Touched (Sense Thieves)

by Corrine Jackson

  Gabe’s gentle voice sounded in my ear. “Easy, Remy. I’ve got you.”

  Asher crawled forward, taking me from his brother. He flinched when his hand touched the new blood spreading across my back. “Why, mo chridhe? Why did you do it?” he whispered. “You should’ve let me die.”

  “I’m sorry, Asher,” I gasped. “Please, don’t hate me.”

  “Hate you? How can you even think that?” he said, tortured.

  You wanted to be mortal.

  Strong arms tightened around me. “Yes. To have a future with you.” He leaned his forehead against mine, and his eyes filled with tears. “I could’ve borne living through ten centuries knowing I’d discover you at the end of them. But all of this means nothing without you. Don’t leave me when I just found you.”

  Gabe placed a hand on Asher’s shoulder. “There’s still a chance. Humans have survived worse, and Remy is not a normal human. She needs a hospital. I’ll go get her family. She’ll need them.”

  The sky danced in a dizzying circle when Asher stood with me in his arms.

  Urgency fueled Gabe’s words. “Asher, go now!”

  Asher sprang forward from a crouch, holding me against his chest. The stars streaked as he ran, and my world narrowed to his rigid face, the sole steady object against the blurred backdrop of the passing scenery. I felt like I floated in the deep end of the pool as Brandon had taught me. My eyes shuttered, but Asher shook me until I stared up at him.

  “Don’t sleep, Remy. We’ve a ways to go yet.”

  There was no reason to pretend. “You came for me, Asher. I pictured you a thousand times, and you came.”

  “Of course, mo chridhe. You showed me where to find you.”

  The sound of my own voice distracted me as it came in gasps. “I waited, but I thought you wouldn’t get there in time. I tried to be strong, but he kept hurting me. Oh, God, Lucy! He shot Lucy!”

  “She’s safe,” he promised, grim-faced. “You saved her, remember?”

  I didn’t remember. Confused, I wondered when I’d saved her. A memory flashed of her going out a window, but that didn’t seem right. Suddenly, I couldn’t remember where I was, except that Asher held me. Unable to fight any longer, my eyes flickered closed again, seeking the abyss of sleep.

  “Remy! Wake up!”

  I blinked, focusing on his mouth as he continued to yell at me until the floodlights outside the Emergency Room blinded me.

  “Help! Somebody help me!” Asher shouted.

  New arms lifted me away from him, placing me flat on a hard surface. Strident voices arrowed over my head. Strange hands touched my wrecked body as they poked and prodded. An oxygen mask covered my mouth and nose, and a needle pierced my arm. A rubber band of time stretched taut until Ben’s relieved voice snapped me back to awareness.

  “You’re safe now, baby.”

  His rough hand squeezed mine for a brief second, and my body jump-started, humming with relief. Knowing my father and Asher watched over me, I let go of consciousness.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  A nurse jarred my broken wrist checking the burns on my arm. She smiled when she saw my eyes fixed on her face and left me alone. Eyes closed, I returned to my body with a shattering reminder of the pain my stepfather had inflicted. The familiar loneliness of the impersonal yellow walls and white hospital linens weighed on my chest, causing an ache that had nothing to do with my injuries.

  Stale air shifted as someone slid noiselessly to the room. Instead of Asher, Gabe braced himself at the foot of the bed, grasping the metal frame in both hands with a forbidding expression on his perfect face. Instantly fearful, I whispered, “Gabe? Is Asher . . . ?”

  “He’s fine. Anxious about you. He’s down the hall with the police and didn’t want to leave you alone. They’re questioning him about how he found you.” Lips pressed into a thin line, he studied me. “You look like a horse dragged you through a field of glass, by the way.”

  I blinked at the colorful description.

  “Well? How do you feel?” he asked.

  “Like a horse dragged me through a field of glass,” I choked out.

  He snorted and slipped his hands in his back pockets, rocking on his heels. “A Healer with a sense of humor. Who knew they existed?” The small smile disappeared, and his brows rose in surprise. “Your power is back.”

