Page 40 of Healer’s Reckoning (The Healer’s #3)
Chapt er 40
Ava
I try to slow my racing heart. I know I portrayed that I was a total boss, but the truth is I was terrified to come in here. Which is precisely why I gathered some backup. And by backup, I mean Emma, because she’s Garrett’s mate, which basically makes her like the first lady. Then I grabbed Raechel because she doesn’t let anybody scare her. I also snagged Rose and Samantha, just to round out our group. When I walked in and saw there was no place to sit, I faltered for a moment. But then Bryce patted his lap, and now, here I am. I shift nervously on his lap, hoping I'm not hurting his legs. He responds by placing both hands on my hips and pulling me back, closer to his body. Okay then. I guess he’s okay with this. One of his large hands finds my thigh and starts to trace circles. I don’t think he realizes how distracting it is, or maybe he does. I tune back into the rather tense conversation going on around me.
“Is there a reason the humans are here for this meeting?” The idiot one who always runs his mouth says. I almost laugh because he’s practically asking the shifters in this room to kill him. I take a quick glance around the room, taking in Garrett’s expression, Liam’s, Max’s, Maverick’s, and Wyatt’s. It’s hilarious, really.
“I wouldn’t think you’d feel threatened by a few lowly humans,” Raechel says with a saccharine sweet smile that we all know is just for show.
Terrence turns his scowling face to hers. “Figures it’d be you who talks first. You’re the obnoxious one who uses her fists instead of her baby making skills.” A fierce growl echoes through the room.
Indignation on my friend’s behalf shoots through me, and I open my mouth before I think about it and before Max does anything. “Yes, and she’s trained a whole lot of females how to fight and defend themselves when their useless mates wouldn’t, so now they can better protect themselves.” I stare into the alpha’s eyes without flinching. I feel Bryce go very still under me, like a predator, getting ready to pounce.
“I am going to overlook that very offensive comment you made and trust that it was just a slip-up,” Garrett’s voice strikes out. He leans forward. “But know this, Alpha Terrence. I used my power to keep her mate in his seat, so he didn’t leap across the table and tear your throat out. If you make a comment like that again, I will let him do what he wants.”
The alpha’s face pales slightly, as does the one next to him. I take in the other faces I don’t really know, but they seem fine with the conversation. It looks like just the two alphas are a problem. I notice that Jackson is at the table as well. He sits about as far away from Bryce and me as possible, and I wonder if that was on purpose.
Garrett looks directly at Bryce and me. “Bryce was just telling us what the vampires said about the healers. Do you mind sharing it now that everybody is here, Ava?”
I wasn’t expecting to be put on the spot, but I straighten and take a breath. “The vampires that took me this last time told me that the healers who are already mated are of no use to them.”
It takes a moment for my words to take effect. It’s Rose that first responds. She stands to her feet abruptly. “Then you need to mate Bryce right now!”
I feel my face heat a thousand degrees. Maverick tugs Rose down onto his lap. “Bryce has it under control, Baby.”
“We’re going to deal with this new development,” Bryce says in a calm voice. “But the good news for the other mated healers in this room, the risk has just gone down tremendously.” I watch as Wyatt buries his head in Samantha’s neck for a moment. Maverick is much more stoic, but I don’t miss how he pulls Rose closer. She turns to him and puts her head on his shoulder. Maverick chooses that moment to look across the table, meeting my eyes. I meet his dark gaze head on. He’s the mate of my best friend; he and I are going to have to learn how to get along. He surprises me by giving me a small nod. I’m not really sure what that nod means, but I know that he’s not aggressive against me anymore. Hopefully, he’s finally accepted me as his mate’s friend. If not, we’re going to have a problem.
“That’s good news for our mated healers,” Garrett says, taking control again. “Unfortunately, it remains a problem for the unmated healers.”
“Have we found any of them yet?” Samantha asks. I can hear the worry in her voice.
“No, but we are diligently looking,” Garrett answers her.
“Stu has been working on combing through video footage from the vampire site two hours from here,” Maverick says.
Garrett turns to Stu, the tech genius from Maverick’s pack. “What have you found?”
“Jackson’s been helping me. We have a lot of footage, but most of it is grainy and unclear... His memories and the memories of his pack aren’t clear either as they were drugged the entire time, but we think we may have a few photos to go on. I want to show them to you all. We don’t know for certain, but we think these females might be some of the healers.” He stands up. “Do you mind?” he asks, pointing to the front.
“Please,” Garrett motions him forward.
Stu gets set up at the front of the room. “Lights, please.” Somebody turns off the lights, and the window-free room immediately darkens. I find myself stiffening in the sudden darkness.
Bryce wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me against his chest and runs his hand up and down my spine. The movement somehow keeps me sane and keeps the panic away until the image shines on the wall and lights up the room. “Okay. Bear with me. I’m going to show you several images of the same person; they’re hard to see. I’ve done my best to clear them up; this is as good as they’re going to get.”
