Priceless

away.
    “Good, that makes two of us.” Still, I dropped my hands and backed up, shaking my head. A slow deep breath calmed my racing heart. “They shouldn’t try to take you away, that isn’t right.”
    “It’s how they do things,” she said, rubbing her arms. “I’ve got to go. They can’t know that I’ve seen you.”
    Milly turned her back and walked away from me, pausing at the edge of the building. “Goodbye, Rylee.” The tears in her voice did me in.
    “You can always come home, Milly. No matter what, you know that right? I’ll always look out for you.” It was the best I could do. My own emotions were choking me. I didn’t want to be left behind again.
    Her words hitched into sobs. I couldn’t be truly angry with her. We both had wanted only one thing growing up: to fit in. And now she had a chance, and I couldn’t begrudge her that, no matter how much it hurt. Swallowing the pain back, I slipped into the Jeep. “You’ll always be my witch, Milly.” I pulled the door closed, shutting out the wind and my best friend. Only then did I let the tears fall and allow myself to feel the pain of being abandoned once again.

~5~
    I didn’t have time to relocate my mentor if I was to save India. But there was no way I was going to let Giselle stay in her house with what felt like an early winter coming on, and I didn’t have the funds to put her up in a care home; they were too expensive and the wait to get in was long. Maybe after this job I would move her out to my place; but then I immediately dismissed the thought. Giselle didn’t like to leave her home, never had, even when her mind had been mostly intact. This was about to get difficult.
    I wove back through the subdivision to Giselle’s house and parked out front for the second time that day.
    Bundling her up in a threadbare lightweight jacket, I tucked her into the passenger seat of the Jeep and cranked the heat up.
    Her eyes followed me, a silent question in them, as I walked around to my side of the vehicle.
    “We’re going for a ride,” I said, as I put on my seatbelt and pulled away from the curb. She huddled in her seat, lost in her mind’s abyss, somewhere far beyond my reach.
    She’d been the one to name me, name my abilities. I was an Immune and a Tracker all bundled up into one. My tracking abilities hadn’t come on line until after Berget went missing. Since then, I could pinpoint anyone I was close with, friends and even strangers, when I worked at it. All I needed was their name and a picture of them, and I was off and running. Could lead you right to them, no matter the distance. More than that, I knew if they were hurt, happy, sad, alive, or dead. With the kids I hunted for, this ability was priceless. It only failed me if the kids weren’t on this side of the veil, which from time to time was the case. If they’d been taken by supernaturals interested in the kid’s powers and abilities, they weren’t kept where I could find them easily. Even if they were dead, I could still track them, to at least give the parents some sense of closure. Unfortunately, that was all too often the case. The only one I’d never been able to find was Berget. I reached for her, even as I thought of this anomaly, finding only an empty spot inside my skull where she should have been. Even if she was dead, I should have been able to find her, to bring her home.
    My thoughts flickered as I glanced over at Giselle, sound asleep and snoring lightly, a blush of color on her cheeks. I reached over and brushed my hand over her forehead, letting out a sigh of relief. “No fever.”
    I took a left turn and my mind went back to the day I’d been bitten by a large rattlesnake, not long after moving in with Giselle and Milly. We’d been in the backyard, me practicing my tracking on the neighborhood children, pinpointing them for Giselle, while Milly practiced her incantations under her breath. I’d stepped back into a large bush and felt a sharp jab into my left leg. Looking down, a massive diamond shaped head hung off my left calf, venom pumping into my system. Its eyes transfixed me as it worked its teeth deeper into my flesh, trying to get a better grip on my calf.
    Giselle shouted, but I was too frozen by shock to move. A large part of me thought it was my time to die; the guilt over losing Berget still sat heavily on me, my inability to track the one child I loved more than any other, the depression it invoked was something I couldn’t