  He winced, and I raised my defenses, ignoring his unasked question. The time would come for explanations, but not until I’d listened to the last of my mother’s recordings and had confirmation of what I suspected. I could only hope my iPod had survived the car crash.

  Gabe didn’t press the issue. “We need to get our stories straight before the police question you.”

  “How long have I been out?” I asked.

  “Two days.”

  Another two days of my life lost, thanks to Dean. My anger reignited, and I snuffed it to smoke and ashes. “Where is everyone?”

  “Your dad has scarcely left your side since they brought you out of recovery. They operated to fix the damaged tissue from the gunshot wounds to your side and back. Your father donated blood, I believe.”

  Gabe explained that Asher had told everyone he’d been driving out near the fort when he saw me driving off the grounds with a man in the backseat. He followed me and arrived in time to see Dean run away, leaving me wounded at the side of the cliff. No one knew Asher had carried me to the hospital instead of driving me there in a car.

  The Blackwells had recovered Dean’s body from the beach and buried it where it would never be found. There was no way to explain why he had wounds that exactly mirrored mine and a close examination by the police would have brought the Protectors back to Blackwell Falls. It was best for everyone if Dean simply disappeared off the face of the earth. With my mother gone, no one would miss him.

  “How did you find me?” I asked at one point.

  “Asher heard you calling him. We should’ve been looking for you outside of town like everyone else, but he insisted Dean held you somewhere nearby. I thought he’d lost it when he said you showed him where to find you, but then we missed you at the hostel by minutes. The bond you two have . . .” Wide shoulders lifted in a graceful shrug. “Nothing could’ve kept him from finding you.”

  He gazed at me with an odd expression. Frustrated, I blurted out, “What?”

  Strong hands gripped the railing again, threatening to bend it. “I don’t understand you, Healer. You changed. I’d guess you were like us on that cliff, if that were possible.” Gabe’s penetrating stare held less animosity than before. In a quiet tone, he asked, “You made him immortal again knowing it might kill you. Why?”

  “You ask the wrong questions, Protector.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You once asked if I was worth dying for,” I answered.

  “Not what I would sacrifice to keep him safe.”

  With a slow nod, his hands relaxed their hold on the bed. “You’re not like the others, Healer. You almost make me wish that I . . . Never mind. I hope for everyone’s sake the others never find out about you.” Hardness infiltrated his eyes again, and he added in a smooth, uncaring tone, “They always do in the end, though.”

  Gabe disappeared through the doorway. He didn’t know how dead-on he was. I truly was unique in the world of Protectors and Healers. Amazingly enough, Dean had started me on the path to comprehension. You think you’re better than me, don’t you? You and your rich daddy, but you’re both the same. At least I’m not a freak. No one could have guessed at the reason I could cure immortality, and the answer lay in the fact that I could become an immortal myself. When the Protectors found out the truth, my life in Blackwell Falls would end because they’d never stop hunting me or my family.

  “You’re awake!”

  Ben stepped into the room, rushing to my side. Under the fluorescent lights, his face appeared gray with worry and grief when he stroked the tangled hair from my face. Absently, I noted the return of his heart arrhythmia—I
’d healed it time and again in the last weeks and never saw it for the clue it was. “Hey, kiddo.”

  “Hey.”

  “You gave us one helluva scare. How’re you feeling?”

  I considered repeating my response to Gabe, but only said, “Alive. Lucy?”

  “Bruised from jumping out a second-story window, but otherwise okay. She wanted to be here, but we thought she should rest.” His gentle touch unsettled me because it was the opposite of what I’d been expecting. “She says you’re a hero. That Dean shot you when you tried to protect her.”

  A hero. That was laughable. Dean had shot her because of me. She would be better off if I left. They all would. My father felt responsible for me and guilty for leaving me. It would make it that much harder to convince him I needed to go.

  “Ben, I want to leave Blackwell Falls.”

  Hurt clouded eyes like mine. “What?”

  “Dean came here because of me. There’s a chance he’ll come back.” The lie nearly choked me, but I reminded myself it would keep them safe. “Lucy got hurt in my place, and it could be worse next time.”

