Swords & Stilettos

Chapter 3: Zoe

I looked down and discovered he spoke the truth. How could I not have noticed that I was no longer on the concrete? Instead, I found myself encased in a purple sphere, suspended about three inches above the floor. I raised the better of my two arms to see if I could puncture my enclosure, but it flexed outward, avoiding my touch. I tried with my foot, and the same thing happened. No matter what I did, I couldn't seem to touch its surface. I finally managed to kneel, which wasn't easy with unsteady legs and what I presumed was one broken arm and the other sporting a huge gash. I glared at Kieran.

"What is going on?" I demanded, panicking. "What is this thing? And how do I get out?"

"We need to—," Kieran insisted.

"First." Shay frowned at my predicament. "We have to figure out how to get Zoe out of the orb."

I nodded, and just like that, the bubble disappeared, dumping me onto the cold cement floor. Wait, how does he know my name? "I hope I didn't break anything else," I grumbled, rubbing my backside to ease the pain.

Shay and Kieran exchanged a glance. "Did you do that?" Kieran asked him.

"No," Shay replied.

They both looked at me. "What did you do?" they asked in unison.

"Nothing! I didn't do anything." I didn't like the way they gawked at me, like a science experiment, so I rose to my feet and suggested we go to my house, hugging my arms against me. I tried to wipe off the drying blood running down my arm with my hem. Sharp pain in my wrist focused my attention as I ran my fingers through my tangled hair. I could imagine what an awful site stood in front of them.

Kieran shook his head and walked toward me. "We're going to my house. It's safer."

I flinched when he placed his hands on my arm. "Don't. It's brok—"

"Shh."

"What are you going to do?"

"Trust me." He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. "This arm's cut pretty badly, your wrist is sprained, and your eye ... well, I'm going to fix everything. Your blistered foot, too."

I glared at him, totally confused. How on earth did he know about my blister? This was getting weirder by the minute. "You're not a doctor. We should go to the ER." I pulled my hand away. "You might know a thing or two about kung-foo or whatever that was, but I'm not letting you mess with my arm."

He held his hand out. I slowly gave him my arm. Under the heat of his hand, my face and arms tingled—and so did my foot. I watched as the cuts on my forearm melted together. I flexed the muscle of my arm a few times and made small circles with my shoulder, skeptical. Feeling no more pain, I took deep calming breaths.

Kieran didn't even look at me. It was as if this were all perfectly normal to him. "You should be fine now," he said. He stepped back and scanned the warehouse, then turned toward the exit again.

Incredible.

Shay grinned, looking between Kieran and me. "I think it's time to tell her about what's going on."

"Ya think?" Kieran snapped.

Oh, he was mad?

"Quit being so bossy," Shay said. "You're the one who got cut by a low-level demon."

"I did that on purpose." Kieran gritted his teeth.

"Wait a second. Time out here!" I shouted. "Who are you? Or maybe the better question is: What are you?"