Page 104 of Healer’s Betrayal

She doesn’t bat an eye. “Okay.” I take the lead, racing down the hallway, scanning numbers as I go.

“Kayla!”

Relief flows through me when I see Jade running towards me. “You were going to leave without me,” she accuses me.

“Incoming!” Sherese shouts. A vampire is upon us before I even see him coming. Sherese fights him, and Jade and I get in on it too. “Go,” Sherese demands as soon as he’s incapacitated. She’s an amazing fighter; there’s no way we’d have made it as far as we have without her. But she’s lagging now; I can see it.

“Are you okay?” I ask as we run back to the elevators.

“Yes.” Her answer is swift, and I don’t question it. To get back to the elevators we have to run past the laundry room. I didn’t notice it when we were running earlier because I was looking at room numbers. I notice it now. It’s silent as we run past it, but I stop inside anyway. My eyes scan the room for Jackson, and my heart drops when I don’t see him. Maybe that means he got out already. My eyes land on Alicia, who’s laying on the floor. There’s blood all around her. I take a step towards her, but Sherese puts a hand on my arm, stopping me.

“Don’t, she’s not worth it.”

I shake off Sherese’s hold and walk over so I’m a few feet from her. Then I make up my mind. “You’re coming with us.”

I hear sounds of rebuttal from both Jade and Sherese, but I squat next to Alicia. “You can’t kill me,” I tell her, looking into her eyes. “But I’m also not leaving you here for somebody to kill you. I don’t want to die today.”

She heaves a sigh and drops her gaze. “We’re not connected that way.” Her voice is so quiet, I know only I heard her. My eyes widen as I stare at her. She looks up and rolls her eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic. I needed leverage; so I created it.”

“So the vampire serum you put in me didn’t connect us?” I ask, just as softly.

She scoffs. “No. You idiots will believe anything.”

I shake my head. “Come on. Get up.” I put my hands under her arms.

“What are you doing?” she barks at me.

“This idiot is helping you up. Now, let’s go. I’ll heal your arms along the way. Unless you want to stay for that vampire to find you again.”

She looks away a moment. “Fine.”

I turn around and meet Sherese’s eyes. She looks back at Alicia, and I can see the anger in her eyes. “Don’t trust her for a moment,” she warns me.

“I’m not planning on it. Let’s go.”

We start for the elevators once again, but Alicia stops us. “This way.” We all three stop and stare at her. “Stairs.” I glance at Sherese, and she gives me a reluctant nod.

“Let’s go,” Alicia snaps and starts down the hallway. I don’t have time to decide whether or not to follow her. Do I trust her? Absolutely not, but if there’s a chance we can take the stairs and avoid more vampires, then that’s what I’m going to do. Jade and I run after her. I glance back to make sure Sherese is with us; thankfully, she is. When we finally get to the end, Alicia puts in a code, and a panel slides out of the way, revealing a door. Jade looks at me with wide eyes, and the three of us follow her up the steps. When we get to the top, Alicia stops a moment before reaching out for the door handle.

“Wait.”I grab her wet hand and try not to get squeamish. Her hand tightens, like she’s going to pull away. “Let me do this,” I tell her sternly.

“You do realize I could rip your heart out, right?”

I don’t meet her eyes; it’s too painful for me. “Got it.” I try to get my heart to stop beating so fast, so I can do this.

“Aren’t you a healer, Sherese?” The words from Alicia are taunting.

“I’m not healing you,” Sherese says flatly as I finish the first wrist and move to the other.

“These are so deep. Why did you make them so deep?” I ask.

“Oh, I don’t know. I thought it would be fun,” Alicia snaps.

“You know, you could be thankful that Kayla’s even willing to heal you,” Jade interjects.

Where are you?

Jackson’s sudden voice in my head startles me. Relief flows through me so hard, I stop what I’m doing. Jackson! You’re okay?