  Everyone around me got hurt. The really unlucky ones died, and it would only get worse from here on out with the threat of the Protectors hanging over our heads. If I left now, Ben could go on blissfully unaware of the truth my mother had kept from him.

  White lines stood out around Ben’s mouth. “Remy, what are you talking about?”

  “Mr. O’Malley?” A polite voice interrupted Ben’s staccato words.

  We both turned to see the newcomer—an officer in uniform—hesitating in the doorway, tapping a notepad against his leg. Asher stood behind him, his eyes roving over me with worry and love.

  “Sorry to barge in on you folks,” the officer continued. “Mind if I come in? We need to get your daughter’s statement.”

  “Can’t this wait, Murphy? She’s not in the best shape. How did you even know she was awake?” Ben asked, frowning. The officer must have questioned my family already, or Murphy was one of Ben’s poker buddies. I’d miss the seven degrees of separation in Blackwell Falls when I left. Asher’s brows rose, and I ignored him. Barricade or not, I couldn’t keep him out of my head with the intensity of my emotions.

  “We asked the hospital to call when it looked like she was coming ’round. It’s best if we do this now while your daughter’s memory is fresh.” Peppered, caterpillar brows rose when he took in my discolored face, and added, “You okay with that, Remy?”

  I nodded because the questions would put off the inevitable with Ben. Coward.

  When Murphy turned to close the door on Asher, I said, “No, I want him to stay.” I needed the strength his presence offered.

  Ben’s breath huffed out, but he didn’t argue. He surprised me by scraping a chair closer and holding my uninjured hand, avoiding the IV line and my feeble attempt to pull away. Asher settled into a chair by the window, watching in silence.

  Wiry, silver sideburns blended into unruly gray hair as Murphy pulled a sharpened yellow Number 2 from behind his ear. Despite the color of his hair, I guessed he must be in his early forties since his skin appeared smooth with a few wrinkles about the eyes and lips, a telltale sign he smoked or used to smoke.

  Pencil at the ready, he studied me with tireless patience. “Your sister tells us that you went out to dinner and when you got home your stepfather was waiting in your kitchen.”

  I nodded.

  “What happened next?”

  I hid every detail that would have revealed me as a Healer but, unlike the last time Dean had put me in the hospital, this time I didn’t skip over the uglier facts. The more Ben knew, the easier it would be for him to send me away. If he imagined these things happening to Lucy or Laura, I could convince him to let me go.

  Dry-eyed, I described the events at the house, except in this fictionalized version I’d been shot in place of Lucy and Lucy escaped without Lottie’s help. When I told Murphy how Dean had discovered me in the bathroom and kicked me in the head, I felt Ben’s shudder through his fingertips. As if I discussed a stranger, I described everything, each horror related in the same dead voice. Hurt piled on top of hurt like the burn scar Dean had branded me with so that I became numb to all but the shame because he had broken me in the end. I’d given up before Asher arrived.

  His energy swirled in the air as if to comfort me without a touch. My father looked up as if he felt it, and I saw Asher glance at him with curiosity.

  “Any idea why your stepfather kidnapped you?” Murphy inquired.

  Bitterness infused my voice with a harsher edge, and I told the truth. “As far as Dean is concerned, he owns me. It’s not kidnapping to take back what belongs to you.”

  When I finished, Murphy made a last notation, closed his notebook, and tucked the pencil away in a shirt pocket. “That should do it. We’ll let you know if we have any other questions. Your dad has my card if you need anything. In the meantime, we’ll continue searching for him.”

  Before he left, serene brown eyes fixed on me. “You’re stronger than you think, Remy. I’ve met his kind before. Don’t let him get in your head when you’ve survived this far.”

  Alone with Ben again, I wondered how Murphy guessed I teetered so close to the edge, full of self-loathing and guilt. More than my body had broken. I felt turned inside out, wanting things I couldn’t have, and yearning for more than I had a right to ask for. I didn’t want to leave.

  “Asher, I’ll never be able to thank you enough for finding Remy.” Ben shook Asher’s hand and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Right now, I need to have a long overdue conversation with my daughter. You mind giving us a minute?”

