as she left. What if they were wrong and he had left her in danger?
Katelyn pulled him down to sit across from her on the sandy shore of the pool at the base of the waterfall. Her normally pale cheeks were flushed with color, making her freckles stand out, and a small crease furrowed between her red brows.
“Katie-cat,” he said, using a nickname he’d given her when they were children and he thought her nothing more than an imaginary friend. “Calm down and tell me what’s going on.”
She sat cross-legged across from him, adjusting her flowing skirt around her legs before taking the bag Gavin had given Ryan and setting it aside to take both of his hands in hers. “I had a vision about the Healer, and I think she’s in danger.”
Anger and a sudden urge to protect the Healer rushed through him. He started to push to his feet, but Katelyn tightened her grip on his hands.
“Sit,” she ordered. “I need to see if I can induce a vision, and I need you to help me focus it since I assume you saw the Healer.” Katelyn’s intense gaze burned into his as the question hung in the air between them.
Ryan knew Katelyn didn’t often try to induce visions. Visions usually came when she least expected them, and those she tried to force cost her dearly. She must be truly concerned to attempt this.
“Yes,” he answered before her impatient glare burned straight through his skull. He remembered the hard knee to the groin the Healer had left him with and winced.
Katelyn’s laugh startled him. “From the look on your face, I’d say I like her already.”
He opened his mouth to retort, but she didn’t give him a chance.
“Close your eyes. Picture her as clearly as you can—eyes, hair, expressions, smell—everything you can think of will help.”
Resigned, he closed his eyes and focused all his energy on picturing the Healer as he had last seen her.
When the Healer had neatly reversed their positions right before all her weight had settled squarely on his bollocks, he’d been surprised and more than a little impressed. Not only did he outweigh her, but she’d caught him by surprise since he had been too intent on her innocent blue gaze.
He smiled to himself; he would have to remember not to be fooled in the future. Innocent in some ways she may be, but he’d seen her fight, and she definitely knew how to take care of herself. The scene where she fought off the two Cunt guards replayed inside his mind and then dissolved like mist on the wind. Ryan stiffened as he fought to retain control, but then Katelyn’s gentle pressure against his hands reminded him why they were there.
In his mind’s eye, the scene reformed, and he saw a small log cabin with a dirty off-white attached garage. His senses expanded and refocused until he saw four humans dressed in black. They slipped silently through the woods, and he knew instinctively they were after the Healer.
“No!”
Katelyn’s tight grip on his hands reminded him to stay focused, and he let her lead the way as their line of sight slipped easily through the front wall of the cabin and into each room until they found the Healer.
She lay face down, fully clothed, on top of a small twin bed with a large orange cat curled beside her. Some of her golden blond hair had come loose from her ponytail and wisped around her face in silky tendrils. Her left hand was curled under her chin, while her right was hidden from view under the pillow.
Lavender smudges sat just under her closed eyes, nearly eclipsed by the thick fringe of golden lashes that rested lightly against her cheek. Her full lips were parted slightly in sleep.
The cat’s head snapped up as if he sensed their scrutiny. He blinked large orange eyes and stared straight at them in accusation.
His fuzzy head swiveled toward the window over the bed, and he stood and hissed, his tail bottle-brushing as his back arched.
The Healer bolted to a sitting position, and her right hand emerged from under the pillow gripping a gun that looked almost too large for her hand. She scanned her surroundings, and when she seemed to find nothing amiss, she stood and ran from the room.
The sting of a hard slap across Ryan’s jaw pulled him from the vision, and he opened his eyes to see Katie-cat’s face nearly nose to nose with his.
It took a few minutes for the rushing sounds of the waterfall nearby and the smell of the plants to fill his senses again. Once they finally did, he noticed the strain etched across Katelyn’s face and the dullness of her eyes.
“Are you all right?” Her voice was raspy and weak, and he blinked to clear the remaining lethargy left from the vision.
“I could ask you the same thing.”
Ryan nodded and immediately dug into the bag Gavin had given him to find the bread. Carbs would help Katelyn recover faster. “Here. Eat this and then you can tell me if that’s future, past or present we saw.” He bit back all the other questions that flowed through his mind. Adrenaline still raced through his veins, and he had to concentrate on calming his galloping pulse. Ryan struggled against the urge to run off in search of the Healer.
Katelyn broke off a piece of bread and took a bite.
He didn’t rush her, even though his mind screamed at him that action was needed now. Silence flowed between them as she ate half the bread and drank some of the wine. Color slowly seeped back into her cheeks, and her green eyes sparked once more with intelligence. She broke off a small piece of cheese and then sighed.
“You look like you’re feeling better,” he observed. “Are you ready to talk, or do you need another minute?”
She cocked her head to one side and considered him—a familiar gesture she’d done even as a child. “I’m well enough to answer you intelligently before you explode from practicing too much patience.”
“So much for subtlety,” he snapped then instantly regretted lashing out. Katie-cat was tying to help, and at great physical cost to herself. There was no reason to take out his frustration on her.
He tipped his chin toward his chest and allowed his hair to slip forward and hide the scar he carried since the day he’d turned twenty. At night, he still relived the searing pain of the metal cutting his flesh, along with the deep sense of betrayal and anger that inevitably went with such dreams. He resisted the urge to trace with his thumb the lower edge of the puckered skin where it met the side of his mouth, and he opened his mouth to apologize to Katelyn.
“No need to apologize or to cover your scar around me. Although, one of these days when you feel comfortable, I hope you’ll trust me with the story of how you got it.”
He glanced up into her intense green gaze, which held only fond affection, and knew he couldn’t tell her. Even as much as he cared for her, the memories were too raw and painful.
“You forget. I know you too well.” She grinned and handed him a piece of cheese. “You always were a moody bastard. The Healer will have her hands full.” She nodded toward the cheese he held in his hand. “Your turn to eat while I talk. And, anyway, I think that scar makes you look dark and dashing, like a pirate.”
Ryan bristled against her description of him and then nearly laughed as he realized Katelyn probably knew him better
