Darkness Shatters: Book 5 (Sensor Series)

by Susan Illene

  “Okay, fine. That’s obviously going to be a problem down the line, but other than that do you swear not to hurt her?”

  “I do,” he promised.

  Derrick spoke the truth. I’d have to live with that.

  “Then follow me.” I’d already figured out which of the nerou would be Zoe’s. It had been hard not to notice since she’d come with the first group.

  I stopped about ten feet from her. She’d pulled on a pair of purple sweats and her strawberry blond hair was braided to the side of her head. Her features were pale and delicate. She stood there alone, looking lost and sad. You’d never guess she was several hundred years old. The nerou had been sheltered for so long that many of them still had an air of innocence about them.

  “Be kind to her,” I said, nodding at the woman.

  He sucked in a breath. “That’s her?”

  “Yep.”

  “I’ll take care of her and make her happy if it’s the last thing I do.” He headed toward the woman without another word.

  Well, that was a stronger vow than I’d expected.

  “Melena,” Lucas called.

  I turned. He was standing with Micah and Olivia. The female nerou had her father’s arm wrapped around her shoulders. It didn’t seem to bother her that he still looked like a mess from the earlier battle.

  I walked up to them, meeting Olivia’s gaze. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “And you as well,” she said, smiling pleasantly.

  I cocked my head. “Did you know you’d meet your father today?”

  “Yes.” She looked up at Micah. “I knew he’d come for me.”

  He gave me a wink. “We don’t leave our loved ones behind in this family.”

  “No, we don’t.” My gaze went to Lucas.

  How many times had we rescued each other? I hadn’t bothered to count.

  Chapter Thirty-five

  The hum of the bus put me into a doze as I rested against Lucas. His playing with my hair had made it even easier to relax. It had been a long night and now it would be a long morning. I had to get my naps in where I could.

  “We’re here,” Derrick called from the driver’s seat.

  I lifted my head and discovered we’d pulled into the clinic parking lot.

  Ivan sat on the seat in front of us, turning his head as he gazed at our surroundings. It was a lot to take in during the short time he’d been on Earth. Daylight had come as well, allowing him to see more clearly.

  His fingers gripped the seat in front of him. “This is a…clinic?”

  “Yeah. The places where we treat the sick have probably changed quite a lot since you went to Purgatory.” Poor guy. If people weren’t dying, we wouldn’t have had to push him into this so soon.

  “It looks…interesting.”

  He’d asked for time to examine the plague patients before training the other healers. We’d dropped off the rest of the nerou—about fifteen of them—at Derrick’s house. Yerik had left us then, too. He’d grabbed his wife and son and taken them to their place.

  We’d also brought Micah and his daughter to my house. Lucas talked them into staying with us for now so we could do some family bonding. For the moment, he was putting aside his anger with his brother. I could still feel the tension, but he’d assured me he wouldn’t ruin Olivia’s homecoming. She’d have plenty of opportunities to experience family drama later.

  That left Lucas, Derrick, Ivan, and I to get the ball rolling on finding a cure.

  “Come on,” I said, standing up. “Before long you’ll be used to all this.”

  He glanced out the window. “I’m not so sure.”

  Derrick opened up the door and led the way off the bus. As we walked toward the entrance, I noted the doors had been fixed since yesterday. Derrick must have had his guys working double time to get everything back to normal before the nerou arrived.

  We entered to find Ajax pacing the lobby.

  “There hasn’t been any more trouble,” he said, coming toward us.

  I could sense the guilt coming from him. He must have taken Hunter’s death personally. I had a feeling he’d be spending a lot more time working to get his skills up now that he’d seen the worst side of battle. It could either make you or break you. I hoped for his sake—and all of ours—it made him stronger.

  “Good.” Derrick patted his shoulder. “Let’s hope it stays that way.”

  Paula came around the corner from the hallway and smiled when she saw us. “I’m glad to see you’ve made it back in one piece.”

  We’d washed up at our place before coming to the clinic. Lucas had given Ivan a spare set of his clothes to wear. You’d never know we’d been wounded and covered in blood a few hours ago.

  I narrowed my eyes. “Did you know where we were going?”

  “Not until Yerik called right before you left. He’d wanted to make sure everything was ready before you returned.” She looked at the nerou. “Is this our healer?”

  “Yes, this is Ivan,” I introduced him. “And Ivan, this is the head doctor here—Paula. She’s the best one to talk to about treatment methods.”

  “How about we take you to the patient ward so you can take a look around?” Paula suggested.

  “I’d like that.” Ivan still had that wide-eyed look on his face. He was trying hard to put up a brave front while taking in so many new things.

  “You’ll need to get washed up and put on a pair of scrubs. Then we’ll take you in there.”

  Ivan’s expression turned confused. “A pair of what?”

  “I’ll show him what to do,” Lucas said.

  I headed to the ladies’ room while the men went into the other washroom. A few minutes later we came out. Paula led us down the hallway and through the glass doors into the patient treatment area. Bambi was up and wandering around, looking even better than the day before.

  Her eyes met mine. “What did ya do now?”

  “What makes you think I did anything?” I put my hands on my hips.