  “No, sir.” In front of my father, he stepped close and leaned over to kiss my cheek. In my ear, he whispered, “I’ll be in the hall if you need me.” He tapped a gentle finger to my head, reminding me he could hear me without words, and left. Silence reigned for a long moment, and I waited for Ben to agree to my leaving Blackwell Falls.

  “Okay, enough!”

  Ben’s heated outburst startled me, and he swooped in to scoop me out of the bed, sheets and all. He eased back in his chair, not disturbing my IV line as he held me.

  A passing nurse ran into the room when she saw him. “Mr. O’Malley! You can’t—”

  Ben glared at her. “The hell I can’t. She’s my daughter. Get out!”

  She turned on her heel, and I suspected she intended to find someone bigger and meaner to threaten Ben. My father’s blue eyes lasered mine.

  “You’re not responsible for everyone and everything, Remy. You didn’t bring Dean here, and you did everything you could to protect your sister. More than anyone could’ve asked of you. And before her, you protected your mother. We should’ve been there. Me, your mother. We should’ve been there because it’s the parents’ job to keep you safe. You’re a kid, Remy. A wise, beautiful kid who didn’t deserve any of this. Are you listening? This wasn’t your fault!”

  He looked like he wanted to shake me, but his hands remained gentle.

  “I’m never sending you away. If you try to go, I’ll fight you. Blame me for leaving you to deal with that bastard on your own. Hate me and rage at me and try to shut me out, but I’m not going anywhere. You’re not alone anymore. I’m here, Remy.”

  My dad wanted me to stay. Dams fractured inside me, and Ben’s features blurred. Embarrassed, I ducked my head to wipe the tears on the sheet. Salty and hot on my tongue, they flowed harder. Appalled, I listened to my breath hitch on a sob as control escaped me. The fear, worry, and sorrow I’d bottled ruptured. My dad wanted me to stay.

  Ben’s grip tightened. “Cry, sweetheart,” he whispered. “For you.”

  My voice broke on another sob, and I buried my face in Ben’s neck. I sensed Asher retreating from my thoughts as my father rocked me like a child, murmuring nonsensical words as I cried out five years of grief for all I’d lost.

  Later that night, Lucy and Laura came to visit.

  My eyes wer
e swollen from crying, and my throat raw. I’d eventually fallen asleep in Ben’s arms, hiccupping and sniffling. The nurse returned with a doctor, but Ben said something to them and they left us undisturbed. Asher’s lips had brushed my forehead before he left to check in with his family.

  When Laura walked in, she immediately fussed over me, driving the nurses crazy as she chased after them to check my bandages. Her cool hand soothed an imaginary line across my forehead, easing the headache that centered there.

  She listed my injuries in a shaky voice—concussion, gunshot wounds at my waist and back, burns up my left arm and on my neck, two broken fingers and broken wrist on my right hand, plus the rope burns on both wrists and my ankles—but it was Lucy who passed me a compact mirror under Laura’s disapproving stare when I asked for one. My reflection shocked me. Bruises and scratches covered my face, most likely from Dean dragging me from the shrubs. No wonder everyone looked at me with horror. I watched, distressed, as my blue eyes filled with tears again.

  Laura tucked a thin blanket around me. “Asher’s a good boy. We’re so lucky he got you here when he did. The doctors are amazed you’re doing so well already. They said a few of the burns might leave scars, but the scratches aren’t deep. The bruises will heal, you’ll see.”

  Lucy pulled herself up on the bed to sit next to my legs and casually added, “Hey, everybody’s wearing them this season. We have matching shiners, Sis.”

  Ben and Laura had similar worried expressions when I burst out laughing, grasping my side, but Lucy grinned, unrepentant. Her face did sport a bruise similar to my own, and I spied other bruises under the neckline of her blouse.

  “Move over, Remy. Give a girl a little room. We can compare war wounds.” She shoved my leg until I scooted over an inch, and she curled up next to me, her hand resting lightly on my arm.

  A nurse—a male nurse, this time—walked in and frowned when he saw her. “That’s against hospital rules.”

  Laura’s voice could have blistered rock. “Sue us.”