Page 50 of Healer’s Betrayal

I sigh, feeling a small weight lifted off my chest now that it’s out in the open. “Yeah, I’ve always warned him not to tell anybody. I’m not like evil or anything,” I rush to assure him.

He snaps his gaze to me. “Why would you say that?”

I shrug. “Because it’s crazy. I have this...thing.”

He stops the truck, and I realize we’re at the hotel. Anything else either of us were going to say is now put on hold because the people from last night are walking towards the entrance to the hotel. Anxious to get some answers, I open the truck door and climb down. Raechel sees me first and waves. “Hey, Chica.”

“How are you feeling?” Ava asks but before I can answer, she turns towards Jackson. “Oh my word, I could hug you. Are those subs?”

Jackson doesn’t seem to really know what to do with her, so I answer for him. “Yes. Let’s get inside so you can eat.” I may not know these people, but I know how to take care of hungry people. I turn to Jackson. “Where are we going?”

“I booked one of the smaller meeting rooms.”

Max, the big guy from last night, holds the door for all of us, and we follow Jackson into the lobby. Nobody says a whole lot as we follow Jackson to the end of the hall where the conference room is. “Have you heard from Ransom yet?” I ask Jackson on our way into the room.

“He’s heading there soon.”

I take that in and try to relax. We spread out around the table, and Jackson puts the bags on the table. I end up looking through the bag and pulling out the subs. “Turkey, Italian, Ham, Chicken, another Turkey, Roast Beef, another Italian, another Ham, Buffalo Chicken—”

“Oh! Can I have that one?” Ava asks.

Raechel laughs. “Like Bryce would let any of us even look at it after knowing you want it.”

I slide the sandwich towards her as Raechel leans forward to look at the subs before looking at me. “You should just grab one. None of these guys will even look at the sandwiches until we get ours.” None of the guys refute her words. “Which one do you want, Kayla?” Raechel asks.

“I already ate most of mine, so I’m good thanks.”

“All right, Guys. Have at it,” Raechel says and sits down.

I open my sandwich back up, but now that I’ve given my food a little time to digest, I’m not really hungry. “You need to eat more,” Jackson says in a low voice, close to me. I ignore his words and sit back in my chair, taking in the occupants in the room.

"She thinks she’s evil.”

Jackson’s words so surprise me, I turn to look at him and give him an exasperated look. That wasn’t exactly something I was sharing with the class. He returns my look. “Nope,” Raechel says after she swallows a bite of her sandwich. “Not evil. Take it away,” she says to Ava.

Ava shakes her head and then meets my eyes. “You’re a healer.” Those words don’t surprise me, but the next ones do. “So am I.”

My eyes widen in shock. “Really?”

I look at Raechel, but she shakes her head. “Nope, not me. I’m not part of that club.”

Ava cuts a look at her but doesn’t say anything else to her. “When did you first heal?” Ava asks. I stare at her and then, for some reason, look at Jackson for a moment. I realize belatedly how close he’s sitting to me and wonder when that happened. Ava seems to sense my doubt because she starts to talk. “I didn’t really want to be a healer, kind of fought against it for a while. But then something happened, and I had to. I know how completely draining it is when you finish. It’s a mixed bag of emotions because you’re glad you helped, but you also can’t really stay on your feet.”

I neither agree nor disagree with her words. “Is that why you came here? Because I’m a healer, like you?”

She nods, not looking away. “There are more of us. My best friend, Rose, is a healer. Three other good friends of mine, Sage and Samantha and Sherese, are as well. At some point, I’d love to have you meet them.” She smiles genuinely. “You’ll find some of them are a little lovey dovey, but they’re good people. We healers stick together.”

I swallow at the emotion suddenly clogging my throat. The thought that there are others out there like me...But then my lack of trust in people comes to the surface, and I lean back in my chair. “How do I know you’re telling me the truth?”

To her credit, Ava doesn’t bat an eye. She takes another bite and then swallows and looks at the man next to her. “Bryce?” They seem to have an entire conversation in the long look they share with each other. Then, before I realize what’s happening, he puts his hand on the table. I stare in shock at the blood bubbling up in his hand and stand to my feet. But before I can do anything, Ava takes his hand in hers and closes her eyes. I watch in awe as the wound closes before our eyes. A moment later, she uses a napkin to wipe up the excess blood and then looks at me. It’s absolutely silent in the room. “Believe me now?” she challenges.

I swallow. “So, we’re healers? And there are more out there like us?”

She nods, and her face softens. “Yeah. You’re not alone.”

I swallow again, but this time it’s much more difficult. “And that’s why you’re here?”

“We’ve been searching for you for several months,” Bryce says, sitting back in his chair.