Page 18 of Healer’s Reckoning (The Healer’s #3)

Bryce

I wait until the vampires are long gone before I make my way back into the house. I head right towards the kitchen and wait for Hunter to come back inside. He’s been out and about, scouting. He appears a few minutes later. “Ava’s getting worse,” I don’t waste any time saying. “She was confused that I was here.” I shake my head in frustration. “This has to end now, or she’s not going to make it.” The words taste like gravel in my mouth, but I know it’s true. She’s bleeding from her nose, she’s dizzy, confused, and disoriented. “What do we know about the brother?” I ask.

“Sherese,” Hunter calls out, surprising me.

She comes into the kitchen a moment later. “You called?” she says dryly.

“We have a plan to get Ava and her brother out of here. Are you coming with?” I ask.

“No thanks.”

“Wrong answer,” I tell her. “I have a feeling my mate won’t leave without you, and I’m not leaving without her.”

She frowns at me. “Then why did you bother asking me?”

“I was trying to give you the illusion of control.”

She snorts. “I have a feeling you don’t let anybody have control, but you, huh Alpha?”

I feel my wolf rise at her aggression, but I remind him that she’s our mate’s friend. I have to remind myself of the same and not the fact that she took Ava from me and brought her right back to this hell hole.

“There’s no way I’m going with you back to a wolf pack. You may not tear out my throat because of Ava, but I can guarantee your pack won’t feel the same way.”

“You’ll be under my protection,” I tell her, even though the words feel like gravel.

“No, she’ll be under mine,” Hunter says, surprising me and the vampire. I study him for just a moment, wondering what my friend is thinking. But he’s a closed book on this one, and I don’t have the time to focus on it when we need to focus on getting my mate and her brother out of here.

“Fine. You’ll be under Hunter’s protection,” I concede.

“You’re joking, right? He’ll be the first to tear out my throat.”

Hunter doesn’t deny her accusation. “No, he won’t. You're coming with us. End of story. Now let’s get back to the plan. We’re going to do it tonight. We’re going to get Ava through the barrier to my team waiting on the other side, and then we’ll grab the brother. We’ve been able to tap into their security feed. We can override their feed and send them the images they want to see. As far as the brother goes, we will override his alarms as well when we unhook him to everything.”

She eyes me warily. “I haven’t wanted to say this in front of Ava, but I’m not sure if that’s going to be such a good idea.”

I still. “What do you mean?”

“What they’ve done to him,” she pauses. “It’s not normal.”

I flip around a chair and straddle it. “What exactly are they doing in there?”

She takes an unsteady breath, and I study her. She’s nervous, but I’m not sure why. I don’t push her, even though I want to. We need her answers, and if I push her, we may not get them. “You know that they used to take human females and try to turn them into vampires, right?”

My skin bristles, and I resist the urge to respond in any way. “I am aware.”

“The humans were too frail. When that failed to work, they started turning to shifters, who were sturdier and could survive. They would go after rogue wolves because they weren’t in the protection of a pack. They inject vampire serum into them. I’m pretty sure the serum has your mate’s blood in it; that’s what is finally making it stable. That’s what I’ve been able to surmise; they don’t tell me much.” She meets my eyes; I don’t try to hide my anger. “They become shifters with added vampire speed and strength. Basically, they’re unstoppable.”

Hunter and I make eye contact for a moment. “And how many of these have they made?” I ask.

“Successful ones? Only a handful, but they’re working on it every day. Every day they get closer to what they’re hoping for. When they do, they will be able to create an army of these supercharged shifters. When that happens, you’re going to have a war on your hands. A war you may not be able to win.”

I compartmentalize all the information she’s giving me to process at a later date. “Okay. But Ava’s brother is not a shifter, right?”

“No. They have a few humans in there. Most of them are for experimental purposes. But a few of them have been chosen for a specific reason. Ava’s brother was strictly for the purpose of luring her here.”

“But it’s been almost two years,” I argue.

“The vampires are playing the long game,” she assures me. “They are always two or three steps ahead of everybody else. You should never underestimate them. They may be cold-hearted and feelingless, but they’re a lot smarter than people think. Well, than your people think anyway.”

Her words stir up something in me. I study her a moment. “You know a lot about the vampires.” I watch her expression carefully.

“I’ve been here for a while,” she says by way of explanation.

There’s something she’s not telling us, Hunter says through our pack link.

I know. I wonder how hard to push the vampire for answers. I decide to let her be...for now. Ava’s in a really weak position. I don’t want to do anything to push her over the edge, and threatening her only friend right now is probably not a great idea. Before we can say anything else, the door opens, and Ava stumbles inside. I catch her before she hits the floor. “Ava?” When there’s no response, I lift her into my arms. Alarm spreads through me at the sight of blood streaming from her nose.

