Page 12 of Healer’s Reckoning (The Healer’s #3)

Ava

I pause and try to wrap my head around this. My headache is making it hard to concentrate. “There’s only one number I have memorized from my phone.” I choose not to dwell on the fact that it’s Bryce’s number that I have memorized and nobody else’s. I’m not even sure calling him is the best plan of action, but I literally have nothing else. “He’s the alpha of a pack, and I think he’d be willing to help us out. Where are we even?” I don’t tell her about our connection.

“The closest town is Creston, West Virginia; basically, we’re in the middle of nowhere.”

“I don’t know how long it will take him to get here. He was in Orlando last, or whatever city we were in that night, I guess. Of course, he could be back in Arizona by now.”

Her eyes widen. “He’s from Arizona?”

“That’s where his pack is from.” I catch the look on her face. “What?”

“Nothing.” Her face betrays nothing now.

“What is it?” I push.

“It’s stupid,” she says.

“Just tell me,” I snap. I’m tired; my head hurts. I’m not in the mood for games.

“I always wanted to visit Arizona. It always looked so cool. I mean all of those amazing national parks are there. And the Grand Canyon?” She’s the most animated I’ve ever seen her.

“You should go,” I tell her.

She levels a look at me. “The sun?”

I immediately regret my words. I close my eyes for a brief moment. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. It is what it is.”

“No, it was stupid and insensitive of me,” I tell her. I’m cautious when I ask the next question. “Can you go out in the sun at all?”

“Not right now. Well, not for longer than just a few seconds anyway. They tell me it will get better once I’ve been a vampire for longer.” She sounds so sad; it makes me sad. “All right. Back to our plan. You contact the alpha; find out when he can come. Then we make a plan to get the baby. We sneak it out at night and deliver it to your friend and then come back here and go to bed and act shocked like everybody else when we find out the baby is missing.”

“Uhhh, I feel like a few details are missing. Like, how are we going to get the baby without setting off alarms or whatever?” I can’t help but ask.

“I will get the baby because I won’t set off any alarms. The building is programmed to let me come and go. I’m trusted here...sort of.”

My eyebrows lift. “Yeah, you’re trusted so much you live out here in this house by yourself.” I’m not trying to be mean, but we have to get all the facts straight if this is going to work.

“They let me be in charge of you, don’t they?” she challenges.

“Yeah, but I’m pretty sure they’re not worried about me escaping because I’m not going to run away as long as they have my brother.”

“Okay, well, let’s not psychoanalyze my acceptance among the vampires. I can get into that building, and I can go anywhere I want without setting off any alarms.”

I lift my hands in surrender. “Okay. What about when you take the baby? Wait, it’s a baby. They’re not just going to leave the baby overnight in that place like they do their other subjects.”

Sherese doesn’t bat an eye. “You’d be surprised.”

My eyes nearly bug out of my head. “They would leave a baby overnight by itself?”

She gives me a look. “I’m not saying I agree; I’m just saying how it probably is. They probably have the baby hooked up to some kind of feeding tube, so they don’t have to feed it. And they’re probably keeping it comatose, like they keep all their other patients.” I try to keep the horror off my face but know I’ve failed when she shakes her head and stands up. “I go in there and get the baby.”

I’m already shaking my head. “If the baby is hooked up to wires and...whatever, it will definitely set off some kind of alarm if you unhook the baby and take it...him or her,” I correct. That quiets her, and we both stew about how we can get this to work.

“What if I just take the baby and run? I’m super fast.”

I shoot that idea down immediately. “So are the other vampires. Somebody will catch you.” We throw around lots of ideas, but none of them are good.

“Our best idea is just to take the baby and run,” she says after we’ve exhausted every idea. “What’s the worst that can happen?”

“They could catch you, Sherese.”

“I told you; I’m fast.”

“Yeah, but there are other vampires,” I begin.

“I know,” she cuts me off. “But there are no other options. It’s either this, or we don’t do it at all.”

I sit back against my chair wearily. “I don’t like it.”

“I know, but I promise I will do everything in my power to get the baby out of there and to safety.”

“I’m not just worried about the baby, Sherese. I’m worried what would happen to you if you get caught.”

She blinks in surprise. “You’re worried about me?”

“Uh, yeah. That’s what I just said.”

“Huh.” Her tone is contemplative.

She doesn’t say anything other than that. I’m exhausted, but I need to make this phone call. “You have a phone, right?”

She nods. “Yeah.” She slides it over to me.

“They don’t like track the calls or listen or anything, do they?”

She grins. “Guess we’ll find out.”

Shaking my head, I put in the numbers for Bryce’s security business, wondering if anybody will answer this time of night. It’s definitely after business hours, even in Arizona.

“Bryce.”

