Heart of Vengeance (Alice Worth #6) - Lisa Edmonds Page 0,169
wall I couldn’t kick down.
I took a breath that gurgled in my chest…which was weird, because just seconds ago, I hadn’t been able to breathe at all. That one breath allowed me to speak.
“It’s okay,” I whispered, and slipped away into darkness.
33
I woke up in Heaven—which was kind of a surprise, all things considered.
I smelled coffee, and I was in bed next to Sean, with his arms wrapped around me and his nose against the back of my neck. Warm sunshine spilled through the open windows. Birds sang outside, a gentle fall breeze wafted through our room, and Esme was curled up asleep at the foot of the bed. Yep, Heaven for sure.
Sean let out a snore as loud as a jet engine, right next to my ear. I winced.
Either Heaven had a sense of humor, or I wasn’t dead. The latter seemed more likely the more aware I became of how sore my upper body was—especially my chest and back.
I didn’t want to wake Sean, so I gingerly moved my head and pulled aside the neck of my tank top. Two faint round scars marked where the bullets had punched through my chest. A couple of inches lower, and one or both would have gone through my heart.
Either my movement woke Sean, or maybe he’d sensed I was awake. His snore cut off mid-roar. He raised his head, his hair sticking out in all directions and eyes bright gold. “Alice?”
“Hey.” I kissed his jaw. “Do I smell coffee?”
He pulled me against his body and buried his nose in my hair, breathing in my scent. I rubbed my nose against the warm skin over his heart and kissed his chest. We lay like that for a long time, just holding each other, with my lips over his heart and his breath warm on my ear.
I could have gone back to sleep, and Sean probably would have too, but I had questions.
“Who shot me?” I asked finally, my voice muffled by his chest.
He growled. “We don’t know. Our priority was keeping you alive, and that took all of us. By the time we found the sniper’s nest, he was long gone. Daniel tracked him across the neighbor’s property behind us, to where he had a vehicle waiting. No one saw the vehicle, or anyone suspicious. No leads so far, but we’ll find out who sent him.” He squeezed me. “It wasn’t your friend on the Harley—that much we know.”
“Of course it wasn’t.” I tried to sense Ronan’s now-familiar silver-blue magic trace, but there was none anywhere nearby. Where the hell had he gone? I hadn’t necessarily thought he’d stick around and play bodyguard, but I hadn’t expected him to leave without even saying goodbye. I wasn’t sure what his abrupt disappearance meant, and it made me uneasy.
“I felt Malcolm using healing magic on me,” I said, since I could do little about Ronan’s vanishing act. “Where did you get a blood magic healing spell with your own magic in it?”
“I bought some after Caleb attacked you, when you had to rely on Vaughan to save your life.” He nuzzled my hair. “I promised myself you would never have to drink vampire blood again for healing if I could help it. I used one of them to heal your injuries when Miraç’s witches dropped you off on the side of the road in Landers. I used another one last night—the strongest one I had. It took every bit of it, plus Malcolm’s healing spells, to save you.”
I frowned. “Why didn’t it hurt me? Strong blood magic healing spells are agonizing.”
“I had that one made so I would feel the pain, not you.” He kissed me before I could yell at him. “Don’t tell me I shouldn’t have done it. It’s my choice to make, and I’d do it again a hundred times.”
He would, and there was no use fussing at him about it now. “Where’s Daniel?” I asked.
“Out patrolling with Joshua and Jesse Hayes. Ben and Felicia are downstairs. Nan and Karen will be here later.”
“Not Karen,” I protested. “She’s pregnant. Get someone else to take her shift.”
He kissed my hair. “She insisted, Alice. Everyone’s upset. They all want to do their part. You know that.”
That was a fair point. Karen would be pissed if he told her she couldn’t help. “So, since we have no leads at the moment, who do we think tried to turn me into Swiss cheese?”