TheHealers (6 page)

I reached into a basket by my chair and pulled out a vial of lavender oil. I was hoping to talk before she realized what had happened.

“This is a pure form of lavender oil. I want you to use this at night time to help your body start getting some rest. You can either put a few drops in a spray bottle with spring water and spray your pillow, or put a few drops on a tissue and place that on your pillow.” I glanced at her to see that she was soothed from our contact. There was a peacefulness that seemed to settle over her features.

“I sprayed a little lavender in the room so that you would begin feeling its effects. It’s likely that you already feel a little calmer. Is it working?”

Her eyes met mine again and her voice came out, “Yes.”

Wonderful. I had taken it out. I had no idea how and the power scared me, but I was overcome with happiness at the good it had done for Lila. It’s incredible how the power to help others overrides the fear. In some ways, I was a little high from it. The endorphins that kicked into my body along with the exhaustion were almost drug like. It felt a little too good. Hopefully, it wasn’t addictive.

Chapter Nine

My eyes
abruptly
opened and I suddenly became aware of the moisture that covered my body. Only panties were visible from the waist down and my chest was covered with a loose white camisole. A look at the clock on my night stand let me know it was the middle of the night. It appeared that I had struggled out of my pajamas while in a deep sleep. Fear began to grip my thoughts as I began to replay the serpent silently sliding over my duvet cover. It came closer to me in the bed. My legs wanted to move but I felt frozen. Was I numb with fear or anticipation?

Slowly, my breath began to find its normal rhythm. It was just a nightmare. This wasn’t real. Although, I did take a quick peek around my room to make sure there weren’t any slithery friends.

Just when my mind began to settle, a noise caused my heart to race again. It sounded like breaking glass. The shock of it slowed my responses, and it took me a moment to realize it came from the front of my house and not from my head. Somehow my head thought clearly enough to send a signal to my hand. The hand quickly found the safe under the bed. My hand was flat on the safe and depressing my fingers in the passcode as I heard a knock at the front door. There was no way I would open the door.

The gun safe popped open and I grabbed the stainless steel weapon, otherwise known as my baby eagle, and my cell phone all in one motion. It also occurred to me that I felt a little cold since I lacked some of my clothes. Unfortunately, it wasn’t because someone had joined me in bed. I placed the cell phone on the bed, but I would not part with my gun. I managed to find my cotton pants tangled up with the white sheets toward the bottom of the bed. As I slid my legs through the pants, still gripping the gun, I heard another tap at my door and a muffled voice followed that.
Shit!
I would have to move closer to hear the muffled voice. Or was it a trick so the burglars could get me closer to the broken glass? In the back of my mind I still wondered why my alarm had not gone off. My eyes searched the wall of my bedroom and I saw that a red light illuminated from the alarm pad. This would indicate the alarm still guarded the house, however, the broken glass I heard just a few moments ago would say otherwise.

With my cell phone in one hand and my gun in the other I began to tiptoe out of the bedroom. The race of my heart and my mind shook my body into a fit of trembles. I continued to move down the hallway that opened up to my living room on my left and my kitchen on my right. It was dark, but I was able to see my way. The moon lit up the midsection of the house because of the uncovered windows in the living room. All the windows appeared to be intact in the living room as I glanced around. However, immediately to my right I saw the jagged shiny pieces scattered all over the tile. My feet instinctively started to walk that way, but I stopped them. I didn’t want to get hurt, and what if there was still someone at the window that waited for me? Someone knocked at my door again. I could hear the muffled voice again and this time it sounded male. My fingers didn’t hesitate anymore.

No…I didn’t shoot, I dialed 911. A dispatcher took my information and advised me to stay away from the door until the police came to assist me. I still clutched the phone and the gun as I yelled out to the door,

“The police are on their way and I have a big gun!” I thought I heard a snicker from the door and I felt my chest swell with infuriated passion. What kind of burglar was this? The kind that likes to torment you, my brain quickly supplied.

“Is there someone in your house?” the 911 dispatcher asked.

“There’s someone at my door, I think.” My voice quivered on the phone to her.

That furious indignant emotion I had over the snicker in my ears lured me closer to the door. I could finally make out the muffled words.

“It’s Alexander, from next door. I heard loud noises and came to check on you.” Oh, so that meant he was safe and I should trust him. Yeah, right. He’d left practically running the other night while I stood there helpless and full of questions.

“I think you’re the one that needs protection, since you’re outside and I’m in here,” my snippy voice retorted.

“Please stay away from the door until the officer arrives. I’ll let you know when he’s there and it’s safe to open the door.” The dispatcher’s voice calmly echoed in my ear. I had almost forgotten she was still on the phone.

I heard Alexander’s voice come through the door.

“I just want to make sure you’re okay. I can wait on the doorstep until the police arrive.” There was a distinct accent coming through with his words. It probably came out more in the middle of the night when a person had been sleeping. His voice did sound a little sleepy, like he had probably been awakened from the commotion. It was slightly believable that he had heard it, since these houses were built within inches of each other. But still…a little bit of overkill on the Good Samaritan thing. I would have just nicely called 911 for my neighbor from the comfort of my own house.

“Suit yourself.” The words just fell out of my mouth. My brain was still in shock. This area had never experienced any problems before with vandalism or theft.

Well, I guessed we were just going to sit in silence, because I was not going to continue to carry on a conversation through the door, and I would not let a strange man in my house
—
certainly not after someone had just smashed a window in my kitchen. I could still feel his presence outside. My magic most definitely noticed his. It sounded as though maybe he spoke again, but it was an extremely hushed sound. I decided to go ahead and point my gun and have it ready just in case he was in cahoots with the other vandal and they were about to bombard the door.

