The Thief (Black Dagger Brotherhood #16)(97)

“Come on,” V said as he put an arm around her shoulders.

She hadn’t been aware of just standing there in the cold, but Qhuinn had already opened the side door of the barn and was waiting. Getting with the program, she was all in her head as they checked in with the security monitor, were granted access to the elevator, and descended down to the clinic. As they got off, it was into a warm, well-lit, utterly undecorated corridor that looked exactly like all the ones in human hospitals.

“Damn it, I always forget which way to go,” she muttered.

Yup, just like St. Francis. Lost and there was no signage.

“This way,” V said.

After a bunch of turns that she didn’t track, they came around a corner and found what looked like almost all of the Brotherhood standing in a clutch. Havers, the race’s physician and Marissa’s estranged brother, was by them, all college-professor-like with his tortoiseshell glasses and his bow tie.

Everyone got good and quiet as Jane and her two escorts approached, and she hung back as V and Qhuinn answered a lot of very difficult questions. And answered some more. And…

“Excuse me,” she cut in. “But where is the next of kin? I want to go see him now.”

Havers cleared his throat. “What are you going to tell him?”

“What I know to be true.”

“Are you certain that is wise?”

Jane frowned—and before she knew what she was doing, she stepped in tight to the healer. Even though he was taller than she was, she glared right up into those glasses.

“I’m not going to lie to him, if that’s what you’re suggesting,” she snapped. “He has a right to know everything we do, and if I can’t explain something, I’m going to let him know that.”

“There could be larger consequences,” Havers hedged. “This could be a threat to the species at large, and one wouldn’t want to cause a panic.”

As the healer looked around, seeking backup from the Brothers, she was done. “Not my problem. I’m a physician first, the rest of you can worry about politics. Now where is my dead patient’s brother.”

The fact that everyone just stared at Vishous pissed her off. Like she was a problem to be managed by him?

“She’s one hundred percent correct,” Vishous said. “She should tell him what she knows and what she doesn’t. It’s up to us to put it in context. But there will be no lying or subterfuge—and I’m going to make sure no one interferes with what she has to say. Anyone have a problem with that.”

That last one was not phrased like a question and he was pegging Havers with hard eyes as he laid it out there.

The healer looked to the floor and nodded. “But of course. Right this way.”

Havers led them down the hall even farther and then into a waiting area that was half full with lots of chairs. As they passed through, Jane noted the patients and families who were milling around, or sitting watching the TV, or standing in line at the reception desk. Many of them waved to the healer, smiled at him, greeted him with respect—and he was gracious in return.

It was a reminder of Havers’s complicated nature. He was good to the people who came to him for help, he truly was. It was just outside of that sphere that made you want to smack him sometimes.

Now there was signage, the overhead plaques with arrows directing people this way and that to things like RADIOLOGY, OUTPATIENT SURGERY, OBSTETRICS, WELLNESS CARE. Eventually, Havers took them down a short hall that had four closed doors, two on each side. Beside them, discreet labels read FAMILY COUNSELING.

“He is in here,” Havers announced as he went to knock on one of the panels. “He is Aarone, son of Stanalas.”

V caught the healer’s arm. “She goes in alone. You and I are waiting out here.”

“Actually, Vishous, why don’t you and I go in together?” Jane pivoted toward him. “You were there. You might offer some insight I cannot.”

“You got it.”

Jane was the one who knocked, and when there was a quiet “Come in,” she opened things up. A very well-dressed young male with blond hair and pale eyes was sitting in one of six chairs. He was obviously nervous, his palms stroking up and down his thighs, his shoulders braced.

“Hello, Aarone,” Jane said as she entered. “I’m Dr. Jane Whitcomb, and this is my mate, Vishous, who has medical training. I’m here to speak with you about your brother—”

“Half-brother.” The male looked at Vishous. Looked back. “He’s my half-brother, but we’re very close. What’s going on? I got this phone call and I came here, but no one’s telling me—is Whinnig okay?”

The words came out in a rush, his anxiety clearly overcoming him.

“May I have your permission to speak with Vishous present?” When the male nodded, she approached him. “Is it all right for me to sit down next to you?”

“Yes, of course.” Aarone got to his feet and offered his palm for a shake. “Forgive my manners.”

Jane took a seat and waited until he’d resettled and those pale eyes came back to her. And then she spoke. “I’m so sorry, your brother has gone unto the Fade.”

She used the traditional vampire way of communicating death, out of respect, and the reaction was immediate. The male began to tremble, his eyes glassing over with tears.