Gift of Fire

could drain a person’s body heat in thirty minutes.
    The task of getting down to the beach wasn’t as difficult as Verity had anticipated. Adrenaline could accomplish a lot, she discovered as she half-slid, half jumped down to the pebbly beach. She landed on her feet amid a scattering of small rocks and pine needles and raced over to where Elyssa lay. Verity crouched beside her and felt for the pulse in Elyssa’s throat.
    Little Miss Sunshine was alive. She moaned heavily when Verity began searching her for blood and broken bones. Elyssa’s eyes fluttered.
    “Saranantha?” she whispered thickly.
    “It’s Verity, not Saranantha. It’s all right, Elyssa. I’ll get you back to the house. Can you sit up? We’ve got to get you out of the water.” No telling how long Elyssa had been lying here with her legs in the gray, frigid water.
    “Feel dizzy.” Elyssa’s voice was slurred. “Help me, Saranantha.” She made a halfhearted attempt to sit up and promptly collapsed back into Verity’s arms. Her eyes closed again.
    Elyssa wasn’t going to be much help. Verity stripped off her parka, shuddering as the rain hit her head and shoulders. She removed the other woman’s soaked jacket and stuffed Elyssa into the warm down parka. Then she hooked her hands under Elyssa’s arms and started to pull her out of the water.
    It was tough going. Elyssa was no lightweight, but Verity eventually got her up onto the rocky shore. She glanced at the boat, wondering where the owner was. She hurried over to peer inside. There was a small, wadded-up paper sack in one corner, a wooden paddle for emergencies, and some fishing line. Nothing useful there.
    The keys were gone, but Verity discovered that a storage locker in the stern was open. Inside was a plastic tarp. It wasn’t much, but it would keep the rain off Elyssa and insulate some of her body heat. Verity dragged it out of the locker and draped it over the prone figure.
    Elyssa didn’t look like Little Miss Sunshine at the moment. She didn’t look very seductive, either. Elyssa looked as if she might die if Verity didn’t get help fast.
    Verity scrambled back up the short cliff and ran for the villa. There were only a few twinges from her injured ankle.
    Jonas was standing in front of a narrow window on the first floor of the villa when he caught sight of the familiar red-haired figure dashing toward the house. His first thought was that Verity had no business running like that on her injured ankle. She could easily take another fall.
    His second thought was that he was going to strangle her for going outside without a coat. She was wearing only a sweater over her jeans, and her hair was soaked. Obviously the little firebrand did not know the first thing about good prenatal care.
    It occurred to him briefly as he turned away from the window that this pregnancy business might well change the nature of their relationship. He was rapidly developing an urge to nag. Of course it was all for her own good.
    He reached the main hall at the instant that Verity came charging through the front door.
    “What the hell do you think you’re doing running around without a jacket? What are you doing outside in the rain anyway, for Christ’s sake? Where’s your common sense, woman? You’re responsible for two now, you know.”
    Her eyes flew to where he stood glaring at her with his arms folded and his feet braced aggressively. Relief flooded her. “Jonas! Thank goodness. It’s Elyssa. She’s fallen. She’s lying unconscious in the cove where the little boat is anchored.”
    Jonas rapidly reassessed the situation. “Go get Doug and anyone else you can find.”
    They got Elyssa up the side of the cliff without too much difficulty. When Doug carried her into the house and set her on a sofa in front of the fire, Verity and Oliver Crump bent anxiously over the unconscious woman. They began stripping off Elyssa’s soggy clothing. Crump issued orders for blankets and warm water. One by one, the entire group appeared.
    Jonas stood back and watched Verity’s red head hovering close to Oliver’s dark one. He was aware of the same uneasy sensation he’d experienced earlier when he’d watched the two of them playing with the crystal.
    It disturbed him to see Verity involved with that kind of thing. He didn’t like the way Crump seemed intent on drawing her into his silly psychic games. And he did not like the way Verity seemed to be growing increasingly fascinated with Crump and