"No! Galen-"
He was already running back.
Keller cursed.
"Go on!" she yelled to Nissa and Winnie, who were at the entrance to the kitchen, where the back door was. "Take the limo if you can get to it. Don't wait for us!"
Then she turned and plunged into the living room.
Galen was trying to shield Grandma Harman from the worst of the energy being exchanged. Keller gritted her teeth. This group of ninjas was only the first wave. They were here to breach the wards and make an opening for whatever was going to follow.
Which could be a dragon.
The ninjas hadn't finished their job, though. Most of the wards were holding, and the one that had fallen was on a small window. The dark figures could only squirm in one at a time. The house shook as whoever was outside slammed power at it, trying to break a bigger entrance.
Faintly, Keller heard an engine rev up outside. She hoped it was the limo.
Galen was pulling at Grandma Harman. Toby was grappling hand-to-hand with a ninja.
Keller batted a couple of the sneaks out of her way. She wasn't trying to kill them, just put them out of commission. She had almost reached Galen.
And then she heard the rumbling.
Only her panther ears could have picked it up. Just as the first time when she'd heard it, it was so deep that it seemed both soft and frighteningly loud. It shook her to her bones.
In a flash, she knew what was coming.
And there was no time to think about what to do.
Galen seemed to have sensed it, too. Keller saw him looking at the roof just above the door. Then he turned toward Grandma Harman, shouting.
After that, everything happened at once. Galen knocked the old woman down and fell on top of her. At the same time, Keller sprang and landed on top of both of them.
She was changing even as she did it. Changing and spreading herself out, trying to make herself as wide and flat as possible. A panther rug to cover them.
The brick wall exploded just as the window had, only louder.
Shattered with Power, Keller thought. The dragon had recovered... fast.
And then it was raining bricks. One hit Keller in the leg, and she lashed her tail in fury. Another struck her back, and she felt a deep pain. Then one got her in the head, and she saw white light. She could hear Galen shouting under her. It seemed to be her name.
Then nothing.
Something wet touched her face. Keller hissed automatically, pawing at it in annoyance.
"Lemme lone."
"Boss, wake up. Come on, it's morning already."
Keller opened heavy eyes.
She was dreaming. She had to be. Either that, or the afterlife was full of teenage girls. Winnie was bending over her with a dripping washcloth, and Nissa was peering critically over her shoulder. Behind Nissa was Iliana's anxious little heart-shaped face, her hair falling like two shimmering curtains of silvery-starlight gold on either side.
Keller blinked. "I was sure I was dead."
"Well, you got close," Winnie said cheerfully. "Me and Toby and Grandma Harman have been working on you most of the night. You're going to be kind of stiff, but I guess your skull was too thick to crack."
Keller sat up and was rewarded with a stabbing pain in her temples. "What happened? Where's Galen?"
"Well, golly gee, Boss, I didn't know you cared-"
"Stop fooling around, Winnie! Where's the guy who's got to be alive if the shapeshifters are going to join Circle Daybreak?"
Winnie sobered. Nissa said calmly, "He's fine, Keller. This is Iliana's house. Everybody's okay. We got you guys out-"
Keller frowned, struck by a new worry. "You did? Why? I told you to take the girl and go."
Nissa raised an eyebrow wryly. "Yes, well, but the girl didn't want to go. She made us stop and turn back for you."
"For Galen," Keller said. She looked at Diana, who was wearing a pink nightgown with puffy sleeves and looked about seven. She tried to make her voice patient. 'It was good to think of him, but you should have followed the plan."
"Anyway, it worked out," Nissa said. "Apparently, the dragon blew the house down on top of you, but then he walked right over you trying to get to us."
"Yeah. I was kind of hoping he wouldn't realize
Galen was there," Keller said. "Or wouldn't realize he was important."
"Well, when he found we'd already gotten away in the limo, he and his buddies took after us in cars," Winnie said. "But Nissa lost them. And then Iliana... insisted, and so we circled back. And there you were. Galen and Toby were digging you out. We helped them and brought you here." "What about Grandma Harman?" "She came out of it without a scratch. She's tougher than she looks," Winnie said. "She talked to Iliana's mom last night," Nissa added. "She fixed everything up so we can stay here.
You're supposed to be a distant cousin, and the rest of us are your friends. We're from Canada. We graduated last year, and we're touring the U.S. by bus. We ran into Iliana last night, and that's why she was late. It's all covered, nice and neat." "It's all ludicrous," Keller said. She looked at Iliana. "And it's time to stop. Haven't you seen enough yet? That's twice you've been attacked by a monster. Do you really want to try your luck for a third time?"
It was a mistake. Iliana's face had been sweet and anxious, but now Keller could see the walls slam down. The violet eyes hazed over and sparked at the same time.
"Nobody attacked me until you guys came!" Iliana flared. "In fact, nobody's attacked me so far at all. I think it's you people they're after-or maybe Galen. I keep telling you that I'm not the one you're looking for." This was the time for diplomacy, but Keller was too exasperated to think. "You don't really believe that. Unless you practice being stupid-"
"Stop calling me stupid!" The last word was a piercing shriek. At the same time, Diana threw something at Keller. She batted it out of the air automatically before it could hit.
"I'm not stupid! And I'm not your Witch Child or whatever you call it! I'm just a normal kid, and I like my life. And if I can't live my life, then I don't want to-to do anything." She whirled around and stalked out, her nightgown billowing.
Keller stared at the missile she'd caught. It was a stuffed lamb with outrageously long eyelashes and a pink ribbon tied around its white neck.