Page 24 of Healer’s Reckoning (The Healer’s #3)

Ava

I slide into the middle seat, next to my brother, and Sherese squeezes in next to me and closes the door. I check with the driver, and then we’re moving. I try to take a breath, but it seems to get stuck in my chest. I know if we can just get away from here, I’ll be able to breathe again. But then I think of Cade, and the crushing weight on my chest tightens, I honestly wonder if it’s even possible. My phone buzzes, and I startle. I pick it up and see it’s Bryce. I send it to voicemail. When it starts vibrating again seconds later, I power it off. Sherese watches me but says nothing. I turn to my brother to ask how he’s doing, but his eyes are closed, so I leave him be.

“So where are we headed?” Sherese asks softly.

I swallow hard. “We’re headed to the nearest town,” I tell her as quietly as possible. “We’ll get dropped off at a restaurant I know and then have another Uber pick us up and take us further.”

“Smart.” She nods in approval. “What’s the end destination?”

I don’t look at her. “I’m working on it.”

“Got it.”

She doesn’t say anything after that, and I don’t either. But I don’t relax. I won’t be able to relax until we’re hours from here. This town is the first place the wolves will look for us. I do wonder if they’ll even make the effort to look for us, though. Surely, they know they’re better off without a broken healer, a vampire, and a supercharged human/vampire. The ride into town seems to take forever. When I start recognizing signs that we’re getting close, I breathe a sigh of relief. A few minutes later, our driver parks outside the restaurant. “Thank you,” I tell him as I shake Brandon gently. “We have to go.” Once we’re outside, I lead the way to another store and breathe a sigh of relief when I see our next ride waiting. “That’s our ride,” I point out. Once again, the three of us squeeze into the backseat. I check over my shoulder at least a dozen times as we start driving again.

Only when we reached the edge of the city do I breathe a sigh of relief. “I think we’ve lost them,” Sherese says quietly. “Feel good?”

“No.” I don’t know if I’ll feel good ever again.

The next hour passes in silence, and then it’s time to stop and change cars and drivers once again. The next driver takes us another two hours before we change again. Only when we’re six hours away from the Northwoods Pack and exhausted, do I finally call it. I tell our driver to drop us off at a seedy-looking hotel. It may not be great, but it’s all I can afford. I unlock the door and step inside and flip on the lights. Brandon follows me into the room and walks over to the bed and sits. Once Sherese is inside, I lock the door. Brandon disappears into the bathroom, and I watch him go and wonder how this is going to work. He doesn’t talk at all. I glance at the closed door and then at Sherese. “What happened back there?” I ask.

“Back at the wolf pack?” she asks.

“No, back at the vampire site.” I have a feeling she knew exactly what I was talking about. “I need to know.”

She finally meets my eyes. “Everything was going about as well as it could. We got your brother and were heading back to the barrier. Right before we got to the barrier, it opened and at least a dozen, maybe more, vampires stepped through. The alpha was the closest one, and they took him down.”

“How did you all get out of there?” I ask feeling sick again.

“The other wolf from his pack went feral.” I close my eyes. Maverick. “ I heard one of the wolves say that he received a blast of alpha energy from the alpha when he died.”

I take in her words. I hadn’t known that, but that sounds like something that could happen. She doesn’t say anything more, and neither do I. We get ready for bed, as much as we can without having anything with us. When Brandon comes out of the bathroom, I approach him. “Brandon, you can have this bed by yourself since you’re the biggest.” Brandon eyes me but doesn’t say anything. A moment later, he walks over to the bed, climbs onto it and promptly goes to sleep.

“Is it okay if I share the bed with you?” I ask Sherese. “Or do you want me to sleep on the floor?”

“I’ll try not to attack you in my sleep,” she says wryly. If I were capable of smiling, I would.

“What are you going to do about blood?” I ask her quietly.

“I’ll figure it out,” she says with a shrug. “I have a little bit of time before it becomes a problem.”

I glance over at my sleeping brother. “What about him?”

“I don’t know,” she says honestly.

I worry about it for a few minutes and then push it from my mind. There’s nothing I can do about it tonight anyway. I vow to worry about it first thing in the morning. We both climb into bed, and I turn off the lights. The motel is far from quiet as it sits right next to the road, but still, it’s too quiet for me. My mind won’t let me rest. Even though I wasn’t there, all I can see every time I close my eyes is Cade being taken down by vampires. When my mind isn’t dwelling on that, it pings to Paige and to Maverick and Rose and their pack. I’m not sure when, but my mind finally caves to exhaustion, and I fall asleep.

