Chapter 20

When we got to the truck, I clambered into the back seat and Karl passed the sheriff through, so he was stretched along the length of the seat with his head in my lap.

"Hold him still," ordered Karl. "We don't know how much damage that thing did to him. We don't want to hurt him anymore than he is already."

I held tight to Sheriff Tolan's shoulders as Karl threw the truck down the hill. I looked up and caught Karl watching me in the rear-view mirror.

He scrutinized my face. "How are you doing?"

That was the question of the hour. Nothing in my life had prepared me for what I had just faced. Not even my nightmares had prepared me for what had happened this evening.

"I don't understand what is going on. What was that thing?"

Karl frowned. "You're a witch. Surely you know what a golem is."

I chose to ignore the implied query. "How did you find me?"

"We've been following you," Karl gritted out, his knuckles clenched white against the steering wheel.

"I've been wandering for two hours with no idea where I was going. Why would you be following me?"

Karl nodded at the man whose head was settled in my lap. "The sheriff was concerned that you were going to get yourself in trouble."

"He took both of you away from a murder investigation to make sure I didn't hurt myself." That didn't sound right.

"Yeah, so next time a cop pulls you over and you decide to tell them that you pay their salary, remember this day."

I shot a glare at him. "I would never say that, and I don't do anything that warrants being pulled over."

"No, you just get attacked by a golem." Karl shook his head. "Where in the hell did a golem come from and why was it after you?"

"It wasn't after me, I just stumbled onto it."

Karl lifted his head and shot me a questioning look. "You may not have been paying attention, but I was. That thing was tossing the sheriff and me aside, but it wasn't trying to kill us. It was definitely trying to kill you."

I stayed silent as I looked down on the sheriff. Guilt flooded me. I shouldn't have gone off on my own like that. I wasn't that person. I wasn't brave or special. I was supposed to be at Tilda's home taking a nap.

Karl sighed. "Just tell me what you were doing out there."

"I don't know," I whispered.

"How can you not know?"

"I just don't. It was like something was making me do it, pushing me on."

"This is why I hate working cases with witches. There is never an easy answer."

I bowed my head and watched as one of my tears dropped onto the sheriff's cheek. He unconsciously flinched and I hurriedly wiped it away.

It didn't take us long to reach Dr Collias' house and Karl jumped out and pounded on the front door. After a couple of seconds of discussion Karl came back to the truck.

"Okay, we're taking him into the clinic. I need you to keep his head straight as we try to make this movement as gentle as possible."

Despite our best intentions transferring him, we could hear from the groans that the sheriff was hurting. We laid him down on a bed and then retreated to the waiting room. We sat silently, neither of us wanting to ask a question that was going to reveal too much.

It didn't take long for the doctor to come out.

"I want to keep him in tonight. His body shows all the signs of a violent shift." He peered at us, the question obvious in his expression.

I looked over at Karl and he gave a short shake of his head. "We can't give you information, Doc. Not until the sheriff is up and about."

Collias sighed and then pointed at me. "You're up next."

"I'm fine," I said, automatically.

"Young lady, you look like you've had the stuffing kicked out of you. Even if I wasn't a doctor, I'd be able to tell that the last thing you are is fine. Now get into the examination room so I can do my job."

I followed him into the room and, after putting on a gown, I climbed up on the bed. Dr Collias started examining me and his eyes widened once he got a good look at my injuries.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" he asked as he started cleaning up the scrapes which stretched down my arms, torso and legs.

I winced as I shook my head. "Not really."

Dr Collias paused and pulled my hair away from my neck, his eyes filled with concern at the bruises I was sure were developing there. "I'm sorry, but I have to ask this. I need to know if either of the men who brought you in tonight did this," he said, softly.

"No," I replied immediately. "Definitely not."

"So, I'm assuming they saved you from something."

I nodded gently.

"Good." He continued on with his work. "You know, if there's anything you need to talk to me about, I'm here."

"Thank you," I whispered.

By the time the doctor had finished with me, I looked worse than when I'd started.

"Is she okay?" asked Karl as we walked back into the waiting room.

Dr Collias nodded. "I recommend rest and giving herself time to heal, but I have a feeling that's not in anyone's future."

I could see the resignation on Karl's face as he agreed. "I'll take her to Tilda's and then I'll be back to watch over the sheriff." He eyed Collias keenly. "Can you take care of him until I return?"

"Nobody will get near my patient." With those words I no longer saw the gentle healer that he was, I saw the centaur warrior that he could be.

Before I knew it, I was bundled back in the sheriff's truck and we were heading towards Tilda's place.

"Are we going to talk about what happened?" I asked, not sure if that was something I wanted to do.

Karl sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "I need to work some things out before we have that conversation."

I could understand that. I watched the town go by and before we knew it, we were sitting in front of Tilda's house. I was grateful to see that the building was cloaked in darkness.

"Looks like she's not home yet."

Karl leaned over and put a hand on my arm. I looked down and marveled at the fact that a few days ago the mottled gray of his hand would have seemed so alien to me. Now I felt like it was the only thing keeping me grounded.

"I need to do some research. Until I get a better handle on all this, I'd rather not speculate. I think that could get us into more trouble than we're already in."

That sounded reasonable. I went to get out of the truck when I felt Karl's hand tighten on me.

"I need to ask you to not say a word of what happened this evening to anyone."

"I don't know if I can promise that," I said. "I think the coven needs to know about the golem. There are things happening that I can't talk about, and I'm pretty sure my getting attacked by that thing is going to be pertinent to that."

"Okay," Karl said. "I can understand that. Can you at least keep what happened to the sheriff quiet?"

I nodded. "I don't see how it's relevant at this stage, I won't say a word."

"Thank you. I have a bad feeling this is going to blow up soon. I don't want the sheriff to be collateral damage."

"Neither do I," I murmured, remembering that kiss.