Page 19 of Healer’s Reckoning (The Healer’s #3)

Ava

I open my eyes that feel like they’ve been sealed shut. I see movement and turn my head to see Bryce grabbing clothes out of the drawers and putting them into a black bag. “What are you doing?” I wince. My voice is more raspy than before.

Bryce turns immediately at the sound of my voice, and the fierce expression on his face softens. “Hey.” He walks over to me and squats down next to the bed. “It’s time to go.”

“Go?” I feel disoriented from sleeping.

“We’re getting you out of here.” Before I can protest, he adds. “And we’re getting your brother too.”

Hope begins to rise in me for the first time, but I do my best to squash it down. Hope doesn’t get you anything; action does. “So, what’s the plan?”

“We’re going to get you out now before your next session. We will get you through the barrier to my team waiting on the other side. Tonight, under cover of darkness, we’ll come back for your brother.”

“No.” I’m already shaking my head as I sit up and stand to my feet. “We’re not leaving my brother behind. I’m not leaving until he does. I told you that, Bryce.”

He stares down at me. “You did, and I’m making the call to get you out and then come back for your brother.”

I lift my chin. “I won’t go with you.”

“And if I make you?” he asks. There’s no threat in his voice, almost like he’s asking or curious.

“It won’t go well.”

He stares at me. “I’m sorry, Ava. But this is the way it has to be. I have to get you to safety first, and then Hunter and I will come back for your brother.”

“No.” He looks at the door and then back at me. It’s the first sign I see that he’s frustrated. I feel bad but not bad enough. “I’m not going to take a chance that we get to safety and something happens, and we don’t come back for my brother.”

His eyes meet mine. “Ava, I give you my word. We will go back for your brother.”

I cross my arms over my chest, trying to stand tall when my legs are shaky and all I want to do is lay back down. “Can you honestly tell me that if we cross the barrier and something happens, you will come back for my brother and not keep going to get to safety?” He pauses, and I have my answer. “That is why I’m not leaving without my brother.”

The door opens, and Sherese comes inside. “Hey.” She looks in between the two of us. “You don’t have long before they come back for you, Ava. You need to get going.”

“I’m not going without Brandon. I was just explaining that to Bryce.”

Sherese’s eyes flick to Bryce’s a moment. “Then what’s the plan?”

“The plan is that she’s leaving now, and we’ll come back for the brother,” Bryce says.

I narrow my eyes on Bryce. “His name is Brandon; he’s an actual person. Keep pushing me, Bryce, and I’m not going to go with you at all.”

His eyes lighten in color. “Uh, Ava, maybe you shouldn’t push the alpha,” Sherese says from next to me.

Bryce steps forward, so that we’re nearly toe to toe. “The only reason I am not picking you up, throwing you over my shoulder, and getting you out of here whether you want it or not, is that I’m trying to earn your trust and work with you. But make no mistake. You are my mate. You are in a very weakened state and extremely vulnerable right now, and that makes me and my wolf very dangerous predators. I’m hanging on to my sanity by a thread right now. I’m able to keep my wolf at bay at this moment; that won’t be the case forever. If I lose control, I’m going to tear apart this facility and burn it to the ground. I can’t tell you what will happen to your brother if he gets stuck in the middle of an all-out war.”

Anger burns through me. “You can’t tell me that you are going to single-handedly take on all the vampires here.”

He smirks at me, but it’s cold and so unlike what I’m used to from him. “All I’d have to do is give control over to my wolf, Little Mate.”

I scoff. “I’m not little.” He wisely doesn’t argue with that.

“And I wouldn’t be alone. Hunter would be with me. Between the two of us, we’d tear apart every threat here.”

That really gets a scoff out of me. “Hunter hates me.”

“He doesn’t hate you.” Bryce’s eyes burn into mine. “I’m going to give you one last chance to come with me without me forcing it.”

“How dare you—” I don’t get to finish my tirade.

Hunter throws open the door and walks in. “We’ve got company.”

I turn to him and meet Sherese’s eyes. “They came for me early?”

“They won’t take you.” Bryce’s words are a growl.

Sherese disappears and comes back seconds later. “It’s not the ones that usually come to get you. You two better disappear,” she says to Bryce and Hunter.

I can tell Bryce isn’t going to agree. “Bryce, if you insert yourself now, it will destroy your plan. You start a battle here, and you’ll have every vampire on alert. Getting my brother and even me will be impossible then.” He stares down at me, and I can see the battle in his eyes. “Please,” I push.

His jaw locks, but he steps back. Knowing that’s as good as I’m going to get, I leave the room quickly and close the door behind me. I get to the kitchen just as the door opens. A vampire I’ve never seen before steps inside and closes the door behind him. I eyeball Sherese, who’s pretending to ignore me as she looks in the fridge. I run my hands up and down my arms, trying to stave off the chill. “Are you here to get me early?”

