by Michelle Fox
Still her sister howled, her face turning red as she didn't stop to breathe. Lia clapped a hand over Adele's mouth, and then recoiled with a yelp. "You bit me!" Beyond aggravated, she stood and hauled her sister up to her feet. Dragging her by the hand, she shoved Adele into the room they shared and slammed the door shut. This didn't do much to muffle the howling, but it at least gave her a shot at watching TV.
Settling onto the couch, she pulled a blanket around her shoulders. The sky had gone dark as night and fat rain drops slapped the roof of their cabin, sounding like heavy footed squirrels. And of course, there was all her sister's howling.
"Jeez. What a crappy day." She sighed and focused on the television screen.
Adele came tearing out of their room a second later, her eyes wide and wild, her hair a mess and tears streaming down her face. She lunged for the remote and threw it...straight into the television. The screen cracked and caved followed by a soft electrical popping sound.
"What are you doing?" Lia looked at her sister in horror and for the first time fear stirred in her gut. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
Adele put her hands on Lia's shoulders and pinned her to the couch. "Don't you get it? They're gone."
And just like that, Lia remembered the day her parents died. With a shiver, she opened her eyes, letting the tears that had built up flow free. The loss was fresh all over again. The healer nodded to her and continued to sing. She squeezed her sister's hand. They'd been through so much at such a young age, it wasn't fair.
The healer ended her song in a loud crescendo that shifted into a howl. Lia joined her, unable to resist the pull of the healer's magic. Adele and the sheriff's men added their howls to hers.
"It is done," said the healer after a moment of silence.
Lia took a deep breath, feeling a little lighter and more whole than she had in days. "So you're saying my sister can do this work? What you do?"
"If she applies herself, yes."
"Do you want to do this?" Lia looked at her sister, who seemed so small and vulnerable.
Adele thought for a moment and gave a slow nod. "I have to, don't I? I can't keep going on like this." She ducked her head. "I'm sorry I'm such a loser."
"Don't say that." Lia stood and offered Adele her hand. "From what the healer said, our pack failed you. That's what led you here." And brought me to him. She looked at Ryder, pleased to see him resting normally, like he was asleep instead of dying.
"Why did the vampires kill everyone?" asked Talon.
Adele shivered. "I-I don't know. They told us to stay put, that we would be safe."
Talon snorted. "Well, that was a lie. How is it that you're still alive?"
"I went for the duct once I realized they weren't going to let us live. I didn't see what happened, but I heard it." She paused and drew in a shaky breath.
"No one fought back, " Talon said. "There were no defensive wounds. No sign of a fight." This wasn't a question, but a statement.
"We didn't have a chance." Adele sniffed and scrubbed tears from her eyes. "They...controlled us. I heard them tell everyone to line up."
Lia winced. "How come you didn't line up, too?"
"I-I plugged my ears and thought about my wolf. I'm new. They didn't take as much blood from me. Maybe that makes a difference?"
Lia rubbed her sister's back, a sense of failure churning in her stomach. "I'm sorry I didn't find you sooner."
Adele leaned into Lia. "At least I had someone who cared. I don't think the others did."
Talon waved to the door leading back up to the main floor. "We should probably get out of here. I bet they don't know they have a survivor."
"Where do we go?" Lia asked. "We don't know anyone here and you can't keep putting young women in the nursing home. Someone is bound to notice. And I don't think Ryder should go back to his home pack. Not until he's stronger."
"Or, hell, just awake." Talon regarded the unconscious man and sighed. "He's going to be out for a while, isn't he, Marie?"
The healer nodded. "Sleep is the best medicine. If you'll allow it sheriff, I have space for them and no one outside this room will know where they are. Do you trust your people?"
"With my life," Talon said without hesitation. To his team he said, "Let's get everyone upstairs. Then we'll use the body bags from the van to transport them. If anyone's watching, we don't want them to think we found anyone living."
"What about the other bodies?" Lia asked.
