Page 11 of The Healer

She jerked back, her hand flying to her shoulder. “What have you done?”

Briggs grinned, his teeth bloody and then his eyes rolled up.

“Did he just mark you?” Pyre asked, his voice soft and deadly.

“I think so.”

But it wasn’t the glorious moment she’d imagined. Nyx had made a drug that mind-raped him and he’d marked her while out of his mind.

Tears streamed down her face, and she scrambled off Briggs’ lap. “We can’t tell him.”

“The hell you say?”

Nyx shook her head. “He’d never forgive himself, and well… it’s all my fault. He doesn’t want me.” It killed her to say it out loud. She’d done everything in her power to seduce him in the last two years and he’d never once budged on having a mate. “He doesn’t want a mate. I won’t take another choice from him.”

She faced Pyre, pasting on a wobbly smile. “Let me know when he wakes, and I’ll be back. I’m just going to get this cleaned up.”

“You should be here when he does.”

“I can’t. Would you clean him up?”

“You want me to brush his teeth?”

“I want you to clean away the evidence.”

Pyre pinched the bridge of his nose. “This lie will not help you. It will make things worse.”

She turned her back on her brother and strode for the door. “Don’t lecture me on the truth. We both know I learned from the best.”

Chapter Six

NYX

Two YearsAgo

“No!”

Nyx glanced from the window toward Briggs who slept on the floor of the cabin, in front of the low burning fire. Shudders wracked his body, and she dug her fingers into the skin of her biceps to keep from reaching out to him.

Touching Briggs during a nightmare was a near death sentence.

Her brother emerged from the single bedroom where they were keeping the girl—the one he was obsessed with but didn’t want to admit it. Pyre crept toward Nyx on silent feet and nodded at her bear.

“Another one?” he whispered. “They’ve gotten worse in the last few weeks.”

“I know,” she replied in a hushed tone. It worried her. Usually, she knew exactly what set him off but not this time.

Pyre pulled his cloak from the peg near the door and chucked it over his shoulders before giving her arm a gentle squeeze.“Try to get some sleep. I’ve got the next watch.” Her brother slipped outside and closed the door softly behind him.

For a moment, Nyx didn’t move. She was weary to the very soul. So many had died recently and there hadn’t been time to mourn. All she could do was survive. It was exhausting. When would it get better? Pyre was pinning his hopes on the Lady Hound but Nyx wasn’t so sure she’d come around.

Briggs whimpered, snapping Nyx out of her thoughts. Enough was enough. Giving him a wide berth, she grabbed an extra pillow from the bedroom and crept closer to the fire. Nyx stayed just out of reach before she lobbed the pillow with all her might at his head.

Her bear bolted upright, snarling, tearing at the pillow with his teeth. Heart pounding, she backed away toward the little kitchenette and began humming a soothing lullaby that he liked. Briggs’ attention darted to her. Tears ran down his cheeks and he blinked repeatedly.

She froze as he stared at her, slowly coming back to himself, escaping whatever hell he’d been trapped in.

“Are you alright?” As soon as the word passed her lips, Nyx felt stupid. Of course, he wasn’t alright.

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