I jerk in surprise. I certainly wasn’t expecting Bryce to answer the phone. “Bryce?” I repeat, still shocked I’m actually talking to him.

“Ava?” I can hear the shock in his voice. “Where are you?”

I take a deep breath. Here we go. “ I need your help. I’m at a vampire site in West Virginia, somewhere near Creston, I think. There’s a baby here that needs rescuing. I can’t leave, but I need to send the baby with you so you can get him or her to safety. Can you do that?” I pause to take a breath and realize just how fast I said all that. I don’t hear anything in return. “Bryce?” I frown. “Bryce?” I pull the phone away from my ear and see the call has failed.

Sherese winces. “I don’t get great service here.”

I try to refrain from getting angry. “That would have probably been good to know before I called.” I try dialing the number again, but it won’t even go through. “Should I go outside?” I ask.

“No.” Her answer is swift. “They will be able to hear you; that’s not a good idea.”

I sit at the table in defeat. “How do you ever make calls?”

She shrugs. “Who am I going to call?”

Anger burns through me. “I hate the vampires. They just ruin everybody’s lives. Present company excluded, of course,” I add.

“Oh, of course,” she repeats with sarcasm. I put my head down on the table, too exhausted to do anything else. “Why don’t you get some sleep? We can talk through it all again tomorrow.”

Too tired to do anything but agree, I drag myself to my bed. I fall asleep immediately but wake up about an hour later from a bloody nose. I’m restless as I try to go back to sleep, even though I’m exhausted.

The next morning, I feel terrible. I want nothing more than to bury myself under my blankets and never come out again. But my brother is counting on me, not that he knows that of course. I get out of bed and immediately regret the action. The room spins around me, and I feel like I’m going to be sick. I close my eyes until the room stops spinning and then slowly get dressed for the day. I don’t bother eating, knowing if I do, it will all come right back up.

“Ava,” Sherese says as I enter the kitchen. “What...are you okay?”

There is nothing okay about what they’re doing to me, but there’s nothing she can do about it. “I’ll be fine.”

She stands up. “Let me at least walk you over.”

“No, if they think we’re friends or that you’re sympathetic in any way, they could remove one of us.”

“Okay, but are you sure you can get over there?”

“I’ll be fine.” And I will be because I have to be. There’s no other option. I’m at the door when two vampires come for me. If they notice my weakened state, they don’t say anything. They take me to my regular room and get to work.

When I come to, I immediately turn my head and throw up. By sheer luck, there’s a trash can next to the bed that I mostly hit. When they come to take me to my brother, I manage to get to my feet unsteadily. The trip seems to take forever. When I get to his cubicle, I collapse in a chair near his bed. I close my eyes for just a moment and gather my strength. “Hey, Brandon.” His eyes pop open, and it startles me so much, I nearly fall off my chair. His eyes are mostly red, but there’s a little blue showing through that gives me hope. “Hey,” I repeat softly. I keep my voice calm, even though my heart is racing. “It’s good to see you awake.” He blinks slowly, but his eyes open back up again. He stares at me, and I stare right back for a moment before I settle into my chair and begin a story. “So, do you remember when you were five, and you talked me into sneaking downstairs one night?” I tell him several stories, and his attention never leaves my face. When I see the vampires coming for me, I lean forward. “Close your eyes, Brandon. They’re coming for me.” I’m not even sure why exactly I say it; I just don’t want them to know he’s awake. He closes his eyes, and I breathe a sigh of relief for two reasons. One, they won’t see that he was awake. And two, he really is in there. He listened to what I said and did what I asked; that means there’s some kind of cognitive response going on. There’s brain activity happening. My happiness carries me back to the house. I don’t bother eating; I’m too exhausted.

After my evening session, I can’t even walk back to the house. One of the vampires carries me and unceremoniously drops me in a seat in the kitchen.

“You.”

I look up in surprise as Sherese enters the kitchen. “What?”

Sherese motions to the table. “You are going to eat.”

My stomach rolls in response to the thought of food. “I don’t know if I can.”

“You have to try.” I put my head down while she microwaves something for me to eat. “Here. It’s chicken noodle soup; it’s like the most mild thing you can eat.” She hands me a spoon and motions to the bowl. I sit up and dutifully spoon a few bites into my mouth. When I can’t eat anymore, I push it away. “Ava,” she starts.

“I can’t do anymore.” I put my head down on the table.

“Are you okay?” she asks quietly. I don’t bother answering because we both know I’m not. I don’t want to move, but I want to go to sleep in my bed, if I can get there. I stand to my feet and slowly make my way to my room and close the door. I don’t even bother kicking off my shoes before I allow myself to crumple into a ball in my bed. I fall asleep immediately.

I wake to a hand suddenly covering my mouth. I try to scream, but nothing comes out. Then a low voice says, “Don’t make a sound. It’s Hunter.”