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I stepped back and took a good look at her. She was red in the face and a little unsteady on her feet. I placed my hands on her forehead and cheeks. She was feverish, likely a bad reaction to the drug they’d pumped into her.
I guided her back inside her room, and we sat on one of the beds. I didn’t want her to strain herself any more than she had to, so I hurried to reassure her. “First off, Margo’s okay. She’s back home holding down the fort until I bring you back to her.”
A mother’s love brought life back to Diana’s eyes. She was still feverish and appeared exhausted, but knowing that her only child was safe at home was doing her a world of good.
“Second, I would like to give you a witch pill. Ridge and I took them yesterday, and there haven’t been any side effects. It’ll make you feel better, and hopefully eliminate the drugged feeling you must be experiencing.” Pulling a pill out of the bag, I got a glass of water and handed it to her.
“What is a witch pill? Where did it come from?”
“Trust me, it’s amazing. You’ll feel like new in no time. See?” I lifted my shirt and showed her where I’d been stabbed. Her eyes widened in shock to see the healed skin.
I hoped she wouldn’t ask too many questions about where the pills came from. I wasn’t sure she’d take them after knowing I’d liberated the meds from the hunters’ compound.
She traced her finger over where my wound should’ve been. “Oh, Tori, that’s incredible.” She seemed more at ease now that she knew I was no longer wounded and in pain. “Oh, sweet girl, I’m so happy you’re okay. You scared me. You’re never to get stabbed, maimed, or hurt in any capacity ever again, okay?” She cupped my cheeks, placing a motherly kiss on my forehead. Those maternal actions meant the world to me.
Wrapping my hands around hers on my cheeks, I stifled my laughter. “I’ll do everything I can to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
She was about to argue, but I stopped her by saying, “Now it’s your turn to get better.”
Diana popped the pill into her mouth and swallowed it down with a gulp of water. Her trust in me was awe-inspiring and a relief.
In a jiff, the flush faded from her face, and her cheeks took on a healthier glow. Her body didn’t slump with exhaustion anymore. Diana reached down and rubbed at her hip, then stood and rotated her hips in a loop.
“That’s a miracle. It’s like I’m good as new, even ten years younger. You need to patent that.”
I got a big kick out of her excitement. She laughed out loud and danced around, and I couldn’t help but join in.
“I’m so happy you’re okay. We’re going to head back to Blackwood Creek in a little while. We’ll get you back to Margo.”
Diana opened her arms and embraced me again. “Thank you for coming for me, sweetie. I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay you.”
“You don’t owe me anything. I’m happy we got you out of there. That’s all that matters to me.” Our emotions were running wild, and I couldn’t let this distract me further. “Where did Audrey go?”
“Oh, she said since I was okay and awake, she’d head into Clawson’s room to see if he needed a break since he has a couple of people to watch over.”
“Okay. Why don’t you rest a little more before we go? I’ll go and check in with them.”
“Rest. Who needs rest? I could run a marathon right now.” She giggled as I walked out of the room.
Clawson must have been watching out because he opened the door before I could knock. Zander was lying in the far bed, still out cold, and my brother was still knocked out by the drugs on the floor between the beds, tied up securely with the rope I’d taken from the hunters’ armory. There was no way he was getting out of those knots.
After greeting Clawson, I checked on Zander. He was pale, his skin gray under a sheen of sweat. He appeared to be in a coma. Apart from his chest, which rose and fell slowly and steadily, he was eerily still. His eyes didn’t even move under the lids.
“Since you’re here, I need to have a word with Ridge,” Clawson said. “Please excuse me.”
I spared a glance at Audrey as he left. Suddenly, the air was stiff and the mood turned awkward. She and I weren’t exactly from the same background, and our first meeting had been more than a little icy. Then there was the fact that she’d accused me of murdering Deputy Hill. But in our last conversation, Audrey had claimed to want to be my friend, which seemed highly unlikely. With parents like the Greenthornes, their daughter seriously wanted to be friends with me?
“It’s nice to see you in a not-stabbed condition. Do you think you could keep it that way? You gave all of us a freaking heart attack,” Audrey said.
The anxiety of being alone with her vanished, and I smiled. This friendship might have started on the wrong foot, but it had the potential to take wing.
“Your brother’s extremely attractive, but he’s a complete douchebag. Just saying.”
Maybe I’d hoped too soon.
My heart leaped to my throat as my stomach dropped to my feet. I didn’t know how I should respond because she was correct. Kyle was my brother. If she’d so easily put two and two together, there was no doubt in my mind that Ridge and Clawson had done the same thing.
Worrying my bottom lip between my teeth, I knew I couldn’t deny it—that would only insult her. It made me realize I’d need to leave as quickly as possible. There was no way they’d want a hunter’s daughter living in their town. I didn’t blame them, and I’d planned to leave from the very moment I’d arrived, but it hurt that it wouldn’t be my choice any longer.
