The Healer (The Order of Intergalactic Peace #1) - Kelly Lucille Page 0,20

for him.”

Chapter Six

Serenity breathed deeply of the fresh mountain air. For what had to be the millionth time she was grateful for the small patch of heaven her father had found for her. Deep in what was considered the wilds as she was, nothing and no one knew of this place but her and her father. The wild animals that abounded and served as a deterrent and danger to others left her alone. Something to do with her power, but even as a child the ‘Serenity Effect’ as her father called it, meant that she was as safe in the wilds as she had been in Freefall, safer probably since even the hunters of the OIP would have a hard time tracking her here.

Even so she had been careful to stay put in her cave system for the last few weeks just in case someone came looking. Call it paranoia, or instinct, but she had known as soon as she found the third sensor that Mal Ryn was not done playing with her. So she had done what any sane woman would do having met the man. She ran fast and hid well.

Finding the two sensors had been almost a relief, even if Stolin cursed her quite fluently for it when he discovered them. The third one had made her go cold with foreboding.

She found it almost too late when she stopped at the edge of the forest to erase her scent and change into the clothes she had hidden there for just that situation. Once again it was her healer abilities that read the small itch on her arm as a foreign object. By the time she sent a wave of her power over the micro sensor her own natural defenses had already broken it down as a foreign object. But the presence of it so unexpectedly had convinced her of her own foolishness as nothing else had. And she had no idea if it had given them any information they could use before her powers ate enough of it away to make a difference.

She was tempted to try to get her father’s attention, but if he were not on his way yet he would be soon. He had an uncanny ability to know just when to show up for maximum effect. Whether that would end up being a good thing or not was still undecided. He might give her a much needed shot of courage but it was not outside the realm of possibility that he would declare war on the man making her so nervous.

For the first time in her memory she was unsure that her father would be the one to win in a battle. Even if it was with only Mal Ryn and not The Order of Intergalactic Peace as a whole, she could not call it. Throwing in the rest of his elite guard and hunter squads? It was probably best her father was busy elsewhere right now.

Unfortunately for her after two weeks of isolation her power was surging against her. She grew her own food and had enough stores to last longer. And the waterfall, a short walk further into her cave system supplied her with all the water she could need, so in that way she could hide for a good long while. But she was not going to be able to deny the call of her power much longer.

It only got progressively worse as the day wore on. She was close to coming out of her skin now, so she knew something out there was hurt. She tried to ignore the pull of it. There was a slim chance that Mal Ryn had not only discovered her general vicinity but also that she was a healer. She didn’t need her father’s voice in her head telling her it could be a trap, but by the time the sun was full in the sky it no longer mattered. If it was a trap, it was a clever one.

Following the draw, it was only a little time later that she was close enough to sense an animal. Closer still when she sensed the damage was to a leg and what had caused it. The fox was trapped in the iron jaws of a wolf trap. A primitive thing, she had seen a few in her travels to the towns.

She felt bad for the people going hungry, but it didn’t stop her from disabling the traps and hiding them any time she came across