Frustrated when her mind wouldn’t stop spinning, she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She pushed up and wobbled on legs weaker than she expected, but caught herself on the edge of the mattress. The pink hospital gown fell to her knees. Her bare feet sank into plush cream carpeting. A lock of hair swept past her vision and she pushed it back with her hand. Thankfully, someone had washed her hair. The thought of what had been in it…
Don’t go there.
She shuffled across the floor toward a small round window. When she reached the rock wall, she cupped a hand against the glass and peered out into the darkness. Stars met her line of sight but nothing else. No ground, no trees, no mountains. Nothing.
The door behind her creaked, and she turned.
“You’re awake.” Zander ducked under the doorway and frowned. “Should you be out of bed so soon?” He closed the door and crossed the floor in three long strides. “You look pale.”
Yeah, well, no shit. She’d lost a lot of blood. What the hell was he doing here?
His gray eyes searched every inch of her face. “How do you feel?”
How did she feel? Confused. Surprised. And not entirely sure she wouldn’t pass out. “What…are you doing here?”
He tipped her chin up with his finger, continued to look her over as if she were a science experiment. “Your eyes look good. Way better than before.” His brow creased. “Are you hungry? I bet you’re starving. They brought food up earlier, but you were still sleeping.” He turned his head toward the door. “I could go get you something if—”
“Brought food up earlier? Whoa.” The last time she’d seen him, in that cave, they’d argued. “Zander. What the heck is going on?”
A knock sounded at the door. They both looked over, but Zander was the first to speak. “Come in.”
A female with dark hair pulled into a ponytail stepped into the room. She wore black slacks and a sweater and she shot a cautious look at Zander before focusing in on Callia. “You’re up.” The female’s features softened just a touch. “How are you feeling?”
The voice was familiar. Callia narrowed her eyes. “Um. Better.”
“That’s good.” The female’s gaze shot to Zander.
There was no missing the tension in the room or the sparks shooting between Zander and this female. Zander glanced back at Callia. “I’ll step out for a few minutes so you can check her over.”
“That would be good,” the female said drily.
“I’ll be right outside if you need me.”
The door clicked closed behind him. And in the silence Callia didn’t know what the hell to think.
“Why don’t you have a seat here on the end of the bed,” the female said.
Her heart rate definitely higher than it had been before, Callia slowly moved to the bed.
“My name’s Lena,” the female said as she tipped Callia’s chin up and flashed a penlight in her eye. “We didn’t officially meet before.”
“Your voice is familiar.”
Lena smiled. She was a pretty girl, not breathtaking, not beautiful, but pretty, especially when she smiled. Her brown eyes almost sparkled. “It should be. We’ve spent quite a bit of time together these past few days. I’m a healer. Do you know where you are?”
“Um…You’re not Argolean.”
Lena put the penlight away and reached for Callia’s neck, feeling her way down to the top of her chest and across her collarbone. “No. I’m Misos. And you are—”
“In the half-breed colony,” Callia breathed, as it all started to make sense. “You’re a healer? You’re the one who treated me?”
“Yes and no.”
Lena must have read the confusion on Callia’s face because she smiled again. “My powers aren’t nearly strong enough for this kind of healing.” She focused in on Callia’s skin. “This is amazing. You’re going to end up with nothing more than a faint white line. You’ll probably be the only one who notices it. Imagine what we could do if we put our powers together more often.”
Callia reached her hand up to run her fingers over the smallest ridge. “Wait. Are you saying I did this?”
“You helped.” Lena smirked. “Quite a bit. But I’m not willing to let you take all the credit.” She unsnapped the shoulder of Callia’s gown. “Let’s take a look at your abdomen. Lie back.”
Callia leaned back on the bed and let the female draw her gown down so she could look at the wounds on her stomach. “Wow. These are healing just as well. In a few days there won’t be anything left.”
Callia shifted up enough to glance down at her stomach. Two thin pink lines marred her abdomen in a downward angle toward her right hip. But the healer was right. In a few days they’d be gone.
Her mind flashed back to the cabin. To that seething daemon. To his claws slicing across her stomach and chest. There’d been blood. So much blood. She’d known she had mere minutes before she bled out. “How did I get here?”
Lena helped her sit up again and repositioned the gown so it shielded her breasts, but drew it open at the back. “Two guardians brought you in.”
“Two?”
Lena reached for something behind her. “Yes. One was called Titus. He left shortly after you arrived. I think he went back to destroy the cabin where you were found and eliminate the evidence. This is going to be cold.”
Before Callia braced herself, something small and round and metal touched her back. She flinched before she realized it was a stethoscope, then took a deep breath on instinct.
“Good,” Lena said. “Again.” She moved the stethoscope around Callia’s back, listening to her lungs, then repeated it on her chest. Satisfied, she looped the instrument around her neck then rebuttoned Callia’s gown. “Your lungs sound great. No sign of the infection either. You really are a medical miracle.” She spread Callia’s hair to the side. “Though this is an interesting mark here on your neck.” She brushed at the base of Callia’s hairline. “Is it a birthmark?”
“I…I don’t know. I never…”
“It almost looks like an omega.”
Callia didn’t care about any of that. She was still stuck on the how-she’d-gotten-here-and-who’d-found-her mystery. “Who was it?”
Lena’s eyebrows drew together as she dropped Callia’s hair and came around to stand in front of her. “Who was what?”
“The other guardian,” Callia said, frustration growing. “You said there were two.”
“Oh.” Lena frowned. Glanced toward the door and back again with disapproval evident in her eyes. “That one.”
Callia’s heart rate kicked up. “Why…why didn’t he leave with Titus?”
Lena’s frown deepened. She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her slacks. “That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? He keeps hanging around even though neither of us wants him to. He hasn’t left your side for more than ten minutes, and he’s a complete bear to anyone who tries to get near you besides me. I mean”—she glanced toward the door again—“he was right. I did need him at the beginning to jump-start your healing, but not anymore. I don’t know why he won’t leave. Maybe if you—”
“What do you mean you needed him to jump-start my healing?” Callia’s pulse pounded in her veins and a strange tightness condensed in her chest. “Lena, I can’t heal myself. I’ve never been able to.”
Compassion softened Lena’s brown eyes. “I don’t know a healer who can. Me included. I didn’t believe him myself when he said your powers were transferable, but he was right. I guess in this instance, the fact you hate him worked to your advantage.”