which one? She couldn’t guess. Hell no. That was never going to happen. “What do you want?” she asked through gritted teeth.
“What does everyone want with a healer?” Alston asked dryly, as if tired of the answer.
She breathed out heavily. “My magic.”
He nodded. “You’ve been told, no doubt, many times how special a healer’s magic is. It’s because your heart is pure. It doesn’t mean you’re perfect, of course. You still have the nature of a human. You can be selfish, and you can lie, but the very core of you is pure. If it comes down to your life or another’s, you will always choose to give yourself up.” He stepped closer to her and tilted his head as if he were trying to figure her out. “You would even give up your life for a complete stranger. And not only that, but you might just do it for an enemy.” He motioned behind her, but Sally didn’t take her eyes off of him. “Tenia, the female who brought you. You would help her if she needed it. I can see it in your eyes.”
Damn eyes. Sally hoped she didn’t give anything else away. He was right, curse him. Tenia worked for the Order. Sally had no idea why the woman worked for them. Maybe they had something over her head and were blackmailing her, or maybe she just had some misguided belief that what she was doing was the right thing, but she didn’t realize just how evil the men running the organization really were.
“The wheels are turning in your pretty head,” the high fae said with a chuckle. “You’re trying to puzzle out why you would help her when she clearly works with us. There’s no point in trying to figure it out. It simply is the way you were created.”
“Does that mean you were created to be evil?” Sally should probably keep her mouth shut, but she couldn’t help herself.
“You should,” she heard her mate’s wolf say through the bond. “Do not antagonize him.”
“I am what I am,” Alston answered, seemingly unfazed by her question. “What you call evil, I call progress. There is no reason that supernatural beings should have to live in hiding.”
“Did you ever think there might be a different way to reveal yourselves other than making humans your slaves?” she challenged.
Alston shook his head. “Humans react to fear with violence. I have lived a very, very long time, healer, and I have watched them over and over attack that which they do not understand. They wouldn’t give us time to explain ourselves. The bullets would be flying and the bombs dropping before we had time to say anything other than ‘we aren’t human.’”
Sally wished she could argue with him, but she couldn’t promise him that wouldn’t happen. Cornered prey had a tendency to lash out. And though humans weren’t animals, they still reacted as such when they felt like prey. They’re natural reaction was to stay alive and to do whatever it takes to keep breathing.
“So, you need my magic. How is it that you are going to take it?”
“You’re going to willingly give it to us, Sally. You know we will hurt your mate and child. Do not think I have any weakness in me, not even for the young. I will do whatever it takes to move our agenda forward. And I now know that you’re not the only powerful healer in this world. Turns out, Perizada has been greedy, keeping some other healers to herself. It's not fair of her to squirrel them away from the rest of the supernatural world. After all, healers are something to be celebrated, not sheltered.”
“Pretty sure that when there are psychopaths who want to exploit and use them, it’s definitely better to keep them hidden,” Sally said and then mentally slapped her hand over her mouth. Okay, maybe she was channeling too much of her inner Jen. Or maybe something inside her had been fundamentally altered after what she’d been through. She wasn’t going to be the quiet mouse who simply tried to go unnoticed anymore. But she still needed to be careful and not get her child and mate hurt because of her lack of a filter.
Alston ignored her comment and began to pace around the room. Sally turned with his movement, keeping him in front of her. She felt chill bumps rise on her skin, and the hair on the back of her neck stood