TheHealers (13 page)

“They are never going to hurt you.” His hand squeezed mine. “I’m never taking my eyes off of you.” The devotion in his tone and the serious look he tossed my way threw my stomach into a surge of somersaults.

“Alexander, why do they hunt us?” The innocent voice in my question was so vulnerable, but I didn’t care. I knew he would explain and protect me.

“We defy their very existence. If what we do is real, then all of their work is a mockery.” He gave a little pause for it all to sink in. Then he added more.

“Do you realize how much revenue pharmaceutical companies and medical doctors get from their ability to get everyone addicted to their treatment plans?”

The money! Now, I was seeing clearly. “Enough to want us dead,” my flat voice replied.

“Exactly. In the beginning, there was conflict, but we could still coexist together. Somewhere between then and now, we went into hiding. Therap…Healers started dying. We had to preserve our gift and protect the legacy of Asclepius.” The pain in his voice over the dead was heartbreaking. To feel that this man could have such a heart touched me. Maybe he was more than what appeared on that smooth, sexy surface. I turned my head to look out the window before drooling could become apparent on my face. Foothills were starting to run rampant over the flat grassland we had looked at for the last hour. The live oak trees started to be ganglier as they randomly hung anywhere. The appearance of any town became less frequent.

“I need to let my friends know I’ll be gone for a while.” I suddenly turned to him and asked, “How long will this take to resolve? What will it take for them to leave me alone?”

Alexander’s hands tightened on the steering wheel and the hard words came out of his mouth, “I don’t know. I’m not sure you can ever go back to that life. We still have so much to teach you about our people. Do you think you could go back to your life after everything you now know?”

I almost heard a tinge of sadness at the end of his voice. Could the thought of me leaving be sad to him? That was just…unimaginable.

“No.” I spoke softly. Even through the anger at losing everything that I thought was my life, I still knew I couldn’t leave. Not him, and not this opportunity to find out about myself.

Something in his body relaxed as he heard my words and his right arm reached down to rest on my left leg. The sizzle aura of sparks that I had noticed when we first met became commonplace to my senses because I had been around him consistently for at least the past twelve hours. They were still there, it just seemed more natural. The fireworks going off in my head and body were another story, however. His touch ignited a chemical response in my body. Almost like two halves making a whole. Was it possible to really find a person that unequivocally belonged to another? It still challenged me to wrap my thoughts around that idea. Nothing about it made sense, but everything about it felt right.

“I still need to let them all know so they don’t worry. I should probably call the police that were over the other night and let them know I will be out of town for awhile, too.” I picked up my cell phone and made the calls. I did not stop being aware of the constant touch between our bodies. His hand still rested protectively over my leg. That simple action gave me strength. I chose to just text my friends. I knew it was impersonal, but I did not have the energy to make individual calls and repeat the same information again and again. I did, however, have to make a personal call to the police.

“Officer Banks.” The automated sound in his voice led me to believe he didn’t recognize my number on caller id.

“This is Layna Covington, you were at my
—
”

“I remember. We’ve been trying to find you. We got a report of the fire at your house.” So he did remember me.

“How did you know about the fire?” I looked at Alexander questioningly, thinking that the people that cleaned it up would not contact police.

“I have officers watching your house. Why didn’t you call immediately? Where are you staying? I can have an officer come and get you.” This little glimpse into my old world almost lulled me back. Calling the police was the sensible thing to do. I quickly reminded myself that the people coming after me were not going to be intimidated by police officers. I was still a little upset with Officer Banks.

“If you were watching my house, then how did someone manage to light it on fire?” Silly and petty of me, but I couldn’t resist.

“Layna, we don’t put twenty-four hour surveillance on a house that was broken into. Be reasonable.” I couldn’t help but hear a little bit of an apology in the tone.

“Either way, I’m safer where I’m at now. I’m going to be out of town for a while until this all gets figured out.” The hand on my leg started to rub again. Oh, this man would be the end of me.

“We need to get a statement from you and get you somewhere safe. Why are you being so difficult about this?” Officer Banks sounded like he was getting real comfortable real fast with ordering me around.

“Layna, hang up the phone.” A demand from the man sitting next to me. I wanted to protest, but something said he was right.

“I’m hanging up now. I just wanted to inform you of what happened and let you know I don’t know when I’ll be back.” My finger slid over the touch screen to hit the end button. Then I turned my body slightly to look at Alexander. He pulled the car off of the road and he placed the gear to break.

“What just happened?” I wanted to be clear before I yelled at him for telling me what to do.

“Your phone is traceable. Every time you use it you send out a signal. Even if you don’t use it, the same thing happens.” He looked at me with a solemn nod of his head. The caress of his hair against his face was a little distracting. “We need to get rid of your phone. You can program the important numbers in my phone and use it. My phone isn’t traceable.”

A fuzzy haze started to take over in my head. It was dizzying and I pushed my hands to my temples to try and make it go away. I could see the two serpents in the car. A shriek came out of my mouth and I jumped into Alexander’s lap. I scrambled to get away. My hand immediately went to the door to escape the vehicle, eyes trained on the two snakes that came at me.

Strong, safe arms gripped my hips to turn me around. It didn’t escape my notice that the warm spot between my legs was intimately on top of a hard, rough place on his body. Alexander’s eyes got deep and dark for a passionate minute and then he spoke.

“We have to leave now. Give me the phone, we have to destroy it.” The phone slipped out of my fingers and into his. He set me down in the middle seat and stepped out of the vehicle with my phone in his hand. Looking in the rear-view mirror I was able to see him extract a heavy blunt tool from the back of the vehicle. His tall figure disappeared behind and I was suddenly turning my body around to see where the smash sound came from. A familiar face was visible as he stepped back around and to the driver side. No tool or phone was visible anymore.

