Page 82 of Sweets and Sycamores
To home.
To Allie.
The town was in an uproar as the car passed the “Welcome to Sycamore Falls” sign. Everyone waved at them frantically, recognizing Brandon’s car, urging them to hurry, hurry, hurry. Dominic’s heart thudded, his focus lasered in on his magic, grabbing and taking control of it, so he could unleash enough to take a fire of any size out.
“It’s Riverbend,” Brandon whispered, as the path wound down along the river. Dom wanted to contradict him, to tell him it was not Riverbend.
But it was.
Brandon’s farm was on fire.
They jumped out of the car in front of the gates, since the driveway was flooded with people. The entire town was here, working on an inefficient way to bring water from the river in buckets, while the farmhands struggled with a garden hose.
A purple smudge of claws and wings attacked Dom, the chittering higher pitched and more intense than ever before.
“Where’s Allie?” he barked at the dragon, advancing through the crowd. Ekko flew chaotically, swiveling his head toward the fire.
No.
She was probably just somewhere in the mill of people.
“Dom!” His sister’s voice. Mia came rushing, her hair a tangled mess, dark charcoal smudges on her face. “Dom…” she panted.
“Are you okay?” He grabbed her shoulders, steadying her. Mia nodded, breathing through her mouth.
“I tried to go after her, but it was too hot,” she blurted.
“What?”
His sister pointed frantically to the monstrous flames. “Allie’s in there. I think she’s trying?—”
“Watch Mia,” he commanded a teary-eyed Brandon, positioning his sister to lean on his friend. Brandon snapped out of his shock and took hold of Mia, snaking his arms around her in a tight hug as she sobbed into his chest.
Dominic ran.
He dashed through the crowds with ease and speed facilitated by his magic wind. One thread of magic was woven close to him, a protection from the fire as well as a means for him to breathe clean air. He ran into the flames with no fear, no reserve, cursing the gods who dared put his future in danger.
Dom threw his magic at the wildfire, quenching the flames as he passed through them, leaving behind smoke and scorched grass.
“Allie!” he shouted, desperate to set his eyes on her. She was fine, surely, because no other outcome was acceptable to him. “Allie! Where are you?” His heart thrashed in his chest, one moment away from leaping out and looking for her on its own.
Dom ran like a possessed man, hitting the flames with sharp, harsh magic. They were keeping Allie from him, so they had to die. Swiftly.
Left. Right. He threw his arms out, quashing the simmering heat around him.
“Allie!”
“Dom?” A faint voice reached him from the edge of the flames closest to Brandon’s house. Loud coughing and heaving sounds followed, but she was fine. Fine. Fine. She was fine.
Dominic was next to her in a heartbeat, pushing his magic to its limits to practically fly there.
“Allie.” He kneeled and gathered her in his arms, instantly throwing his shield around her. The air met a fiery wall, a patched and wobbly shield of her own. Good girl. It had done the job to keep her skin from being burned, but her breathing was heavy. “It’s okay. You’re okay. Breathe, baby.” Dom used magic to send clean air through her lungs. Allie coughed into him more, until the smoke left her body and her breaths evened into a normal, healthy rhythm.
Then she opened her big brown eyes and looked at him with a glimmer of something Dom recognized as if he was looking into the mirror. Relief.
“They were heading for the house, Dom. I couldn’t do more. Couldn’t pull more.” She moved to rise to her feet, steadier now as she was breathing well, and Dom helped her because selfishly, he didn’t want to let her go.
“You did more than enough,” he assured her. It was true. Dom looked around, noticing the line of burnt grass too close to the house porch for comfort, but it hadn’t reached it. Brandon’s house was safe, and they all had Allie to thank for that.