"I'll have to call in the Pack Council. This kill count is way beyond what I'm equipped to handle." He moved for the door. "Come on. Someone pick up Ryder and let's move, guys. The longer we stick around, the more nervous I get. Something ain't right about this and we shouldn't be here any longer than we have to be."
Lia took a moment to hug her sister as one of the bigger guys in Talon's crew, heaved Ryder over his shoulder. "I'm so glad you're okay."
"I'm not sure I am, sis." Adele sniffed into Lia's shoulder. "Somehow things are worse than ever."
She pulled back and wiped away her sister's tears. "Then that means things can only get better, right? The bad guys are gone, you're alive, the healer seems to think she can help you."
"And this guy you like so much isn't dead." When Lia stiffened, her sister laughed. "I don't need light to see something that obvious. You held his hand just as tight as you held mine. I can read body language."
"He's been helping me find you."
"Oh, and that's all? Hmm. I'm not sure I believe that." Adele headed out for the stairs leading up to the main floor, pulling Lia after her.
"So far. We haven't gotten around to anything else. We've been kind of busy dealing with all this." She waved at the basement.
"It's over for now, child," came the healer's calm voice. She held the stairwell door open and motioned for them to hurry. "You'll have time to heal and be safe while you do it. At least for a time."
"What do you mean for a time?" Adele asked.
"Life is a storm and we only enjoy the lulls," said the healer. "May the moon bless us all with a nice long lull after this. Now, let's go. This place isn't for the living, it's for the dead."
***
Talon had them wait in the lobby while he ran to his van, returning with something dark in his hands. He offered it to Adele.
"What is this?" She gave it a suspicious look.
"It's a body bag."
"I'm not dead."
"I know, but whoever killed everyone down there doesn't know there are any survivors. Humor me and use it just in case anyone is watching."
Adele gave a curt nod and spread the bag out on the floor. Lia helped her unzip it while Talon's crew did the same for Ryder, who was still unconscious.
Talon shooed Adele in. "It'll just be for a few seconds. Once we're on the road you can come out."
She gave the sheriff a sour look. "I guess it's better than walking through the parking lot naked."
"Probably," said Talon, zipping the bag up to her chin. "I'll leave the face open so you can breathe, but keep your head down."
"You really think whoever did this is out there watching?" she asked.
"I don't know," Talon said. "But this way we're sure no one can identify you and show up at your door in the middle of the night to finish the job."
The biggest men from Talon's team each took a bag and slung it over their shoulder. Lia rushed to the front door and held it open for them. The healer brushed past her first with a soft 'thank you.'
"So that's it," Lia said, mostly to herself. Maybe it was the stress, but she felt empty inside.
Talon clapped her on the shoulder and smiled. "Cheer up. We found your sister."
"Thank you for your help." She fell into step with him as he made for his van. His crew were already in the process of loading the body bags via the back doors.
"I just wish I could've helped those people in there." He jerked his head toward the strip club.
"Me too. I can't believe whoever killed them just left the
m there like that." She crossed her arms, going cold at the memory of being surrounded by so much death.
"My guess is we were supposed to find them." Talon grimaced. "Someone's playing a game."
"And what game would that be?"
"I don't know yet."
A loud rumble filled the air. Lia looked up expecting to see storm clouds, but the sky remained clear. "What was that?"
Another rumble hit, this one louder than the last.
"Get down!" Talon threw an arm around her and hurried her toward the van.
An explosive boom roared in her ears and rushed over her body like the wind from a hurricane. Lia screamed, but couldn't hear herself over all the noise. Talon kept her moving and got them both behind the van.
It began to rain, but not water. No, this rain consisted of small stones and bits of aluminum siding that pummeled them from the sky. Nothing was large enough to present a serious hazard, but the debris was sharp and hot as a frying pan. Lia covered her head with her hands. When the fallout slowed and there'd been no new booms, she peeked around the van's bumper and gasped at what she saw.
Smoke filled the air, but couldn't cover the rubble. "The club—"
"Exploded," Talon finished for her, his voice terse.
