Free Secret Of The Rose (Legacy Of Magick Series, Book 2) by Ellen Dugan Page B

a girl who was sitting on the street and crying.
    “Holly!” I called to her.
    She motioned us over. “I’m alright. Megan’s hurt, though.”
    As I approached, I noticed a large bump in the middle of the girl’s forearm. My stomach turned over. Definitely broken.
    The driver of the truck rushed over, and she knelt down next to Megan. “I’m sorry honey, I stomped on the brakes to avoid hitting that dog.”
    “The trailer jerked hard. I lost my balance and fell off,” Megan cried.
    “That’s the coach,” Ivy informed me.
    I stepped back and saw that Duncan and his crew were helping the other girls down from the float. Duncan scooped Viviane up, and I went to the float and grabbed her crutches for her. He handed Viviane off to Marshall, and Viviane smiled at him, a little flustered.
    Marshall carted her gallantly over to the sidewalk and out of the way. Kate climbed down with assistance from Cypress and a few other adults who had gathered to help. I handed Viviane her crutches and saw Felicia pass over a baby blanket to Ivy. The blanket was passed to the coach who tied it into a makeshift sling to stabilize Megan’s arm.
    I helped round up the other girls while Holly checked with their coach, and, after getting her consent, we escorted the rest of the girls over to the sidewalk and off the street, keeping them all together. Someone from the crowd pulled the float over to the curb so the rest of the parade could continue. They handed the truck keys back to the coach as a police cruiser rolled up, and a male and female officer got out.
    I recognized the female officer as Lexie Proctor from Aunt Gwen’s coven. She carefully helped Megan up, and Megan, along with the coach, got into the police cruiser. A few moments later, they smoothly rolled away to the emergency room, no doubt, while the other officer remained to get the street clear. The crowd quickly got out of the way, and the parade continued on.
    “We need to get back to school,” Kate said as she stood there cradling her wrist in its blue brace against her chest.
    “Are you hurt?” Duncan asked her sharply.
    “Oh.” Kate scowled down at her wrist. “I don’t think so. Well, not anymore than I was already.”
    “Once the last of the parade moves through, we could get the girls back to school easily. We have enough drivers.” I motioned to Duncan’s crew.
    A bit later, Felicia and Marshall took Viviane, Belinda, Danielle, and Jayne in their minivan. The four girls were cooing over the toddler, and they all seemed to be in good spirits. I sent Kate and Lissa off with Duncan. Ivy volunteered to wait for us and promised to send texts to Gwen and Marie so they could contact the other girls’ parents. I took Cypress and Holly in my pickup, and we made a caravan to the school to drop the squad off.
    I waited until I was alone with the two girls, driving towards the school. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” I asked them grimly.
    “That hex is still at work,” Holly said quietly.
    “No shit,” Cypress whistled through her teeth.
    A thought occurred to me. “I’m starting to wonder if this is like magickal revenge. Who did you girls piss off, anyway?”
    Cypress pursed her lips as she thought about it. “I haven’t heard any of the other girls talking about a big fight with anyone.”
    I stopped at an intersection and eyeballed them. “Did any of the girls on the squad steal somebody’s boyfriend?”
    Holly crossed her arms over her chest. “Not that I know of.”
    “You know, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and all that,” I said.
    Cypress smacked her hand on the dashboard in frustration. “Well, whoever this nasty, spell-casting, bitch is... they’ve gone and pissed me off now!”
    “I wasn’t trying to make light of the situation— I was trying to eliminate possibilities. Sorry.” I said to Cypress.
    “I know.” Cypress made an effort to pull her temper in. “Megan is one of my best friends. She’s a sweetie. She