Page 83 of Sweets and Sycamores
Dominic had a personal vendetta against this fire now, and once he swept his eyes over Allie and made sure she wasn’t hurt, that there was nothing else behind the dirty clothes, messy hair, and charcoal smudges, he brought hell to it.
Fitting, he thought, bringing hell to fire itself.
The flames died one by one, some faster than others, when Dom realized Allie kept working her magic as well.
“Allie—”
“Let me help. We’re stronger together.”
They were. The truth of that statement hit him in the chest like a boulder. He didn’t argue, only because he was right there next to Allie, and wouldn’t let anything happen to her. Would stop her if it got too much. She struggled but managed to put out a couple more flames with the little magic she had left.
Dom took her hand, her fingers clinging to his, and together, they stifled the burning red light.
Allie sat quietly, softly playing with one of Ekko’s wings as he refused to leave her lap.
“You’re going to be all right,” Tom said, his eyes moving fearfully between her and Dominic. The Mage watched the pharmacist inspect her lungs and do another air cleaning—a better one than Dominic’s, Tom promised, as he had vast experience with healing magic. Not that Dominic had done a poor job, gods forbid. The man stuttered and sweated as if he was on trial for his life.
Allie didn’t blame him. The entire town had been on his case because he hadn’t been here when they’d needed him. Apparently, Tom had decided today was a slow day and took the time to go gather some medicinal herbs from the fields outside of Rocky Hills. Allie witnessed the town’s contempt quietly, not on the receiving end of it for once. Nothing was left unsaid, from, “Who goes gathering plants randomly in the middle of the day?” and “You should have put a sign in your freaking window,” and “I really hope those plants are worth letting our town burn.”
Tom attempted to defend himself once, but Mrs. Chen warned him not to have the audacity to speak and focus his efforts on making sure Allie was okay.
“Do your job and take care of Allie,” she bellowed as if she’d been calling Allie by her name all this time. “She’s the one who saved Brandon’s home while you were dilly-dallying in the fields. And you.” Then the elder lady turned to Brandon and Dom and tore into them for leaving together. They had the good sense to remain silent, although they could have argued that Brandon had no magic in the first place, and both of them visited the Sanders together frequently.
Allie was surrounded by so many people who, for the first time, were not scorning her. They were worried, and grateful, and didn’t shy away from voicing these feelings. Someone brought her water, and someone else covered her with a blanket, rubbing her shoulders and hugging her sideways. She smiled and assured them she was fine, but in reality, Allie was overwhelmed.
She finally felt like she could become one of their own. Sure, one could argue the townsfolk accepted her only after she had saved them, but Allie wouldn’t nitpick. Being part of a community had always been a privilege for a Witch like her, reason be damned.
“Thanks, Tom.” She smiled at the blushing man and got up from the chair that had been brought to her at some point during all the ruckus. Ekko flew up and bumped his snout into the pharmacist’s cheek, then hovered close to Allie.
Dom was in her face instantly, grabbing her forearms as if to steady her, the familiar glare overtaking his features. Searching her.
“I’m okay,” Allie chuckled. She really was fine, exhausted if anything, but she was breathing without difficulty, and her skin was not burned. A win for the day. That, and also, keeping Brandon’s house from catching on fire.
“Allie.” Brandon came out of the crowd and shoved Dominic out of his way. He hugged her so tightly that her air supply wascut off, but Allie hugged him back. “I can’t even begin to thank you,” he blurted out as Dominic peeled him off her. Brandon scowled at his friend, who, not shockingly, scowled right back.
“You have nothing to thank me for,” Allie said, squeezing his arm. “You’re the one who saved me first, remember?”
“Let’s go home.” Dom pulled her to him and tipped his chin to his friend.
“Thank you, Allie,” Brandon said again.
Dominic strolled through the crowd, oblivious to all the looks following them, especially the ones pinned on the arm he curled around her shoulder.
Mia drove them back to Dom’s Sweets after she made sure Brandon didn’t need her. Allie was curious about the story between them, since this was probably the first time they hadn’t avoided each other.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Allie waved at her friend, who threw her a confused look. “You said something about a pumpkin spice latte?”
“Oh. Are you sure? We could go next week,” Mia offered, worry lining her eyes.
“I promise I’m fine, Mia. Tomorrow. It’s a date!” Allie turned and entered the bakery before Mia could argue, a broody Mage on her trail. Ekko had already flown to their room, and she expected to find him passed out on his belly.
Allie rubbed her shoulder mindlessly when a thought hit her with the intensity of a lightning bolt. She wheezed and whirled on her heels, panic wrapping around her like a curtain and dulling her senses.
“Oh gods.” She was the one to grab Dom’s arms this time, running crazy eyes over him in some sort of assessment of… Of what? It wasn’t like she could check his magic reserves with a glance.
“What’s wrong?” Dominic matched her panic in his cold, controlled manner.
“Are you okay?”
