The Host (The Host #1)(196)

Her words brought a thick lump to my throat.

“I know, Sunny. I know.” Kyle put his hand on the back of her head and, in a gesture so tender it made my eyes smart, held her face against his chest.

Jeb cleared his throat, and Sunny started and cringed. It was easy to imagine the frayed state her nerves must be in. Souls were not designed to handle violence and terror.

I remembered long ago when Jared had interrogated me; he’d asked if I was like other souls. I was not, nor was the other soul they’d dealt with, my Seeker. Sunny, however, seemed to embody the essence of my gentle, timid species; we were powerful only in great numbers.

“Sorry, Sunny,” Jeb said. “Didn’t mean to scare you, there. Maybe we ought to get out of here, though.” His eyes swept around the cave, where a few people lingered by the exits, gawking at us. He stared hard at Reid and Lucina, and they ducked down the corridor toward the kitchen. “Probably ought to git along to Doc,” Jeb continued with a sigh, giving the frightened little woman a wistful glance. I guessed he was sad to be missing out on new stories.

“Right,” Kyle said. He kept his arm firmly around Sunny’s tiny waist and pulled her with him toward the southern tunnel.

I followed right behind, towing the others who still adhered to me.

Jeb paused, and we all stopped with him. He jabbed the butt of his gun into Jamie’s hip.

“Ain’t you got school, kid?”

“Aw, Uncle Jeb, please? Please? I don’t want to miss —”

“Get your behind to class.”

Jamie turned his hurt eyes on me, but Jeb was absolutely right. This was nothing I wanted Jamie to see. I shook my head at him.

“Could you get Trudy on your way?” I asked. “Doc needs her.”

Jamie’s shoulders slumped, and he pulled his hand out of mine. Jared’s slid down from my wrist to take its place.

“I miss everything,” Jamie moaned as he turned back the other way.

“Thanks, Jeb,” I whispered when Jamie was out of hearing.

“Yep.”

The long tunnel seemed blacker than before because I could feel the fear radiating from the woman ahead of me.

“It’s okay,” Kyle murmured to her. “There’s nothing that’s going to hurt you, and I’m here.”

I wondered who this strange man was, the one who had come back in Kyle’s place. Had they checked his eyes? I couldn’t believe he’d carried all this gentleness around inside his big angry body.

It must have been having Jodi back, being so close to what he wanted. Even knowing that this was his Jodi’s body, I was surprised that he could expend so much kindness for the soul inside it. I would have thought such compassion was beyond him.

“How’s the Healer?” Jared asked me.

“She woke up, just before I came to find you,” I said.

I heard more than one sigh of relief in the darkness.

“She’s disoriented, though, and very frightened,” I warned them all. “She can’t remember her name. Doc’s working with her. She’s going to be even more scared when she sees all of you. Try to be quiet and move slowly, okay?”

“Yes, yes,” the voices whispered in the darkness.

“And, Jeb, do you think you could lose the gun? She’s a little afraid of humans still.”

“Uh—okay,” Jeb answered.

“Afraid of humans?” Kyle murmured.

“We’re the bad guys,” Ian reminded him, squeezing my hand.

I squeezed it back, glad for the warmth of his touch, the pressure of his fingers.

How much longer would I have the feeling of a hand warm around mine? When was the last time I would walk down this tunnel? Was it this time?

No. Not yet, Mel whispered.

I was suddenly trembling. Ian’s hand tightened again, and so did Jared’s.

We walked in silence for a few moments.

“Kyle?” Sunny’s timid voice asked.

“Yes?”

“I don’t want to go back to the Bears.”

“You don’t have to. You can go somewhere else.”

“But I can’t stay here?”

“No. I’m sorry, Sunny.”

There was a little hitch in her breathing. I was glad it was dark. No one could see the tears that started rolling down my face. I had no free hand to wipe them away, so I let them fall onto my shirt.

We finally reached the end of the tunnel. The sunlight streamed from the mouth of the hospital, reflecting off the dust motes dancing in the air. I could hear Doc murmuring inside.

“That’s very good,” he was saying. “Keep thinking of details. You know your old address—your name can’t be far behind, eh? How does this feel? Not tender?”

“Careful,” I whispered.

Kyle paused at the edge of the arch, Sunny still clinging to his side, and motioned for me to go first.

I took a deep breath and walked slowly into Doc’s place. I announced my presence in a low, even voice. “Hello.”

The Healer’s host started and gasped out a little shriek.

“Just me again,” I said reassuringly.

“It’s Wanda,” Doc reminded her.

The woman was sitting up now, and Doc was sitting beside her with his hand on her arm.