“You tripped,” he said firmly, but I heard a tinge of unease in his voice.
“No, I didn’t.” I stepped away from him to take in his appearance. He looked about as freaked out as I felt.
“Then I don’t know.”
“There’s something really weird going on.” An awful thought struck me. “Am I awake?”
“Excuse me?”
Could I even explain it to him?
The wheelbarrow turned over by itself. I yelped with fright and barrelled back into Dorian. He held on to me as though for support. The bags sliced open simultaneously, and dirt flew up into the air, then rained down on us. We covered our faces until it was over, and then we gaped at each other.
“That happened,” I whispered.
“Yeah.” He sounded as freaked out as I felt.
We both gazed at the wheelbarrow in silence for a moment.
Dorian snapped out of it first and ushered me away. “I’ll clean this up,” he said hurriedly. “You should go, Margo.”
“Wait! What’s happening?” I demanded.
“I’ve no idea,” he said. “Justgo.”
Dad came jogging over, looking concerned. “Is everything okay over here?”
I shook my head numbly.
“She twisted her ankle and knocked over the wheelbarrow,” Dorian said confidently, no trace of the lie in his words. “I’ll clean this up, but you should get Margo home, Mr. Harding. We’ll carry on here until you get back.”
Dad had to help me to the car. My ankle wasn’t hurt, but I was trembling like a leaf.
“I can stay home with you,” he said as he drove.
“I’m fine,” I lied. I wasn’t fine at all. I was freaking the hell out.
And as soon as I was alone at home, I took off my shirt and stared in horror into the mirror at a bruise in the centre of my chest, shaped like a hand.
Chapter 14
Dorian
As soon asthe car was out of sight, I ran to find Byron. He was in the middle of a discussion with Dominic, one of the few dominant wolves who didn’t constantly treat me like crap, Cecilia, one of those middling wolves who liked to bark to cover up their lack of bite, and Jorge, a young Portuguese wolf who lived with the rest of his family in another part of town.
“It attacked Margo,” I said, panting and pointing. “The sp…” I swallowed hard. “Spirit thing.”
“Calm down,” Byron said. “Tell me exactly what happened.”
I ran my hands through my hair, trying to reassure the wolf within. We hadn’t been able to protect Margo from something we hadn’t been able to see, and that was freaking us out. A sharp cold spike found its way into my gut. Margo had known. She’d panicked before I even realised anything was wrong.
Jorge laid a hand on my shoulder. “Dorian, relax.”
I sucked in a deep breath. “Margo was helping in the garden, and then she suddenly acted really scared. Her heart started racing. I didn’t know what was happening. She held up her hands as though to protect herself, thensomethingjust came at her. It knocked her over then destroyed the bags of dirt.”
“Something?” Dom said warily.
“I didn’t see it, but it was there. Just like the other night.”