  The wrinkles in her forehead got deeper. “There be a guilty look in yer eyes. Ya been up ta somethin’.”

  I gestured at Ivan. “I found us someone who knows how to cure the plague. Is that something I should feel guilty about?”

  She moved closer, grabbed his scrub top, and sniffed at him with her big nose. Ivan stood there with an amused look on his face. Cars, modern buildings, radios—those things freaked him out. A troll didn’t bother him at all.

  Bambi stepped back. “He ain’t nothin’ I smelt before. What is he?”

  “He’s a nerou—offspring of a sensor and nephilim,” Paula answered impatiently. “Now could you please let him look over the patients?”

  The doctor had some bite in her. Good for her.

  Bambi stuck her nose up. “If it pleases ya.”

  The troll waddled off, heading toward her bed at the far end of the room. Despite the delay she caused, I was glad to see some of the spark back in her after losing her husband. She’d taken it so hard in the beginning I’d thought she’d never recover.

  “Now, this is everyone who is sick in this area,” Paula informed Ivan, guiding him between the cots. “There are twenty-five patients here at the moment, but the one you just met and Melena’s daughter are recovering.”

  “What about Rob?” I asked, noticing he wasn’t on my radar.

  Her eyes turned troubled. “I had to let him go. Now that he’s fully recovered he has a right to mourn his son’s death at home.”

  I made a mental note to stop by and check on him soon. He had some other family in town, but I didn’t know much about them or if they were close.

  “I need to look at one of the worst cases first,” Ivan said.

  Paula led him over to an older werewolf. He was covered in black sores and sweat, and he was breathing raggedly. My sensed confirmed he didn’t have much longer. His life force was struggling to hold on.

  Ivan kneeled next to him. He took a deep breath and then his eyes glazed over. I’d
seen Micah do that before and knew he’d begun to use his second vision to see inside the body. For about five minutes he stayed that way while we waited silently.

  Then his eyes focused again and he looked up. “Now I need to examine a patient who has overcome the disease.”

  “Well, there’s Bambi…” Paula waved an arm toward the troll.

  He didn’t look impressed. Guess she’d pushed him to his limit, after all.

  “You have a daughter?” Ivan addressed me.

  “Well, not blood related. I adopted Emily.”

  His brows knitted. “What does that mean, exactly?”

  “It’s when a young person doesn’t have proper parents to take care of them so another adult steps in and takes responsibility for them.”

  Ivan’s eyes lit up. “Would it be the same as when Lucas agreed to train me to fight and told me all about your world?”

  “Um, sort of, except I’m also responsible for her basic education, disciplining her when she does something wrong, and being there for her when she’s upset.” Plus a whole lot more, but we’d be here all day if I kept the list going.

  His brows knitted. “In Purgatory the guardians and older nerou worked together to care for the children who came to us.”

  I could see it was going to take a long time to explain the way life on Earth worked.

  “It is different here,” Lucas informed him. “There are millions of children on the planet. It is easier if they can be cared for by their natural parents—or ones who adopt them like Melena did.”

  “You said your daughter’s name is Emily?” Ivan waited until I nodded. “Then may I examine her?”

  I glanced at Lucas. “Well, she recovered from the plague differently. I gave her my blood to heal her.”

  “All the more reason to see her.” Ivan looked enthusiastic about the prospect.

  Lucas leaned close to me. “He knows how you became immortal.”

  I addressed Paula. “Do you think she’s still contagious?”

  “She’s looking even better this morning, but she’s still quite weak and her body’s still fighting off the last of the sickness. I prefer to keep her in isolation for at least a couple more days to be safe.”

  I sighed. “So we’ve got to change again.”

  “What do you mean?” Ivan looked between us.

  “Emily is a sensor. When she got infected the demon magic didn’t carry over so she’s been contagious to anyone who’s not immortal.”

  “That may make for a purer specimen,” he said, rubbing his chin. “Without the magic to taint the bacteria it could be easier to see how her body is fighting it.”

  “Except my blood is helping.”

  “We will see. If you could lead the way?” He lifted an inquiring brow.

  We headed out of the patient ward, down the hallway, and toward the very back of the clinic. Not wanting to waste time, we all stripped and changed together in the anteroom before going inside.

  Aniya was there, talking quietly with Emily. Though the teenager did physically look better, her depressed emotions thickened the air. I felt awful I’d had to leave her for the night.

  “I don’t want any more visitors,” she said and rolled onto her back to face the wall.

  “What’s wrong with her?” Ivan asked, whispering to Lucas.

  “A boy she loved was killed yesterday morning,” Lucas murmured back to the nerou.

  “I am sorry to hear that.” His eyes turned sympathetic. “It was always difficult when one of our kind passed.”

  “So you guys can die?” I joined in their whispering.

  “When we grow too old or if we are crushed by tunnels caving in. It happened once before they put heavier protection spells on the walls. A dozen nerou died. But that was a very long time ago.”

  My chest tightened. So much death and for what? Lucas came from behind and wrapped his arms around me. He must have picked up my emotions through our bond. I was lucky enough to have him, but Emily had lost her anchor.

