Page 96 of Healer’s Betrayal

“A few days,” she finally answers at least one of my questions. She writes down something on a clipboard, and I try to get my arms free once again. It’s no use; the bindings are too tight. She steps back. “All right. We’re all done for today.” Her words confuse me; but when she starts to unstrap me, I don’t question her. Once my arms and legs are free, I sit up; but I don’t make it any further than that because the room is tilting sideways. “Okay. Ready to see the rest of the vampire site?”

My head snaps up, and I meet her gaze. I force myself not to react because she’s watching me with a smirk. I take in what she’s saying and try to make sense of everything that’s upside down right now. I stand to my feet and close my eyes a moment and let the dizziness pass. “Oh, that’s just from the blood loss; it will pass. Let’s go.”

Horror fills me, and I look behind me at the bed. Blood loss? I bite my tongue and follow Ren—Alicia and take in as much as I can as we walk. I memorize every hallway we walk through, every turn, what floor when we use an elevator. She stops outside of a large metal door. “Ready to see Jackson?”

My heart stutters in my chest. “Jackson’s here?” I ask, shock coursing through me. I can’t help the hope that fills me.

“He is.” She types in a number I’m not quick enough to catch and then opens the door. “He may not be exactly like how you remember him, though.”

And just like that, my hope turns into despair. “What did you do to him?” I can barely speak the words over the pounding of my heart. “And where is Noah?”

“Noah’s not here.”

That's all she says, and I want to scream. I force myself to follow her into the room where Jackson is. My stomach bottoms out as I take in tons of little rooms of sorts throughout the larger room. I see people walking around in scrubs, and I can’t figure out what it is we’re looking at. “Let’s go,” she chirps at me. I force my leaden feet to follow. We pass the first room, and I look through the glass windows surrounding the room and see a male lying on the bed. We pass another small room, and it’s the same thing. Not one of them are awake, and the sense of foreboding in my gut grows. Alicia stops in front of a room, and I just know Jackson is in there. I stand still and can’t make my feet move. Alica rolls her eyes at me. “Do you want to see him or not?”

I force my feet forward. When I’m at the window, I look inside; and my heart drops when I see Jackson in the bed. A small cry sounds from my lips. “What did you do to him?”

“We just upgraded him a little.”

“What did you do to him?” I ask, this time with more menace in my voice.

Renee raises an eyebrow. “If you knew what was good for you,” she says in a quiet, calm voice. “You would keep your voice down. This is a very dangerous room to be in. If any of these creations wake up, we are all at risk.”

Horror and panic simultaneously course through me. “Creations?” I feel sick, even saying the word.

Alicia smiles. “Yes. Your Jackson is no longer just a wolf; he’s a vampire now as well.”

“No,” the cry is wrung from my lips before I even realize.

“Yep. Want to go say hi?” She opens the door and steps back. I take one step and then another and another until I'm standing in his tiny, makeshift room. “Oh, be careful not to wake him,” Alicia adds casually. “He might not remember you and end up killing you.”

My eyes widen in shock. “What?” I breathe.

“Have a good visit,” she calls out over her shoulder and closes the door behind her. My instincts war against each other. Part of me wants to run out of the room, while the other part of me wants to run to Jackson and hug him. I stand there paralyzed, unsure what to do. I glance over at Jackson again and take a tentative step towards him. Then I remind myself that this is Jackson. He’s only ever been good to me and protected me. I step right next to his bed. “Jackson,” I whisper. I watch his chest lift and fall, so I know he’s breathing. But he makes no movement beside that. “Jackson,” I say a little louder. This time, I lean forward and put my hand on his chest. His eyes fly open, and I stumble back in surprise at the red eyes. He’s out of bed in less than a second. He lunges for me, and I scream and stumble back. The chain connecting him to the bed stops him from reaching me. I scramble for the door and manage to open it and run out, slamming it shut behind me. He hits the door a moment later, but he can’t open it. He tries, but it’s locked somehow. I see the broken chain dangling from the bed and can’t breathe. I turn and run. I don’t stop running until I hit the metal door that brought me in here. I try to open it, but it won’t open. “Alicia!” I shout banging on the door.

“I told you not to scream in here,” she says, literally appearing out of thin air.

“Get me out of here,” I manage to force out. She opens the door, and I stumble forward. I see a trash can and run towards it, emptying my stomach.

Alicia makes a tsking sound. “So dramatic.”

My stomach cramps hard, and I empty my stomach once again. I hover over the trash can, wondering how everything in my life could have gone so wrong. I’m aware at some point that she guides me back through the building, but my mind is numb. I can’t work out anything besides my stomach cramps and the pain in my head. Well that and Jackson. She opens a door and all but shoves me in. “Get some sleep. I’ll be back for you first thing in the morning for more work.”

I stumble towards the bed. I need to ask questions; I need to figure out what’s going on. Black dots line my vision as I all but fall on the bed. I manage to crawl up to the pillows before passing out completely. Loud knocking wakes me from a deep sleep. I hear a door open, and then Alicia is in my room. “Let’s go. Work time.” She sounds way too chipper, and I squint bleary eyes at her. She raises an eyebrow. “Let’s go.”

I look her in the eye. “I’m not going anywhere with you.” My words don’t have the intended impact.

She throws her head back and laughs. “Oh, you’re cute that you think you have any power in this place.” Her eyes turn menacing. “You have less than no power in here. You do what you’re told in here, or you die. It’s pretty simple.” She cocks her head. “Or more likely, you won’t die. It will be Jackson that pays the price.”

Fear threatens to choke me, but I force out my words anyway. “Jackson and I are mates; if he dies, I die anyway.”

“Nope. We’ve found a way around that. So, we can kill Jackson whenever we want to.”

I narrow my eyes at her. “You can’t kill Jackson; he’s too strong.”

She rolls her eyes. “Did you not see him in that room? We control him. We control whether he takes his next breath, whether he kills the next person he sees, whether he reaches inside his own body and pulls his heart out.” Shock keeps me silent. “Get this through your head, Kayla. You have no power in here.” Each word is slow and distinct. “So, you’d better do what you’re supposed to do and stay in line. I don’t control what happens to you. There are others above me that can decide to kill you or Jackson just for the fun of it.”

My heart races in my chest, and I have a hard time breathing. “Where’s Noah?” I ask again.