Page 76 of The Healer

Dimi shrugged and followed, swirling golden liquid in the tumbler.

Rhys arched his brow at Johanna, expecting her to leave too.

She grinned as she leaped to her feet. “You’ve got this.”

Alone with the woman he had crushed on, he sighed and extracted his phone to check the time. Four hours and some change before he could call Ilona.

“You’re right.” Callie’s shoulders slumped. “Thank you for having the balls to confront me, to hold me accountable. I forget I’m a mom, and whatever I do, George watches, learns.”

He nodded then lowered his gaze to his phone. One minute had passed since he had last checked. Hours stretched ahead for him. Each second was the slow scratching of nails on a chalkboard.

“What’s her name?”

Startled, he met Callie’s gaze. “Who?”

“That’s the umpteenth time you’ve looked at your phone.” She smiled. “So, who is she?”

He stilled, vacillating between vague responses, an outright lie, or the truth. Since he planned on introducing Ilona to Callie, it left him one path. “Her name is Ilona Devereaux Strickland.”

Callie arched a brow. “Devereaux?”

“Lona’s grandmother is Monique.” The hope that Callie might recognize the name was a slim one. Still, he had to try.

She unraveled her legs to rise. “As in Aunt Mona?” A slow smile dimpled her cheeks.

As a vampire, Callie would always be beautiful. While he studied her green eyes, sensual lips, he poked his emotions with a mental finger. Affection remained, but when he looked at her, he thought of Ilona. Her quiet determination in the face of her parents’ death, her strength of will when lives were at stake, and her desperate need to shield herself against further pain.

“Are you saying you not only found an unknown cousin of mine but you’re dating?”

He pursed his lips in a grimace. Were they dating? Fuck, he hoped so. “It’s complicated.” He racked his brain often, needing a solution to emerge from the crush of pent-up lust. Hearing Ilona’s husky voice was a sledgehammer pounding at his control. “She’s in Fenneg.”

Callie gasped. “Shit.” Her eyes narrowed while a frown formed on her brow. “Why?”

“She lost her parents within the last month and is questioning her reasons for becoming a doctor.” He reeled from Mona’s revelations.

The Lona he knew was a healer to the core. Her heart would shrivel and die if she couldn’t help people. If he could convince her to choose Inner City, to ‘date’ him, she would make an amazing mate. She would put the welfare of the pack first.

“Ah, so why monitor the time?”

He grinned, allowing his eagerness to swell his chest with warmth. “I call her every night at eight.”

Callie tapped her chin. “You can’t woo her from here, Rhys. Get your ass there.”

“No. I’m giving her space.” His bear growled at his words and hadn’t shut up since Lona drove off. Rhys had promised his bear he wouldn’t lose her, yet he had failed.

“She’s trying to be strong. I had Mike to hug, to talk about my dad into the small hours of the morning. Does she have someone like that?”

Mike? Rhys frowned. “Your partner?”

“Ex. But he’s like a dad to me, and he let me cry on his shoulder whenever I needed to. Without too much snark, mind you.”

Rhys’s breath caught at his double failure. He pressed his phone to his ear, dialing Noah. “Get me a flight to Fenneg,” was all he could say through his clenched jaw. Taking long, slow breaths, he calmed his furious bear and the fire in his veins.

Leaping to his feet, he paused when Callie arched a brow. “Can you handle things this side with the least amount of drama?”

She snorted. “Duh.”

Stilling, he studied her a moment before sighing. “I’ll get Sawyer to babysit.”

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