  Ivan moved over to the teenager. “I’m sorry for your loss. It is not my intention to bother you while you are grieving, but you could help me save many others if you would allow it.”

  Emily rolled over and frowned at the nerou, possibly just noticing she’d never sensed anyone like him before. Her gaze ran up and down his body, examining him.

  “What are you?”

  “I am nerou.” Aniya moved out of the way to let him take her chair.

  Ivan settled into it and took Emily’s hand. “Will you let me examine you?”

  “Magic doesn’t work on me,” she said. “You can’t do it that way.”

  He smiled gently. “Let me try. I believe it may be different between our races.”

  I’d thought he’d just want to see her and get samples of her blood to look at the old fashioned way. It hadn’t occurred to me he’d actually try using magic on her.

  “Okay.” Emily didn’t look all that convinced.

  Ivan stared at her hand where he held it, all his concentration going into that one part of her. His breathing moved in and out, deep and even. Why he thought he could manage it I had no idea, but the worst that could happen was he failed.

  “I need you to totally relax your body. If you feel a tingle of magic, try letting it in,” he coaxed her.

  Seconds dragged into minutes with nothing happening, but then I felt it. Emily had somehow let her control go. In the next moment Ivan’s magic pushed into her—grazing her at first, but then going deeper. His eyes were glassy as he studied her.

  Lucas leaned down, his breath tickling my ear. “I wouldn’t believe it if I wasn’t seeing it. Perhaps I should try something similar with you.”

  There was something very suggestive about the way he said that. I angled my head toward him. “Like what?”

  He gave me devilish grin. “You’ll only know if you let me in.”

  Someone cleared their throat. I looked back over to Emily and found her and Ivan staring at us with annoyed expressions on their faces.

  “Are they always like that?” the nerou asked the teenager.

  She snorted. “Pretty much.”

  “Did it help to look into her?” I asked, hoping to get the discussion back on track.

  “Actually, it did. She’s not just a sensor anymore, but something else. Closer to a nerou—though still more fragile than us. Her immune system is continuing to do much of the work killing the plague, but your blood strengthened her enough so she could fight it. I doubt she’ll ever get sick from anything again after this and may heal a little faster from wounds.”

  “I agree,” Paula said from the back of the room where she’d been standing. “That’s the conclusion I came to from examining her blood. She’s not immortal, but she’s more resilient now. If she hadn’t been so ill I doubt it would take even this long to recover.”

  Ivan returned his attention to Emily. “And you must focus on getting better.”

  She sighed. “Did you at least figure out how to help the others by looking at me?”

  “I believe I did, though I’ll need to do some experimenting before I can be sure. It is a difficult process and one I learned long ago.” He stood. “And I will need a lot of Dead Sea water.”

  “How much?” Lucas asked.

  “Enough that we can submerge patients in it entirely except their faces. Only five may be treated in it before the water will need to be changed out. It will require a lot, considering how many afflicted you have here.”

  And around the world.

  “We have enough for you to get started and treat at least ten,” Lucas informed him. “I’ll make the calls to get more.”

  Ivan headed for the door. “Good. I’ll need a private room to begin work on the worst patient first.”

  “I can arrange that.” Paula said, following him out of the room.

  Lucas glanced at me and I gestured for him to go. He hesitated, but with my urging left as well. Aniya went with him after I gave her a pleading
look. This was my chance to get Emily to myself and do whatever I could to comfort her.

  I turned toward the teenager. “Do you need anything?”

  Her expression turned vulnerable. “Would you lay with me for a while?”

  “Absolutely.” I crawled into bed with her.

  She wrapped an arm around my waist. “Invading Purgatory makes you tired, doesn’t it?”

  “How did you hear about that?” I met her blue-eyed gaze.

  “Aniya told me—after she heard you made it back okay.”

  Word must have spread fast once we’d gone in for our little invasion.

  “I didn’t have a choice,” I told her. “They needed a chance to be free and we needed the only man who might know the cure for the plague.”

  She snuggled into my shoulder. “I know, but I missed you.”

  It was strange seeing her so vulnerable. She hadn’t been this way since her head injury had changed her and even before that she’d tried to be tough.

  “I missed you, too.” I brushed her hair out of her face. “With any luck I won’t be leaving town anytime soon.”

  “Good.”

  Chapter Thirty-six

  “Have you taken leave of your senses!” a familiar voice woke me from a restful sleep.

  I cracked my eyes open and found Kerbasi hovering over the bed, outrage written all over his face. He grabbed my arm where the cuff should be. It felt good not having the metal digging into my skin anymore, but it only made Kerbasi let out a huff and stare at his own—which was still there. The magic that tainted it before was gone, though.

  “You are going to be in so much trouble for this.” He let go of my arm.

  Emily rolled over where she lay next to me. “What is he blathering about?”

  “He’s mad because I cut the armband off and left him sleeping while I went to Purgatory,” I informed her.

  At least the drugs we’d given him took a long time to wear off. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have gotten the—I checked my watch—six hours rest that I had.

  “Oh, is that how you got away from him? I’d forgotten to ask,” Emily said, rubbing her eyes.