Rogue's Passion(75)

She twisted away from her mother and hurled herself toward the door again, arms and legs pumping. She had to get to Asher. The pull was almost unbearable. Much stronger than anything she’d ever felt before.
But this time, the man grabbed her arms and stopped her.
Asher. Oh my God. He’s dying. I need to get to him before it’s too late.
The Fixer was saying something, but she couldn’t hear him. Her brain was numb except for the fact that she needed to lay her hands on Asher and heal his wounds. Her arms jerked and her head snapped back.
“Calm the fuck down. I asked you a question. What is he? Former military?”
Olivia couldn’t even think straight. It was her mother who finally answered. “Yes.”
“Thought so. I can spot a soldier a mile away. He put up a decent fight even after I shoved that shard of glass in his neck.”
So he didn’t know Asher was Cascadian. He must not be the target, after all. Olivia was. She had endangered him, not the other way around. The man who was her heart and soul was dying because of her.
“Keep your filthy hands off my daughter.” Her mother was suddenly holding a lead crystal dish, the one her father had kept his stash of Jujubes in when he was alive. She swung, trying to hit the Fixer, but he deflected her easily and flicked her away as if she were a bug. She crumpled on the floor in the kitchen.
“Mom!” Olivia screamed.
Her mother grimaced in pain but waved her off. “I’m…I’m okay. I’ll be fine.”
“Please,” Olivia pleaded, as the man’s fingers dug into the flesh of her arms. She felt her knees buckling. She’d crawl to Asher if she had to. “Let me go to him. I…I can help him.”
“Oh, believe me, I know you can.” His sour breath was hot against her face. She turned away. “That’s why I’m here. You’re a hard one to find, Ms. Crawford. I’ve been tracking you since the explosion downtown, when the army got reports of an unregistered Healer-Talent and couldn’t find you themselves. Or should I call you Olivia Collins? Or maybe Olivia Hoffman? What name are you going by now?”#p#分页标题#e#
Collins was the name she’d used at the Grape and Bean. Hoffman was the one she’d used with David. Bastard. He had talked to this guy.
Movement to her right—his left—caught her eye. She didn’t dare shift her gaze to tip him off. It was her mother. She had something else in her hand and was creeping closer. Why couldn’t he see her? Oh, his eye. It was white and milky. He was blind.
As if he knew what she was thinking, he smiled. “So before we go on a little trip, you’re going to heal me. Think you can do that, Olivia?”
“Heal you?” Was that what this was all about? He wanted her to make him whole again? “I…I can’t. Your scars…they’re old. The injuries have already healed.”
“You love playing God, don’t you?” He grabbed her hands, turned her palms up, and looked at them with disgust. “Fucking Healer-Talents. Think you can play with people’s lives, picking and choosing who to help?”
He shoved her away. She stumbled, but didn’t fall.
“You don’t understand,” she said.
“Oh, I understand perfectly.” He took a menacing step toward her and pointed to his ruined face. “This happened to me when I was fifteen. Fifteen fucking years old. I knew a girl who was a Healer-Talent too. But unlike you, she planned to join the army when she turned eighteen. My parents pleaded with her to heal me, even offered to pay her, but she refused. Said she was too freaked out to even look at me, let alone touch me and share her healing energy. She must’ve called her army contact, because we were soon paid a visit in the hospital and told to stop harassing her. And that was that.”
From the corner of her eye, she could see that her mother was getting closer. And she was holding something, but Olivia couldn’t risk turning to see what it was.
“I was sent to a camp for special kids where I could learn to deal with my disability. Well, fuck that. And fuck all you Healer-Talents.”
A quick movement. Then a splash and a hiss.
The man screamed.
Her mother had thrown a pan of boiling water on him. The one she’d planned to cook the pasta in. He fell to his knees, clutching his face, and she clocked him over the head with the now empty pot.
Olivia didn’t wait to see more. She scrambled down the stairs to find Asher, lying in a pool of blood.
    







 
    Dark and Deadly: Eight Bad Boys of Paranormal Romance by Jennifer Ashley, Alyssa Day, Felicity Heaton, Erin Kellison, Laurie London, Erin Quinn, Bonnie Vanak and Caris Roane