding it open.

Like I did when the alarms went off, I wanted to fight them all when they tried to keep me from Denny, but there was something compelling in the woman’s voice, and I found myself stumbling forward with Dane at my side. I tripped as I got to the doorway, and Kal caught me before I faceplanted.

“Cooper, look.”

I lifted my head to where Kal was pointing—and gasped.

Where the long drive to the house had been moments before, there was a collection of brightly colored tents strung with lights. And right before us was a gate with a familiar sign.

Welcome, Traveler.

The man with the hat and coat stood on the other side of the gate, but shadows hid the eyes that I somehow knew would be swirling with color.