Page 14 of Perilous Healing

She’s the last person I want getting close to Eloise.

Yet here we are. It wasn’t me who put my little girl at ease, it was Bianca Theodore. A liar. A traitor. The daughter of a monster. Taking a deep breath, I lean my head forward and run both hands through my hair.

The black walkie-talkie sits silent on the counter, and since, according to my cell phone, we’re coming up on seven thirty in the morning, I go ahead and grab it before retreating to my bedroom and turning it on.

Michael’s voice is the first one I hear.

“We’re running supplies to the church for those who had flooding, over.”

“Awesome. I’m going to take a bag over to the library and leave it there, over,” Lance replies.

I press the button. “Morning, team. Over.”

“About time, sunshine! How did you make it through? Over.”

Michael’s tone is light and contrasts heavily with the darkness within me. “El and I are okay. Bianca had a tree collapse her roof last night and she was hurt, but it’s just a surface wound. Over.”

“She’s okay? Over.” Michael again, this time his tone all business.

“She is. Asleep right now. I’m going to head over in a minute and check on the damage. Over.”

“I’ll swing by as soon as I drop off the supplies at the church,” Michael offers. “Lend a hand as I can. Over.”

“That would be great, thanks. Over.”

“I’ll do the same,” Lance says. “And we’ll let Elijah know as soon as we hear from him. Check in at the top of the hour. Over.”

“Confirmed. Over,” Michael says, and I repeat it, then slip into some shoes and a sweatshirt before heading out into the living room. Eloise and Bianca are still asleep, so I pause for a moment to study them.

As she sleeps, Bianca’s features are soft. Innocent.

She’s beautiful. There’s no question about that. Her eyes alone captivated me from the moment I first saw them. Is that why I’m so angry? Why I’m struggling so much to let the past go? Because I’d fallen in love with her so quickly that I hadn’t seen the hit coming?

Forcing my attention away, I move toward the front door and unlock it, then pull it open. The sky is still overcast, but the rain and wind have stopped. The damage though—it’s substantial. On our street, trees are down, cars pinned, houses damaged.

It could be worse, though.

Then I turn and look at Bianca’s side of the duplex. Her front door is closed but not locked, so I push it open and step inside. Her carpet squishes beneath my boots, and I wince when I get a look at the ceiling.

Insulation and chunks of wood—both framing and tree in origin—litter the floor. It’s caved in just over the couch, a large branch landing in the middle of her living room. The place is destroyed.

I head into her bedroom, knowing it’s a mistake even before I cross over the threshold. She’s everywhere in here. Her perfume lingering in the air, her blankets folded back like she’s ready to climb into her bed.

Keep it together, Williamson. She’s a viper, remember?

As soon as I’ve noted that it’s still in one piece, thankfully, as is the rest of her house, I head back into the living room.

With the amount of damage in town, it could be weeks before she can get it completely fixed, but we can get it patched. That way it’s at least livable in the meantime.

“Oh, boy.”

I glance over at the door where Mrs. McGinley stands shaking her head. Caleb is beside her, his expression somber.

“How is the library and your house?” I ask.

“Better than this place.” As our landlord, I imagine she’s stressing over how she’s going to get it fixed and when. “I’ll make some calls. Is Bianca okay? I don’t see her.”

“She’s asleep on my couch with Eloise. She hurt her leg, but otherwise is all right.”

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