Thankfully, no such drama occurred. We just had a sort of peaceful silence. His presence continued to emanate into me and I didn’t feel as stressed. I started to ponder all of this when I heard some vehicles moving on the street. The dispatcher’s voice came through on the phone again,

“There are two officers on your street now, Ms. Covington. They should be at your door in a few moments. I’ll stay on the phone to confirm that they are at the door.”

Red lights shone through the windows. Thank God! My body started to lurch itself towards the door when I stopped. I should probably make sure everything was legitimate before opening the door. There still was a strange man out there. Even though my body seemed to tell me otherwise, he could very well be unsafe.

“Ms. Covington!” a loud voice bellowed from the front door.

“Yes.” I meekly replied.

“I’m Officer Santos and I’m here with Officer Banks to investigate your 911 call.”

“Um…Okay.” What was I supposed to do now?

“We would like to go ahead and come in and check everything out.”

The dispatcher came back on the phone again to confirm their identities and then we disconnected.

I peeked out the side window and just as he said, there were two police officers and Alexander. I walked over to the door with my gun still in hand. That’s when I remembered to disengage the alarm. A question popped out of my thoughts again. Why didn’t the alarm go off? Not that it had helped much in this situation. I felt relief at seeing the police and began to open the door. My eyes immediately went to Alexander.

Tall, dark and handsome. Oh lord…Is this really what I succumbed to? He was wearing long pants that looked like loungewear and a white tee shirt. And that incredible buzz I had gotten the first time I saw him seemed to kick into full effect again. Great to know it was him that caused my insides to flutter. His eyes seemed to look me over in a protective way. I didn’t need his protection and I stood a little taller to exert my independence. Well, that was the impression I tried to give. I did feel a little overwhelmed as I stared into those deep and dark dravite shaded tourmaline eyes of his. So overwhelmed, in fact, that I started to feel little prickles in my chest and noticed that my emotions were promptly being displayed since I lacked a bra.

Nice. It did not go without notice either as all the men’s eyes looked up into my face. I felt the color rise in my cheeks and then one of the officers spoke. Or rather shouted, “Drop the weapon!” as he pointed his gun at me. What? Oh, right. There was a gun in my hand.

The gun slipped from my hands and shattered loudly on the tile floor in the entry way. Alexander jumped to my side and practically caged me with his body. My stomach was doing somersaults and my mind imagined his body even closer. A million questions and thoughts skittered across my conscious and probably across my face as everyone looked at me with alarm.

“This man says that you know him, Ms. Covington. Is he your neighbor?” I closely examined the officers now as they stood in the light of my entryway. It occurred to me that I should probably invite them to sit down in the living room.

“Yes, he is my neighbor. Why don’t you come in and sit down in the living room so we can talk.” My voice was still a little shaky but I felt quite a bit safer with the police in my house. I also felt a lot better in Alexander’s arms. If I thought that touch to his finger the other day was similar to being shocked from a light socket, then being grasped and held firmly to his body was enough to leave me in shivers of electrified pleasure. I knew there was more to him than he said, but if he could keep his secrets than I would keep mine. Shock from the broken window continued to cloud my head. Why else would my guard go down with a complete stranger? Maybe he was one of those nosy neighbors. You know, the type that remembers how many different cars spend the night at your house and makes sure you are never in any type of home owner’s violation. I was, however, grateful to not be alone. A little voice in my head cautioned that his magic had lured me into feeling calm.

Do not trust him.

His body slowly uncurled from the shield he’d held me in and I watched the officers pick up my gun and empty the magazine as we all walked into the living room. I stopped to pause and look down at my pajamas. I should probably put on some clothes decent for having men in your house. Oh well. I guess they had already seen the worst.

One officer was standing to the side of the living room by the couch. His body appeared to explode out his uniform and I felt a small bit of concern for my furniture if he chose to sit down. I noticed his face for the first time because my mind had been distracted by Alexander at the door. It was slightly pudgy, which I guess went well with the rest of his body. There were small beads of perspiration that touched his forehead slightly and also seemed to turn up all the ends of his short black hair. A shuffle of feet indicated where the other officer was. He appeared to be examining the window and talking to someone on the police radio. It startled me to notice that he had deep red strands of hair that covered his head. I happen to be extremely partial to redheads in general because of my natural strawberry locks. It was extremely rare for me to see a redheaded guy. Especially one that looked this good. Jeez… Did I really feel the need to judge every guy based on whether I wanted to sleep with him or not?

Alexander seated himself on the loveseat across from the officer with black hair. I joined him.

“Start at the beginning and tell us everything you remember.” Officer Santos’ heavy voice seemed right in line with his heavy body set
—n
ot at all in an alluring way.

My eyes found Alexander’s and then fell back to the officer.

“I had a nightmare. It woke me and then I heard the loud shatter in the front of the house. I got up and took my gun out of the safe before I came out of the room.” A small shiver ran through my body as I recalled the events and felt fearful again. Alexander leaned close and put his arm around my shoulders. I shivered again, but this time it was from the delight my skin felt from his touch. He seemed to be healing me.

I completed my recount of the events that led up to the arrival of the police. A loud throat sound erupted from Officer Santos as Officer Banks came back into the living room after his window inspection.

Officer Banks looked up and caught my eyes. He was the redhead. Now, just color me embarrassed as my eyes raked up and down to discover he was still handsome up close. I’m not discriminating because he was a police officer, rather because he was a redheaded male. I definitely loved the red hair. Although, the man sitting next to me managed to make every emotion pale in comparison to the ones the officer evoked from me.