Page 109 of Healer’s Betrayal

“Why?” I ask; no, demand. “Why, Renee?” The use of the name I knew her by gets to her; I can tell. “Was it all a set-up from the beginning?”

She doesn’t skip a beat. “Yes.” I knew this, and yet, it still hurts. “I came to kill you, Kayla.” Jackson growls harshly, and I stumble back. Her words feel like a physical blow.

“Why?” My voice is a whisper. She takes another step back, but I stalk forward, shaking off Jackson’s hand when he tries to stop me.

“Why did you kill Cody?” That comes from Sherese.

Alicia’s eyes flash. “Because he was a traitor.” That earns her a growl from Hunter. “Just like Bryce and Hunter.”

I take in the confusion on both Hunter and Sherese’s face. But it’s me Alicia turns to. “I’ve been in our pack my entire life. Did any of those guys look at me as their mate? No. I’ve waited for years for one of them to notice me. And then a stupid human female comes along who doesn’t even like Bryce, nor deserve him; and he takes one look at her and falls for her. He’s a bigger idiot than I ever realized.” Hunter growls low in his chest, but it doesn’t faze her. “And then Hunter chases after a vampire! Enough was enough!”

“Cody did nothing,” Hunter growls. “And you killed him.”

“Cody was the biggest idiot of you all. He was chasing after a human female in town!”

“That’s why you killed him?” Sherese asks quietly.

Alicia’s eyes burn into mine. “I’d been approached by Rizo. He confirmed what I already knew—that my pack was infected. The males were no longer the leaders they needed to be. He told me what he could do for me, and I became a vampire. I came after you, the next healer on the list. My plan was to find you and eliminate you and then move on to the next one. But you,” her eyes darken, and she takes a menacing step towards me. Jackson tries to push me behind him, but I don’t let him. “I watched you and your brother before I ever made a move. That day, in the parking lot, I should have just let you be. But I couldn’t. You were a good person. I saved you instead of killing you, and then I told myself I was just getting close to you until I could do the deed.” She finally looks away. “I never was able to do it.” She sighs. “You were the first person to be kind to me in months, and somewhere along the way, I decided you didn’t deserve to die.”

“Just to be beat up by my uncle and taken by vampires,” I say, anger in my tone.

Alicia scowls. “No. That was supposed to be a gift for you. I knew he would kill your uncle the second he showed up,” she says, nodding at Jackson. “But like the idiot he is, he showed up late.” I swallow hard, feeling bad; but I don’t a second later. “I had to turn you over to the vampires; they left me no option in that.”

“There’s always an option,” I tell her.

She smirks. “Spoken like a true optimist.” She takes another step backwards.

“Don’t go back to the vampires,” I try to convince her. “They already hurt you once; they’ll do it again. Go with us.”

She laughs, but it’s cold. “And you don’t think Bryce won’t kill me the second he sees me, or this guy?” She nods at Hunter. “Or any member of our pack? Stop being delusional, Kayla.”

Her words sting, but I ignore it. “Don’t go back to them,” I try again.

She shakes her head. “Kayla, I would kill you in a heartbeat if I got thirsty enough, simply so I could drain all that delicious blood from your body.”

I blink back tears. “Stop.”

“And then your little brother would be next.”

I shake my head as a tear drips down my cheek because I know what she’s doing. Jackson’s rumbling next to me, and I can feel the restraint it’s taking for him to stand next to me. Jackson looks over at Hunter. Suddenly, Jackson grabs me and turns me into him, burying my face in his chest. “Don’t look.”

“No!” I scream into his chest, but it’s too late. I already know. I try to pull away, but his arms band around my back and neck. He doesn’t hurt me, but his hold is too strong for me to break. I beat against his chest. “No!” A sob rips from my throat, and then my legs give out. I’m up in Jackson’s arms a moment later.

“Let’s move!” Garrett orders.

I try to look over Jackson’s shoulder, but he won’t let me. “Stop!” I shout at him. “Put me down!” He ignores my demands, even when I pound on his chest. I finally stop fighting him as a sob rips through me. I know it’s not rational; I know she killed someone. But my heart doesn’t care. She protected me, she watched Noah for me day after day, she bought us groceries...she was my friend. I realize somewhat absently that Jackson is moving really fast. “Is Jade with us?” I manage to pull myself together to ask.

“Garrett’s got her,” Jackson says. He says nothing else, and I drop my head back onto his chest, completely depleted.

We must approach the airplane because Garrett starts giving orders. I ignore everything around me. I’m aware of when Jackson steps into the plane. I hear his deep voice speaking to someone, and I hear a male voice I recognize respond to him. But I tune all of it out. “Set her down right here, and Sage and I will look over her.”

I feel myself being lowered, but I don’t open my eyes. I just feel numb and really tired. Somebody squeezes my hand, but I still don’t open my eyes. “It will be okay, Kayla,” a female voice I think I recognize says. But still, I keep my eyes closed.

Sometime later, maybe a few minutes, maybe an hour, the male voice speaks. “She’s all yours.”

I keep my eyes closed as strong arms lift me and hold me against a familiar chest. I breathe in Jackson’s scent. A few seconds later, he lowers me to what feels like a soft bed. I still don’t open my eyes; I can’t. He pulls my shoes off, but I don’t move. And then the bed dips, and I feel movement behind me. He pulls me gently into his arms, and my back is pressed against his front. I hold myself stiffly. “I saw the look you gave Hunter. You told him to kill Alicia. You may not have said the words out loud, but he got the message.”

He owns up to it. “I did. I knew she still meant something to you, and I didn’t want to be the one to do it.”