The vampire gives me what I can only describe as a sadistic smile. “No. I’m here for another reason.” A bad feeling fills me. He pulls out a small black case and puts it on the table. I eye the case, and that bad feeling intensifies.

“Wh-what are you doing?” My voice isn’t as strong as I thought it would be.

He opens the case, and my stomach drops. There’s every kind of knife and scalpel in that small box. That bad feeling goes from bad to awful in less than a second. He runs his fingers over the blades, and I feel like I’m going to be sick. “What do you want?” My voice is little more than a whisper.

He smiles at me, showing off his vampires. “Answers.”

“Okay. I’ll give them. What answers?”

He doesn’t answer me but instead fingers more of the knives before he pulls out a small one with a sharp-looking blade. My breathing has sped up, and I feel light-headed. Sherese stands across the kitchen feigning indifference. I don’t look at her, though. I can’t afford to take my eyes off the threat in front of me even for a second. When he turns back to me, his eyes are cold. “The baby.”

My stomach drops. Alec and Rizo must have sent this guy. He fits the stereotype of “the answers” guy. He's going to torture me until he gets his answer. I think of Bryce and Hunter somewhere nearby...outside maybe? I know if I make a peep, they will come storming in and then the element of surprise will be gone. The vampires will know they’re here, and we will never get my brother. I try to take in more oxygen and then lift my head.

“I don’t know.”

I was prepared to be cut; I wasn’t prepared for his vicious attack. He takes the knife and shoves it hard into my thigh. The shock of it rips a high-pitched scream from my throat. I grab my leg and try to breathe through the pain. The vampire is suddenly thrown into the counter across the room. Somebody pulls me to my feet, and I cry out in pain. “Don’t look.” My head is pressed into a hard chest that I know isn’t Bryce’s. There’s a sound, and then everything goes quiet. I pull back, trying to figure out what happened. I jerk my head to the side and stare in horror at the head of the vampire, now detached from its body. I throw up all over the floor. I take a breath and then throw up again.

“I told her not to look.”

“She’s in shock.”

“We’re leaving now before they figure out what happened here.”

“Out now.”

The voices float around me, but I can’t make sense of any of it. All I can see is the head on the floor. I get sick again. There’s movement and suddenly I’m airborne. “Let’s go. Stay close.”

And then we’re moving. Some part of my brain wakes up, and I realize we’re leaving. My mind cries out for them to stop, to get my brother. But I can’t voice the words; I can’t get my brain to work the way it needs to. The only real thing I cling to is that I know Bryce has me. That’s the only thing that keeps me from completely losing my mind. I know it’s him because of his scent.

“Give her to me to get through the barrier,” I hear Sherese say.

“No.” The word is a growl.

“With me, she won’t get hurt going through the barrier.”

“Hand her to the vampire or give her to me.” I hear Hunter say. There’s a deep growl that I feel in my bones. “One of us has to get her through the barrier.”

A few seconds later, I feel myself being shifted. And then we’re moving again. Then there are more voices. It all feels like too much until I hear something else. “Bryce, are you okay?” There’s a female voice I don’t recognize. Something in me takes notice. Despite the pain, despite the shock, I force myself to come to. I manage to open my eyes and search for Bryce. He’s bent over at the waist, and there’s a female with her hand on his back, bent over, talking to him. I pull away, and Sherese puts me on my feet. I’m dizzy and in pain, but I start forward on shaky legs.

“Back off,” I order in a voice that’s not nearly as strong or steady as I want it to be. The woman turns toward me with wide eyes. I take her in instantly. I saw her earlier with Bryce’s team. She’s tall with long, luscious dark hair and looks like she walked off a cover of a magazine. Something inside me comes to life. “Don’t touch him,” I snap. She takes a few steps away, and I brush past her to get to Bryce. “Bryce?” I question softly.

He stands all the way up. “I’m fine.” But his pinched eyebrows and shallow breathing tell a different story. His eyes snap to mine, and I see the heat there in the midst of everything else. Something passes between us, and I’m not even sure what it is. I step closer and put my hand on his shirt. Without looking away from him, I slide his shirt from his pants and pull it up just enough for me to be able to touch his back.

I close my eyes and send healing energy into his body quickly before he realizes what’s happening. The second I touch his skin, he goes still. I don’t think he realizes at first what I’m doing. By the time he realizes it and jerks away from me, it’s too late. I’ve already sent a good dose of healing power into his body to heal the burns from crossing the barrier. I take a step back and realize my entire body is shaking. I meet his eyes for only a second before everything fades away.