The next morning, I’m up before the sun comes up, though I feel more exhausted than I did when I went to bed. I roll over and try to go back to sleep. I never wake up early; my body isn’t used to this. But after trying several times to go back to sleep, I finally give in. I concede that there will be no more sleeping for me this morning. I drag myself out of bed and try to finger brush my teeth and run my fingers through my hair before piling it on top of my head. I slip my sneakers on and make my way over to the front door. I snag the key and slip it into my pocket. I debate taking my phone but know I’m not going to turn it on. I decide to leave it and open the door quietly and step outside. I need to try to track down something with caffeine in it. I’m not a big coffee drinker but feel like I could be today. My stomach growls, but I ignore it. I think food at this point would just make me throw up again. I think about Sherese and my brother and wonder what we’re going to do about blood for both of them. I add it to my list of growing concerns. I start in the direction of the main office, but a voice behind me stops me in my tracks.

“Going somewhere?”

I jump at the low voice and whirl around, my heart thudding. I stare in shock at Bryce as my stomach drops. “What are you doing here?” I ask.

“Oh, I don’t know. Tracking down my mate perhaps.” Bryce’s words are relaxed, but his body is anything but. I can see the tension in his jaw.

He’s mad . Defeat washes over me, and I cross my arms over my chest. “How did you find me?”

Bryce eyes me with a look that feels dangerous. “You do realize that I run a security company that specializes in finding people, right?”

I keep my face neutral, while I inwardly curse myself. I eye the door I came out of. “So, what’s next?”

He turns away from me. “Next, we get your brother and the vampire and load up and get out of this forsaken place.” He eyes the motel in distaste.

I meet his eyes. “I’m not going with you.” My words are soft, but there’s no mistaking the seriousness in my tone.

He steps forward, towering over me. “Here’s the thing. You don’t have a choice.”

I lift my chin. “I do have a choice. If I say I’m not going with you, then I’m not going with you.” His jaw tenses even more, and I can literally see the muscle in his jaw ticking. I refuse to feel bad. This is what’s best for him, whether he wants to see it or not. I steel myself. “I’m not, Bryce.”

He stares me down. “Okay.”

My shoulders sag in relief. “Okay,” I repeat. “I’m sorry you came all this way.” My voice is a little breathless, and I struggle to even out my breathing and get my heart to slow down its frantic pace. “I hope—” I don’t get to finish what I was saying because I’m suddenly airborne. The air is knocked from my lungs when my stomach meets Bryce’s hard shoulder. The world is suddenly upside down, and it takes me a moment before I can utter a word. “What are you doing?” I demand. “Put me down this instant.” He strides towards our door and knocks loudly.

The door opens a moment later, and I hear Sherese’s voice. “What in the—”

Bryce pushes past her and into the room. “Brandon, wake up. We’re leaving.” Without another word, he strides back out the door and over to a car. It’s literally parked right in front of our door, and I wonder how I missed it when I came out. Bryce somehow manages to open the front passenger door before he unceremoniously dumps me into the seat. He leans across me and buckles me in. I push at his broad shoulders in a vain attempt to get him to back off. I immediately move to unbuckle, but he stops me. He grips my chin and forces my gaze to his. He doesn’t hurt me in any way, and I’m too shocked to fight him. I’ve never been this close to him. “Listen to me very carefully, Ava. You are my mate, and I will never hurt you. But I will also not allow you to hurt yourself or put yourself in danger.”

“I’m not—” I start.

He cuts me off. “This whole running away from me thing is over. I get it that you’re scared and grieving and probably blaming yourself for what happened to Cade.” I bite my tongue and blink furiously, refusing to give in to the threatening tears. The back door opens, but he doesn’t look away from me. “We’re getting a flight to my pack in Phoenix. You and your brother and Sherese are coming with.” There’s no room for argument in his tone.

I snort. “You’re just going to demand that I go with?”

He stares at me a moment longer and then backs out. “Understand this, Ava. If you run, I will chase you, and I will find you. There is nowhere you can run that I won’t find you. So maybe save you and me both the energy and resources, yeah?” With that, he closes my door and walks around to the front of the car. He pulls his shades off the top of his head and covers his eyes. Hunter climbs in behind me, next to Brandon.

“Well, that went well,” Sherese says from the very back.