“She’s bleeding from her ears too,” Hunter says in a low voice.

My heart thunders in my chest. I hold her close and breathe in her scent, trying to let it help me hang on to my sanity. “She’s done.” My words are low and fierce. “She’s not going back. We’re getting her out now.”

Hunter doesn’t bat an eye, not that I expected him to. The vampire, on the other hand, is a different story. “But she has another session tonight.”

“She’s not going,” I snarl at her. Ava’s heartbeat weakens, and I fight my wolf for control. “She has to get out now and get help, or she’s not going to make it through the night.” I know this is true with every fiber of my being. “We’ll get her out now and come back for the brother tonight.”

Hunter gives me a tight nod. His eyes flick to the vampire for just a moment, directing my attention back that way. “Be ready to go tonight when we come for the brother.”

She laughs, and it snaps any ounce of restraint I was hanging on to. “I’m sorry. Is something funny?”

“Yes. You are. The fact that you think I’ll still be alive tonight after the vampires come for her and realize she’s gone. You realize they’ll blame me, right?”

“Tell them it was us; I don’t care.”

She leans back against her seat, looking like she doesn’t have a care in the world. But I catch the trace of fear in her eyes. “It won’t matter.” Her words are softer this time, like she’s lost her fight.

For the first time, Hunter joins the conversation. “You’re coming with us.”

She shakes her head. “I’ve already told you. I’m not—”

“You’re coming,” Hunter argues. “If we have to sedate you to do it, we will.” He straightens, standing over her because she’s still seated.

“Don’t threaten me, Wolf.”

“Not threatening, Vampire. Just stating fact.”

Seeing that my friend isn’t going to back down—he's got a stubborn streak a mile long—and knowing my mate’s wishes, I give the order to Hunter. “The vampire comes with.”

“I’m not coming,” she calls out after me as I walk towards Ava’s room.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” I say right before I walk into Ava’s room and lay her on the bed. Plans have changed, I say through the pack link to Cody, Leo, and Alicia. Ava’s too weak to hang on. If we don’t get her out now, she’s not going to make it. I can feel their collective alarm. We’re going to have to get her to one of the healers. I look down at my precious mate. Maybe more than one. I know we’re not close to any of them but see what you can work out. Tell them it’s an emergency, and we will be willing to compensate them for their time and travel.

We'll take care of it, Boss, Alicia responds.

Thank you. Cody, arrange transportation to get her there.

On it, he responds.

Leo, keep working on that security feed loop. I need—

I've already got it ready to go, he cuts me off.

Relief floods me. Good work. Next issue. Her brother could be a factor. We’re going to need to be ready. He’s a human, but he’s been shot up with vampire serum. Who knows how much and how often. I haven’t talked to Ava about him enough yet to know the details. I’ll let you know more as soon as I know, but we might have to take precautions to deal with him.

We'll be ready for him. That comes from Cody. He’s taken down all sorts of creatures whether they be in the form of human, animal, or supernatural beings. The door to Ava’s room opens quietly, and Sherese comes in.

“How long do we have before they come back for her next session?” I ask.

“A few hours.” She pauses a beat. “I thought maybe I could help you pack up her things,” she says in a quiet tone.

I frown. “She was taken from a restaurant. She didn’t have anything.”

Sherese opens a drawer and steps back. “They were ready for her.” I stride over to the dresser drawer and stare into the drawer. I jerk open the next one and the next one. I close my eyes and ball up my fists, trying to keep control. “I’ll, uh, maybe wait out in the hall.” I try to calm myself but fail miserably. They knew she was coming; they’d been ready for her. Every drawer was filled with clothes that were her size—shirts, pants, socks, underwear, bras. The pull handle for the drawer comes off in my hand, and I resist the urge to throw it across the room. The thought of one of the males here, whether vampire or human, shopping for my mate, buying her underwear... It makes me seethe with anger. I try to take a deep breath and settle my anger. I walk over to where my mate lies on the bed. Even in sleep, she’s in pain. Her face is tight and gaunt. I can’t believe how much weight she’s lost. She’s practically skin and bones now, and the sight of it both terrifies and angers me. I force myself to focus on the task at hand—getting her away from here and to a healer. After that, I’ll take her to my pack where I can both protect and care for her. She may not know it yet, but she’s going to have a long road of recovery ahead of her, not just physically but mentally as well. I hate it, and I wish I could spare her from it. But the damage has been done. Now we just have to help her deal with the aftermath of it all.

I grab a few items of clothing because she’s going to need clothes in the meantime. I don’t think about where they came from or who bought them. I just think about taking care of my mate. When we get back on pack land, we’ll burn everything from this place. I’ll buy her everything she needs and wants from now on.