I thought I’d prepared myself for this, but when I see the first image of a girl that looks way too young and terrified, my stomach clenches. “This is the first one. Here are a few more images; they’re worse than the first.” The images are of the same girl in different rooms. Sometimes her face is turned away, sometimes you catch only the side of her face. “Here’s the second one.” A new image pops up. My stomach tightens once again. There’s nothing but silence in the room as we take in these images.
“I’m sorry. I thought I could do this, but I can’t,” Rose says in a choked voice.
I turn towards my friend and hate her grief. I can hear the tears through her words. Samantha stands next to Rose. “I can’t either. I’ll go with her,” Samantha says softly to Maverick. Wyatt stands and puts a hand on Samantha’s back and whispers something to her that I can’t hear. It’s absolutely silent in the room as the two healers leave.
I feel a hand on my chin. Then Bryce’s face is right in front of mine. “Do you want to leave as well?” he asks so gently.
I take a breath. “I want to stay.” My voice is equally soft. I know that these shifters can still all hear me, but I block them out. “I need to.” I don’t say to Bryce what I mean, but he gets it. I have to stay. I owe it to these healers. As sick as it makes me, as many memories as it turns up, I won’t turn away. I want to find these girls and help them escape and find a way to live their lives. I feel a hand squeeze mine, and I turn to see Raechel facing me stoically. She squeezes my hand once more and then faces the pictures. Emma’s eyes meet mine as I look towards the front. She sits tall in her chair. I know this can’t be easy for her either, and I admire her strength. She’s been there. She was taken by the vampires as well. Her own brother and Ajax, the same Ajax I’ve had to deal with, came after her. I face the screen as we take in a few more girls, thought to be healers.
“This is the last one,” Stu says. He puts a picture up. I study the picture as something tickles the back of my mind. He goes through several more pictures of the same girl, and I stare at it. “That’s the end of it.” Stu steps back, ready to be done.
“Wait,” I say. “Can you go to the first picture of the last girl again?” I ask.
Stu doesn’t bat an eye and throws the picture back up on the wall. I study it, and Raechel leans forward. “Wait, is that...”
I nod as it suddenly clicks into place. Raechel turns to me, eyes wide. “That’s the girl from the rest stop.” I nod, feeling like I’m going to be sick. I remember now. Raechel and I had been talking as we headed into a rest stop to use the bathroom. A girl came out of the bathroom and nearly knocked me over. I stepped back to allow her to pass.
“Sorry,” she had mumbled and then kept going.
“Wait,” I called after her. I picked up a piece of paper off the floor. “You dropped this.” I remember glancing down at it for just a second; it was a bus ticket. “Here.”
She grabbed it from me. With a mumbled thank-you, she was gone. That was the last stop before we came here. And then like a bolt of lightning, it hits me. “Oh, my goodness.”
The room goes utterly still at my words. I stand to my feet, feeling like I’m going to be sick. “I didn’t know. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.” My words are broken; I feel like I’m going to be sick.
I feel a hand at my back, running up and down my spine. “Baby, what is it?”
I look at Raechel for a moment. She has a sick feeling on her face, but I don’t think it’s for the same reason as mine. Raechel shakes her head. “We should have helped her, asked her where she was going, anything.”
“You couldn’t have possibly known,” Bryce says, trying to ease the panic inside me. But he doesn’t understand.
I turn my gaze down the table and meet Jackson’s eyes. “I’m so sorry.” He goes predatorily still. Bryce whips his head between me and Jackson, even as Jackson stands to his feet.
“Ava,” Bryce says in a low voice.
I swallow hard, my eyes never leaving Jackson’s. “The night of Rose and Maverick’s mating ceremony, when Jackson called me his mate.” Bryce growls fiercely and whips his head towards Jackson. I put my hand on his chest, trying to calm him. “He knows I’m not his mate,” I tell Bryce softly. “But he told me he smelled his mate on me.” I turn back to Jackson. “I think that was her.”
His chair hits the wall. “And you just left her there?” he snarls at me. I can see his canines have lengthened. He grabs the table, and it cracks under his hold.
Bryce steps in front of me and pushes me against the wall, caging me with his body. Max stands in front of Raechel. “Stand down.” Garrett’s order whips through the room with enough force that even I can feel the command. Jackson doesn’t even balk. He turns towards Garrett. I can feel the tension in Bryce’s coiled muscles. He’s ready to take Jackson on, should he become a threat. I feel another presence and see Hunter standing shoulder to shoulder with Bryce. “Go for a run, Jackson,” Garrett orders. When Jackson doesn’t move, Garrett speaks again. “That wasn’t a choice.”
Jackson stares him down and then with a snarl, turns and storms out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Leo and Maverick stand up and follow him out a moment later, probably to make sure he doesn’t kill anybody on his way outside. The tension dissipates with Jackson’s departure, but I don’t feel any better. How could I have missed something like this?