We sat in silence for the remainder of the drive. I had so many thoughts going through my head that it would actually inflict pain on me to attempt anything else, like talking. My body still perched in the middle seat, but our bodies no longer touched. Just when I felt as though my whole world would fall apart, something caught my eyes.

It was more than just a
something
. It was hills everywhere. They were camouflaged with lots of willow green grass. The sunshine gave the grass an emerald glow that shimmered its reflection into the lake below it. Driving seventy miles an hour down the freeway was not conducive to admiring the scenery. But there, in that small moment, the reflection caught my eye and I looked up. This serene beauty was here. All my life I had lived in Texas, but had never ventured out to see this part of it. Even though chaotic circumstances had brought me here, I felt a little bit grateful. At the next glance I saw rocky cliffs. They were touched with bits of grass here and there along with the different colors in the leaves on the trees. Even though it was closer to winter some of the trees looked like fall. It was Nature’s reward to us for having such brutal summers. We almost never had brutal winters and they were kissed with some type of foliage all winter long.

Red lights ahead drew my attention back to the freeway. We must have been in a really remote part of the state because you just did not see stop lights on a freeway. As we ventured closer I heard the blinking of our turn signal and gathered that we would be going left. I wondered silently how much further, but didn’t dare ask. What did it matter? I had left everything behind.

Bumps and the crunchy rock sounds made it pretty clear that we were on back country roads. Butterflies danced a little in my stomach as I felt slightly intrigued about where we would end up.

The road curved to the right and I saw a white barn house. The front of the property line was surrounded with a fence made of wooden sticks. Horses appeared on the land as we drove along this forgotten road. One was a fierce black color and almost seemed to have a disposition that matched it. It nudged a chocolate colored horse and shook its mane wildly. I could almost feel the emotions that danced along the horse’s body.

As I turned to face Alexander, rows of what appeared to be mini trees became visible. The crooked appearance of some of the trunks led me to believe that these were not trees. As we got closer, I could see they were being supported by some sort of twig or ropes that held it horizontally across each row in two places. More rows of these little trees appeared than I could count. Looking ahead I saw what looked like the end of our road.

Chapter Fifteen

Alexander
pulled the car in front of a stone covered house trimmed in dark wood all around. An oversized porch spilled out over the front of the house and appeared to stop at the edges on both sides. A narrow pond ran in a river-like pattern across the front of the house. It reminded me of moats and castles. In order to get over the moat, a small bridge was constructed of the same dark black metal that fenced in the porch. I scooted over to the passenger door and climbed out.

“Can you tell me now? Our location?” The words cracked from my voice box since I had not spoken any words in awhile.

“It’s a vineyard run by some friends of ours.” His voice caressed my body like honey. It wasn’t like he said anything provocative, but I could feel the intent. He wanted to be tender with me.

“Are we here to drink?” I had no problem with that. Maybe it would take the edge off of my extremely dramatic last couple of days.

Alexander walked over to my side of the truck and grabbed my hand as he laughed. “We’re definitely going to have a drink. I’ll teach you a little about the healing properties of wine.” His face was still creased with that tempting smile.

That was a lesson I was up for learning.

We left all our stuff in the car and just walked hand in hand. I stopped when we crossed the bridge to admire the little mock river below. Or was that called a creek? This was all new to a girl who had never been in such a remote area. Both sides of the creek were lined with rocks. They were jagged and not symmetrical in any way, but they looked as though they framed the creek. I noticed a small sign on the left side of a large wood door that said
Winery
. I took a deep breath in and walked with Alexander to the door. Excitement licked on the edge of my emotions. This was a first for me, which may be shocking, since I loved wine. He must have sensed it because his next words as he opened the door for me were,” Are you a virgin?”

“What?” I spat out in complete shock.

He actually had the decency to look embarrassed. “I meant a virgin to coming to a vineyard…a vineyard virgin?”

“Yes.” I walked in ahead of him while he held the door.

Once we were side by side again, I leaned over and attempted to reach his face. He obliged me by leaning over so I could kiss his cheek. “Thank you for bringing me here.” I started to tell him I meant thank you for everything. Protecting me, bringing me to this dream-like place, but I didn’t have a chance. His hand ran through my hair and brought our faces back together. Except this time, our lips were a breath apart.

“You’re welcome.” The closeness melted me right then and there. He leaned down that small distance and touched his lips to mine. It was so warm and gentle. I wanted to run my hands all over his face and feel every inch. My hand started to reach up and fondle his hair. I wanted to feel it brushing over my legs and chest. It ran smoothly through my fingers. Our lips separated and I brought my head down on his chest. That small kiss had taken my breath away. Would I ever become used to touching this gorgeous man? His eyes seemed to be wishful. I knew what he felt in that moment. I wished we were alone, too. Tiny little smiles kissed my lips as we continued in.

Inside there were wood floors everywhere that echoed as we walked across the room to find that the entire back wall of this room was bay windows. Through the windows, patrons could see the hills that held the rows and rows of grapevines. Just in the center of the two large windows was a stone fireplace. I was suddenly being tugged to the couches in front of the fireplace. There were two brown leather furniture pieces. One was a sofa and the other was the matching loveseat. They were facing each other and at first I thought Alexander would leave me on one side and him on the other. He didn’t, of course. He sat down right next to me on the loveseat. The room was also filled with a handful of tall circular tables that had barstools under them.