Covet (Clann)

the cab to unload a gurney from the back end of the vehicle.
    “He’s going to be okay now, I think,” Emily murmured. “A few stitches here and there and some broken bones that’ll have to be reset, which I’m sure the Clann will help heal faster. But he’ll be okay.”
    I held Tristan’s right hand as the emergency workers wrapped a brace around his neck then got a stretcher under him so they could lift him up onto the gurney. When they carried him toward the van, I kept holding on, walking beside Tristan. He still hadn’t woken up. I needed to see those green eyes looking back at me before I could be sure he’d be all right.
    “Ma’am,” one of the emergency workers said to me. “You have to let go so we can load him.”
    “I want to go with him.”
    Emily laid a hand on my forearm. “You can’t. I called my parents. They’re on the way to the hospital already. They’ll be there waiting.”
    “I don’t care. I have to go.”
    “You can’t,” Emily said, more firmly this time. “You know what will happen.”
    “Please,” I begged her. “I have to know he’ll be all right.”
    “He will be. But you have to let him go now.” She leaned in close and whispered, “Please don’t make me use magic on you to save you. I know you love him. I promise I’ll call with updates.”
    At that moment, I almost hated her. But some more logical part of me made me let go of his hand and step away.
    “What’s your friend’s number?” she asked as the emergency workers slid Tristan into the ambulance.
    “What? Why?”
    “Because I’ve got to follow them. You need someone to come pick you up.”
    I told her Anne’s number, and she punched it in. She didn’t have to say much before Anne agreed to come get me.
    “She says she’ll be here in ten minutes,” Emily said after ending the call. “Now what’s your number?”
    I looked at her in confusion, my mind too focused on the closing ambulance doors to be able to process her question.
    She touched my shoulder. “Savannah, I need your number so I can call you with updates.”
    “You’ll really call me?” I asked.
    A smile tugged at her lips. “I said I would, didn’t I? Didn’t Tristan ever tell you I always keep my promises?”
    So I told her my number. Then I wondered where exactly I’d left my phone. Maybe Anne had it.
    She punched the number into her phone. “Are you going to be okay till she gets here? Do you want me to stay with you?”
    “No!” Panic made me nearly shout. The driver for the ambulance threw a quick glance over his shoulder as he climbed in behind the wheel. “No, please follow them.” She would be my only contact at the hospital. My only way of knowing if Tristan got worse.
    She hesitated then gave me a quick, fierce hug. “Hang in there. He’s going to get better. Then he’ll be right back to his usual spoiled-rotten self in no time. And, Savannah?”
    The ambulance drove away, its taillights fading down the road toward town. “Mmm?”
    “Thank you.”
    I looked at her then. “Thank me with updates.”
    “I will. I promise.”
    And then she was gone, her car’s lights following the ambulance.
    Suddenly I found myself in a field at night all alone with only Tristan’s wrecked truck to keep me company. And yet I couldn’t manage to dredge up a single ounce of fear. As long as Tristan was going to be okay, nothing else mattered much.
    A bit of movement in the distance at the edge of the woods drew my attention. In the moonlight, it looked like a person entering the woods. The figure was too far away for me to make out details before the trees and the darkness swallowed it up. A neighbor come to watch the local drama? Probably.
    My gaze dropped to the heap of metal between the tree line and where I was standing. I stumbled back to the totaled vehicle, stopping by the driver’s side opening. Remembering the sight of Tristan slumped there unconscious and bleeding. As if they had a mind of their own, my fingers reached out to trail over the ripped leather headrest, and I shuddered.
    I had nearly lost him tonight.
    Anne found me there some time later. She touched my arm and gasped. “Sav, you’re like ice! Are you okay? What’s going on?”
    “Tristan totaled his truck. Emily said he’ll be okay.”
    “Come on, let’s get you warmed up.”
    I followed her to the road where she’d left her truck running. We climbed inside, and she cranked up the heater as she headed back into town.
    “Do you have