CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Emilia held the trembling child in her arms and heard him whimper. She released the boy carefully and saw that his hand was bleeding. But he was too stunned to cry. His eyes were fixed on a spot on Emilia’s forehead.
His eyes kept growing rounder and wider as he stared at Emilia. “Y-you...” he stuttered.
Emilia could feel a spot of searing heat pulsating between her eyebrows, and she raised her hand to try to hide what she knew was pushing out from her forehead.
But the boy was already reaching up to touch her forehead with his tiny, blood-smeared hand. “It’s so shiny...” the child cooed in wonder, momentarily forgetting his fear and pain.
Only the tip of her spiral horn protruded from her forehead. As the boy touched her silver horn with his small trembling fingers and gave a cry of obvious joy and delight, the blood disappeared from his hand and color rose to his cheeks.
Emilia released the child and pressed her hand to her forehead. Her horn had already receded, and her forehead felt smooth and flat once again. Her horn had only appeared for a few seconds, and only the very tip of her horn had emerged. She looked around, feeling a sudden stab of fear. The boy had seen her horn because she was holding him close. Who else had seen it?
The boy’s mother came running up to them, crying, “Toby! Oh, Toby! Are you okay?”
Emilia watched Toby hurl himself into his mother’s arms. “Mommy!” The boy clung to his mother and hugged her tightly.
The driver ran out of her car and stumbled towards them. “Oh no, oh no, oh no! What have I done? I...I...” The poor woman was shaking and stammering, clearly in shock. She whirled towards Emilia. “Did I hit you? Did I hit anyone? Are you hurt?”
When Emilia shook her head, the woman stretched out her hand to help Emilia up. Emilia gasped and reeled back when she saw a small flame flaring from the woman’s forefinger.
“Fire! You’re on fire!” Emilia spluttered.
The woman snatched her hand back and clenched her fist hurriedly. “Oops! Ah, I’m sorry. When I’m angry or frightened, I sometimes lose control and set things on fire. I almost set my own hair on fire once,” she said sheepishly. The young driver suddenly seemed to remember the little boy and she whirled round to face the boy and his mother. “Is he okay? Are you hurt? I am so, so sorry...I’ll drive you to the doctor’s right now...”
The boy looked up and shook his head. “I’m not hurt,” he said bravely. “That lady saved me.”
His mother looked him over and confirmed, “There’s not a scratch on him. I thought I saw blood on him, but there’s no blood now. He’s looks fine. He’s not injured at all.”
“I’m really sorry...” the woman driver said again. “I...”
“No, it’s not your fault. I shouldn’t have let go of his hand,” the mother said, standing up. “Our house is just round the corner, so I’d like to get my son home now. My husband is a doctor so he’ll check to make sure that there are no injuries on Toby.”
Holding her son’s hand firmly, she turned to Emilia and said, “Thank you for saving my son.” Without waiting for Emilia’s reply, she picked her son up in her arms and hurried away, anxious to get her little boy safely home.
Storm held Emilia close to him and whispered, “Are you okay?”
Emilia nodded jerkily, her attention fixed on the woman driver. “What...are you?” Emilia blurted out. “I’ve never seen anyone produce fire from their fingertips...”
“I’m a phoenix shifter,” the woman answered simply. She wiped her hand on her jeans and offered it shyly. “I’m Jasmine Joyce. I’m new in town, so I don’t really know my way around yet. I made a wrong turn and panicked. I was trying to get back to the main road and I didn’t see that little boy...” Jasmine winced and berated herself under her breath.
Emilia liked Jasmine’s candor and sincerity. She looked like she was around Emilia’s age, and it was nice to meet another newcomer.
“I’m Emilia Terry,” Emilia said, taking Jasmine’s hand. “I just moved to Shadow Point too.”
“Really?” Jasmine beamed. “Well, this is a really nice town. I’m glad I moved here. There are all kinds of paranormals in Shadow Point, but so far, I haven’t met another phoenix shifter. I think I may be the only one of my kind around here.”
She canted her head at Emilia and said very softly, “You healed the little boy. You are a very rare type of shifter too. Have you ever encountered another...?”
“No,” Emilia answered flatly and clamped up.
Jasmine seemed to be waiting for Emilia to come right out and say what kind of shifter she was. When Emilia remained silent, Jasmine shrugged and gave her an understanding smile. “It’s okay. I don’t know where you’re from, but I just want to say that Shadow Point isn’t like any of the other towns I’ve lived in before. The people in the other towns treated me differently, because to them, I’m kind of like a freak, a fire hazard. But here, everyone accepts you just as you are. I’m already loving it in Shadow Point, and I think you’ll see that Shadow Point is just the place for misfits like us.”
Jasmine gave Emilia her number before driving off. “Keep in touch,” she called out through the window.
Emilia stood beside Storm and stared after Jasmine’s car. “A phoenix shifter,” she breathed. Turning to Storm, she quirked a lopsided smile and said, “I think she’s right. Misfits like us do belong here.”