Oceans of Fire Read Online Free Page B

be.”
    Aleksandr crouched beside her and caught sight of the blood on her back and down the back of her leg. “You’re hurt!”
    “I’ve got to work on Gene,” she protested when he tried to tug her to him.
    “I’m sorry, lyubof maya , but this man cannot possibly live.”
    His gentle tone, a caress of black velvet, was almost her undoing and she turned on him, furious, fighting back tears.
    “Don’t you tell me he won’t live! The dolphins risked their lives for him and I’m not giving up. Just keep your enemies off my back while I do this.”
    It wasn’t fair that she was angry with him. And maybe she wasn’t. Her body was shaking with shock and overload of adrenaline. And she could feel her own wounds burning and throbbing. Mostly she felt fear for Gene and his family. She wasn’t Libby or Elle or even Hannah with their tremendous powers. Even Sarah would be better than Abigail, but she was all Gene had. “And don’t call me your love, either. I’m not your anything.”
    She raised her arms up over her head to bring the wind, to whisper a chant, a plea, a need for a joining, and she sent the wind out over the ocean to the cliff house where she knew her sisters waited. Where she knew, would always know, she was accepted, flawed or not, and they would always come to her aid when needed.
    She heard the sirens fast approaching. She heard the boom of the sea and the song of the whales and her own heartbeat. There was a rhythm of life there, an ebb and flow that was continuous and strong. And she found Gene’s heartbeat. Slow. Stuttering. Out of sync with the universal flow. “I’ve got you,” she whispered softly. “I won’t let you go.”
    Abigail didn’t have a first aid kit, but she had the Drake magic. It welled up like a fountain, a power from deep within her, fed by the wind and sea. She could feel herself connecting with Hannah and Sarah, feel strength pouring into her as she placed one palm over Gene’s head wound and the other over the small hole in his chest.
    Wind rushed up from the surface of the sea. Dolphins leapt and somersaulted. At a distance, several whales breached. Power crackled in the air all around her. Through her. She felt Elle, her youngest sister, join in, the rush of power welling up from somewhere inside Abigail to burn down her arms and into her palms. Kate’s strength added to the steady stream. Joley joined in, her voice strong on the wind, her power pouring into Abigail. And then, from a distance, Libby joined them, aiding Abigail with her tremendous gift of healing. The surge was so strong she shook with the force of it, the burning in her palms so pronounced it was difficult to keep her hands steady over the wounds.
    The wind blasted her face and brought with it the fog, obscuring all vision on the water so that she was wrapped in a silvery cocoon, kneeling there on the pier with Gene lying so still and Aleksandr’s body heat warming her. The relief nearly overwhelmed her. Hannah and Joley and Elle were often conduits for power, but never Abigail. It was both frightening and exhilarating to feel the strength and heat pour from her into the mortally wounded fisherman. It wasn’t the same as her gift, but much stronger and more focused. She felt his skin burn beneath her palm as if absorbing healing properties. She felt his chest rise as if Gene struggled for breath and she knew he lived, although his injuries were grave.
    As the power faded, her legs gave out and she sank back onto the pier shaking, arms and legs like lead. The terrible price for having and using power was a debilitating weakness afterward. She lay helpless, listening to the waves lapping at the pier and the wailing of the sirens as vehicles filled the parking lots along the harbor.
    “Abbey.” Aleksandr’s voice was gentle. He took off his jacket and spread it over her violently shaking body. “The paramedics are here. How bad are you hurt?”
    She looked up at him. The lines and planes of his