Page 21 of Healer’s Reckoning (The Healer’s #3)

Bryce

Using every ounce of the self-discipline I’ve honed over the years, I watch the helicopter leave and then head back to the waiting group. I study who’s left and wonder if it will be enough for what we need to do. Garrett, Max, Maverick, Hunter, Cade, and myself. And Sherese and Rose. “Okay,” I say, striding over to the group and taking charge. “I’m going to be honest about what we’re up against. We have to first get through the barrier and the debilitation it causes. Once we’re through, I don’t know if they’ll be waiting for us. They will obviously already know that Ava is gone and that one of their vampires is dead.”

“An important one,” Sherese feels the need to point out.

“The one that gets the answers,” I grit out at the questioning looks being directed my way. “He’s the one that put that wound on Ava—the reason he’s now dead.” I leave no room for argument in my voice, not that any of them would argue with what I did. I turn to Cade. “Thanks for coming, but you don’t have to do this. I know you have a mate and a child back home.”

“Ava was one of my pack for a little while. I’m here for her and for my beta,” he says nodding at Maverick.

I look at Garrett and Max next. “Same,” Garrett says. “She was one of my pack for a time.” He gives the faintest trace of a smile. “And my mate would never speak to me again if I didn’t help one of her friends.”

“Same for me. Except my mate will probably gut me in my sleep.” There’s no humor in Max’s voice, and I can’t help thinking he’s probably right.

“And Maverick is doing this for me,” Rose adds.

I meet each of their eyes. “Thank you. I know none of you have to do this. Let’s get in there, grab him and get out. Sherese can get us into the main building. Hunter knows where the brother is. We’ll go in wolf form and shift when we get to the building. Sherese, you stay with Hunter and I. Max and Cade, you guard the outside entrance. Garrett, you come with us inside in case there’s more than we anticipated. Maverick, you stay back to protect your mate.” I face Rose. “Only do what you can do; don’t tap yourself out. We’ll survive either way. And you will have to let Sherese take you through the barrier.”

Her eyes widen, and Maverick growls. “Absolutely not.”

“Then she’ll have to wait on this side. She’s not strong enough to get through the barrier; it will kill her.” I hold Maverick’s eyes, so he knows just how serious I am. “It’s the only way she gets through. Sherese carried Ava through,” I finish quietly and then move away to let them make their own decision.

I walk over to Hunter and Sherese, who are actively ignoring each other. “Is that okay with you? I should have asked you first.” Sherese nods but doesn’t say anything.

Rose approaches me with an unhappy Maverick at her side. She nods solemnly. “I’ll do it.”

Maverick looks at the vampire. “If anything happens to her—”

“You’ll end me. Yeah, I got it,” Sherese says without batting an eye.

I look at our small but powerful group; it’s time to go. “Thank you.”

“Let’s get this done,” Garrett says.

“Stay in your human form to get through the barrier. Once you’ve recovered enough, shift. That will protect your wolf at least a little.” Knowing there’s no way to ease into what’s coming, I take off at a dead run for the barrier. Sherese picks up Rose and flashes ahead of us and disappears; Hunter and Maverick are right behind her. I hit the barrier full force and push through the resistance, even as the pain takes hold of my body. I grit my teeth and push forward; it’s like wading through quicksand—that's electrocuted. My breathing comes in short gasps, but I push through. When I finally get to the other side, I bend over and try to catch my breath. The others are doing the same thing, all except for Rose, Sherese, and Hunter. Somebody curses beside me, but I don’t look up to see who it was.

“You weren’t kidding about the barrier,” Cade grounds out.

“That’s why I only kept those with alpha strength and power,” I manage to get out. My skin is on fire, and I feel like every bone in my body is broken. Rose makes her way to each man, but most wave her on after a moment or two. When she gets to me, I do the same. I let her give me a little bit of her healing power, just to ensure that I am at full-strength for what I need to do. I take a deep breath and push the pain away and focus on the mission at hand. I sniff the air. “They either don’t know we’re here yet, or they’re letting us come.”

“Oh, they definitely know you’re here,” Sherese says, looking around with a pretty chill expression.

