“Not necessarily, Dillon.” Nick felt Kara's excitement through the bond. He’d not bothered to sift through her thoughts to find out what she and Jewel had figured out. Considering how physically close he always wanted her, he at least tried to give her some mental space.
Jewel nodded. “We called Sally and Rachel, because four brains are better than two.” Her hand fluttered in the air, as if waving the comment away. “We told them what we were considering doing and then talked about all the options of how it could work or not work. The failure rate of any new experiment is—”
“Let’s skip to the part where we tell them we’ve figured out a way to contact the healer,” Kara cut in.
“Right.” Jewel nodded. “Good plan.”
Kara explained how she and Jewel had worked with the other two healers and contacted Stella through the healer bond, as well. Kara turned to look at him, and Nick lifted his hand and brushed his fingertips across her cheek, which was flushed with excitement.
“I don’t know why we never thought of trying it before,” she finished.
“Maybe because there hadn’t been a situation where it was an extreme necessity,” Tanya offered. “With so many ways to get in contact with each other, why would you all have considered the need to use a mental bond, especially considering you’re not mates?”
“She makes a valid point,” Jewel agreed. “Necessity is the mother of invention. I mean, if you consider how all significant innovations came about, it was generally because there was a great need and no way to meet it. First, the electric light bulb. When Edison—”
“Ahh, how I’ve missed you,” Kara interrupted her healer friend.
Nick glanced at Dalton, who stared at his mate with affection and a hint of amusement. Jewel was a certified genius and could spout off facts like the best internet search engine.
Jewel blushed. “Sorry. I like facts.”
Dalton rubbed her back and ran his hand up until he clutched the back of her neck. “You can tell me all the facts you want, little dove. You know it turns—”
“Back to this new development,” Dillon cut off his beta. “So you think if you girls contact this healer through the mental connection, you can determine if she’s in league with Cain?”
“Exactly.”
Dillon held up his hand when his phone rang. He pulled it from his jacket pocket and looked at the screen. “It’s Fane.” He clicked a button. “Dillon here.”
Kara watched the Colorado alpha. She glanced at Nick, knowing he could probably hear both sides of the conversation with his wolf's hearing.
Dillon started speaking and explained what he’d just shared with their group.
“Jewel and Kara think they can contact the healer through the bond they seem to all share,” Dillon explained. His head nodded several times as he listened to Fane. “Right. Okay. No, I agree. Okay, I’ll let them know. Good. How are Jacque and Slate?”
Kara’s heart warmed at the affection she heard in his tone as the alpha asked about his only child and grandchild. She couldn’t help but glance over at Tanya to see how the female alpha reacted, but Kara could see no betrayal of emotion. The woman didn’t look bitter or bothered by the question in the least.
“Okay, sounds good. Yes, I can ask her to return.” Dillon nodded and then ended the call. He set the phone in his lap then looked at Tassi. “Fane asked if you would mind returning to the sprite realm. He didn’t offer me a reason.”
“Of course.” Tassi flashed from the room.
Then Dillon looked at Jewel and Kara. “Fane doesn’t want you two contacting the new healer at this time.”
Kara frowned. “Why?”
“He doesn’t want to expose you until we know where the new healer stands. As we’ve said, we have no idea if she’s loyal to Cain or being forced to help him.”
“How could a gypsy healer be in cahoots with someone as evil as the vampire king?” Myanin asked. “Wouldn’t her goodness or whatever keep her from being able to do that?”
“Probably,” Jewel interjected. “Buuutttt, it could actually be her goodness that allows her to work with him. She might see some good left in him, perhaps only a sliver. But any amount could be enough to compel the light within her to push away the darkness and see if there’s a chance to save him.”
Myanin groaned. “You bleeding-heart GHs are gonna be the death of me. There’s nothing good in a vampire. The only slivers should be the slivers of wood left by the stakes shoved into their hearts.”
“Have you met all of them?” As soon as the words left Kara’s lips, she frowned. What the hell am I talking about? Of course, there aren’t any good vampires. They live off the blood of humans, and she was pretty sure they didn’t ask the mortals’ permission before slurping on their necks.
“Maybe I have,” Myanin shot back. “I’m certainly old enough. Although there have been a lot of new ones made recently, so no, I guess I haven’t met all of them at this point. But I think I’ve met enough to form an accurate representative sample.”
“Regardless,” Tanya spoke up, “Claude’s been there for”—she looked at her watch—“nearly an hour. He might have already come in contact with her.”