"Maybe we weren't supposed to find anyone. Maybe no one was supposed to know," she said, yelling so she could hear herself over the ringing in her ears. She exchanged wide-eyed glances with the healer who re-emerged from under the steering wheel of her little hatchback.
"It sure looks like that, doesn't it?" Talon waved to his team. "Get ready to move out. The police are going to come on this one and we don't want to be here." Turning to Lia, he said, "You want to ride with the healer or come with us?"
"I'll drive the Charger. You don't want the police to find it here, right?" she said.
"Yeah, good point." Raising his voice, he said "All right, load up everybody. Time to go."
Lia made for the Charger as everyone hopped into their respective vehicles.
Talon went and knocked on the passenger window of the healer's car. When she rolled it down, he said, "We're following you. I suggest you step on it. We don't want to be anywhere near this once humans start to pay attention to it."
The healer nodded and didn't wait for Talon to even get into his van before peeling out of her parking space and heading for the road. Lia gunned the Charger's motor and followed, the car's tires spitting gravel like a hailstorm. The sheriff hustled after her, the van skidding as he forced it to go faster.
Sirens wailed in the distance behind them. Lia gripped the steering wheel tight and watched in the rearview mirror as the steaming pile of rubble that had once been the strip club receded in the distance. Once again, she'd escaped death by a hair. She couldn't decide if that made her lucky or unlucky, but she sure as hell wished it would stop. She wanted off this ride.
Chapter Nineteen
The healer lived in a snug cabin that sat inside a ring of pine trees. A flock of ravens arrived just as she pulled into the drive way, filling the tree closest to her front door like a shadow.
"Shoes stay on the porch. You've been walking in too much blood for them to be in the house." The healer took off her practical hiking boots and dropped them on the mat to the side of her front door.
Once everyone was inside, she waved to the guy carrying Ryder. "Follow me. I'll show you where he goes."
Lia stuck close to Ryder, taking in the healer's home as she went. The main living area had an open floor plan with a small aisle kitchen to the side. Bunches of herbs she didn't recognize hung on the walls in various stages of freshness. Some were dry and dull, while others still held flashes of green. A long pine shelf on the back wall held more herbs and a variety of cobalt blue glass vials.
The kitchen flowed into a little breakfast nook surrounded by windows on three sides. On the other side of the cabin sat a couch, upholstered in forest green, and positioned so anyone sitting could see out the enormous bay window on that side of the cabin.
The back of the cabin held a tiny bathroom and two cramped bedrooms. The healer directed them to one.
"Just set him on the bed there," she said. "And then meet me in the kitchen."
Lia nodded that she'd heard the healer as she checked on Ryder, carefully pulling the patchwork quilt on the bed up to his shoulders. His skin held more warmth than before, but still had a ways to go to reach normal. Pressing her lips against his forehead in a light kiss, she left him to rest.
"You will be safe enough here. Just sit tight. I'll be in touch," Talon said. He stood by the kitchen counter, watching as the healer laid out various herbs on a wooden cutting board.
"Be careful," Lia said. The sheriff was a good man and she didn't want him hurt.
He flashed a smile. "I'm always careful. Don't worry. My mate says if I get myself killed, there will be hell to pay, and trust me, I've learned—the hard way—not to cross her."
The healer laughed. "Gretchen has the spitfire of a dragon. I've always wondered about her blood line. There might be more than wolf in her."
"I can believe that. She fought me tooth and nail for the longest time about our mating."
"Ah, well. I can't blame her, can you?" Marie shot him an impish look.
"No, not really. But it's all good now."
"Sometimes what's at the end of the journey is all that matters." She gave a knowing smile.
Lia frowned. Even though there were bigger problems on her plate, she was still curious. "How did you two meet?"
"Through work. There was some trouble between a stray and her father. They were drugging shifters and forcing them into bets they couldn't win." Talon ran a hand through his hair. "So Gretchen came to me asking for help, but I was in the middle of dealing with a human who had caught one of us shifting on video. He had big plans for that video and actually ended up kidnapping Gretchen."