“Then there’s no reason to wait. Let’s go.” I don’t wait for anybody else. I start running and shift midair into my wolf. He shakes off the pain from the barrier, and then we’re running at full strength. Two wolves join me, and I know without looking it’s Max and Hunter. Sherese runs ahead of us and gets to the building first. I shift at the last second and walk through the door Sherese opened for us. Hunter shifts next to me and enters with me, and Garrett follows us in. Sherese closes the door quietly behind us. The building is eerily quiet.

Is it always like this? I send to Hunter.

Sometimes.

His answer isn’t very comforting. We take the stairs at the end of the hall and descend quietly. When we get to the door, Sherese stops and looks back at us. I give her a firm nod. She opens the door, and all hell breaks loose around us. Vampires descend on us. I shift immediately, and Garrett does the same. I lose sight of Hunter in the crowd but trust him to take care of himself. He stays in human form, and I know he’s using his unique set of skills. Garrett and I work our way through the onslaught of vampires. Some of them are obviously newly turned; they aren’t as fast as a fully mature vampire. Some of them are not, though. And they give us more of a problem. It takes time to clear a way.

Third one in the middle, Hunter sends mentally.

I see an opening and take it. I race through the fighting going on all around us. Humans have joined the fight as well, and it’s sort of hard to tell if they are fighting against us or with us. I jump over two downed vampires and into the brother’s holding. As soon as I enter, I shift back to my human form. I approach the bed cautiously, looking for any sign of my mate in her brother but don’t see anything. Suddenly, his eyes shoot open and lock on me. They’re completely red, and I have a feeling I know what’s coming next. There’s a clanging sound as the chains keeping him chained to the bed slip off. I only get a second to prepare myself before he launches out of the bed at me. He slams into me with the force of a freight train, and I crash into the wall behind me. I throw his body off mine a moment later and send him crashing into the other wall. Before he can come at me again, I try to get through to him. “Brandon, your sister sent me.” He charges me again, and I try to fight him without hurting him. He’s definitely a lot stronger than I thought he would be; it’s going to be hard to get him to listen to me without hurting him. I get a good hold on him for a moment. “Ava sent me,” I tell him, trying to get his attention. It works for a second. He freezes for just a moment. “Your sister Ava sent me to get you out of here.” I watch as he blinks in confusion, and the red begins to fade from his eyes. Yes. Good. He takes a step back. “A team of us are here to get you out, but we have to go now. Ava is waiting for you.” I don’t tell him that she’s injured; I figure that won’t help right now. He shakes his head, and then I watch as the red comes back. His anger builds, and then he comes at me again. “Brandon, stop!” I command in my alpha voice. It does nothing to stop him as he comes at me again. I meet him head-on and keep him from trying to crush my windpipe. I evade him and manage to get him to the floor. “Listen to me,” I shout at him. “Ava needs you, but you have to stop fighting me.”

We need to get moving, Hunter sends me.

Working on it, I send back. I fight to keep a hold on Brandon. Then I hit him hard in the face. His head snaps back, and I’m right in it a second later. “You will stop fighting me and let me take you to Ava.” I watch as his eyes go from red to blue and back again. “Fight it, Brandon,” I order him.

He meets my eyes, and his eyes are blue for the first time. “Aaaaa--”

I nod. “Yes. Ava, your sister. We have to get to her. She needs us.” He blinks twice at me, and I figure that’s as good as I’m going to get. “My team and I are going to get you out of here. Don’t fight them. Only fight the vampires. Don’t fight the wolves. Do you understand?” He blinks twice again. I want more, but I’m pretty sure that’s all he’s capable of. “Let’s go.” I stand up and reach down to pull him up, but he stands to his feet without my help. “Follow me.” I walk over to the door to his room, if you could call it that, and look out. There’s still a lot of fighting going on. It's time to get out of here now. “Run to the door,” I tell Brandon. And then without waiting to see if he’s good at following directions, I shift and take off for the door. I’ve got the brother, I send to Hunter. Let’s get out of here. Through our link, I can feel him across the room. I run towards Garrett and take note that Max is fighting down here now as well. When they see me, they finish off the vampire they were fighting and shift into their wolf forms and race after us. We have to fight our way to the door, but eventually, we make it out of the room.