"What? Are you serious?" She gave him an incredulous look and decided she wanted to meet Gretchen. They were sisters in surviving seriously messed up situations.
"Yeah, it wasn't a good scene. But it ended well. We try not to think too much about how our mated bliss came about, you know?"
"Does this kind of stuff happen a lot in Huntsville?" Lia asked.
"What kind of stuff?" Talon gave her a puzzled look.
"Kidnappings, blood slaves, drugs and shifter thugs. Is that, like, a run-of-the-mill thing?" She turned to her sister, who'd curled up on the couch. "Is it like this for our home pack?" The idea terrified her. She wanted a peaceful, happy life, not this shifter-crime-of-the-week crap.
"Shifters are shifters, child. No one's perfect," Marie said.
"No, it's not like this at home," said Adele looking just as shocked as Lia felt at the laundry list of bad things that happened in Hunstville.
"Oh, thank the moon," Lia breathed.
"Well, I'm going to head back to the office. I want to follow up with the Pack Council and find out what's what." Talon headed for the door, his men trailing after him. "You'll be safe here. I'll be in touch if there's anything you need to know."
Lia held out her hand. "Thank you so much. You saved my sister."
"You did some of that, too, you know. It wasn't all just me." He shook her hand.
"Here, sheriff. This is for Gretchen." The healer gave him a brown paper bag.
"What is it?"
"Better to ask her, my dear." She patted him on the shoulder.
"Yes, ma'am. Will do." Talon gave a little salute and headed out, those of his crew that had come in with him going as well. The cabin had seemed too small with him and his men in it, but now they were gone, it felt too big.
***
The healer beckoned for Lia and Adele to join her in the kitchen. "All right, girls. You two are going to make bone broth. It'll give you something to do."
Lia stepped behind the kitchen counter where Marie had laid several items out in a neat row, a package wrapped in white butcher paper, a stock pot and several different v
egetables; carrots, celery, potatoes.
"I'm exhausted," said Adele, not moving from the couch.
The healer fixed Adele with a steely gaze. "So? There are people who need you. Your sister is ailing and so is her mate. Are you saying you don't want to help?"
"No." She heaved herself off the couch and joined them in the kitchen, her expression sour. Picking up a carrot and the peeler sitting next to it, she got to work. "I'm just tired. I almost died."
"So did she. The difference is you chose your fate, she didn't." Marie extended a second peeler to Lia. "You start the potatoes and I'll tell you something about healing. You can't be sick. Healing doesn't come from a sick heart. There's no messing around with this either. Do it right or quit now before you hurt someone. If you're here, you've made the choice to be here. No excuses. The door," she gestured to the front of her cabin, "is over there. No one is making you stay."
Adele looked at the healer with wide eyes. "Wow. Harsh much?"
"Medicine can be bitter," Marie said as she filled the stock pot with water. "Life isn't rainbows and cotton candy and neither is healing. It can hurt worse than the injury and break you into so many pieces you don't know how to put them back together."
"Sounds awesome," Adele muttered as she hacked at the carrots with the peeler.
"Pain is life. All we can do is make that pain count for something." The healer pulled out a large, stainless steel roasting pan. "Have either of you made bone broth before?"
The sisters shook their heads in unison. "I don't think so. I know I've used cake mix, but that's about it," Lia said. "If I'm a five-star chef, I've lost that along with my memory."
"I don't kitchen. The closest I've come to cooking is meth," said Adele with a glum expression. "And it blew up."
"Are you serious?" Lia gaped at her sister, utterly stunned.
"You don't remember?" When Lia shook her head, Adele said, "Hmm. Maybe there's an upside to losing your memory. You won't remember any of the stupid things I did. But yes, I did cook meth. Once."
"Why?"
Adele shrugged. "To get high. I thought I could make my own formula. Shifters burn off drugs so fast, it takes constant hits to keep a high going. I wanted something that would last and meth seemed like a place to start. You can get everything you need to make it in a big-box store."
