Heal the Healer Read online

  Gift of the Ancients

  Heal the Healer

  by

  Bianca D’Arc

  Copyright © 2022 Bianca D’Arc

  Hawk Publishing, LLC

  New York

  All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any or by any means, or stored in a database retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the Author.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  www.biancadarc.com

  OFFICIAL BIANCA D’ARC NEWSLETTER

  She knows magic and medicine in equal measure…

  Lynn was raised with one foot in the mortal world of science and technology, the other rooted in her grandmother’s realm of magic, shifters and good versus evil. She chose to follow in her late father’s footsteps to become a medical researcher, never imagining a military unit would need her help as both a researcher, and as the granddaughter of one of the most powerful witches in the country. But the unit needs her on both fronts, and she’s determined to do her best, even if it means going into danger.

  In a world of shapeshifters and magic, one military unit stands alone…

  Gifted with superhuman powers by an ancient and capricious djinn, the Special Forces operatives of Rick’s unit need help dealing with their new superhero status. They are only just learning what they can really do and all about the world of shifters and magic around them. Hunted by a hidden enemy, they are in constant danger, as is anyone close to them.

  Soldier and doctor, Rick has a special obligation to keep everybody safe…

  Rick is attracted to the beautiful doctor, but hates the fact that working with him and the other guys in his unit puts her in serious danger. When she volunteers as bait to lure in the enemy shapeshifters who are stalking the island, he hates every minute of it, but Lynn proves she’s made of tougher stuff than anyone expects. He admires her strength of will and her pure heart, but can he ask her to forsake the outside world to stay with him…forever? Is she really his fated mate, or are they both caught up in the magic of this strange new world?

  DEDICATION

  This book, especially, is dedicated to my dad, who sadly, passed away as this was being finalized. He’s left a hole in my heart and an incredibly empty place in my life. It was my honor to be there for him, and to have his company, in this crazy messed up world. He was 96 and part of that Greatest Generation who are all leaving us every day. Many of the traits of my heroes are based on Dad and men like him. Honor, loyalty, honesty and doing the right thing weren’t just words to him. It was a code he lived every day of his life by and he is sorely missed.

  I love you, Dad.

  Farewell, Captain.

  The finest man it has ever been my privilege to know.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Other Books by Bianca D’Arc

  CHAPTER ONE

  “We’d like you to be part of a specialized team we’ve been assembling for the past few months,” the admiral said, cutting right to the chase. “This kind of assignment goes beyond the normal purview of the U.S. Navy, you understand. You’ve been chosen for this because of your exemplary scientific background, as well as your ties to the magical community. In fact, your grandmother recommended you.”

  The admiral didn’t even blink an eye at his own odd statement. Lynn wondered with a small amount of inward hysteria how many soldiers under his command had gotten there by being recommended by somebody’s granny. Not many, she assumed. Quite likely, none at all.

  “You know my grandmother?” Lynn asked, allowing some of her surprise to show.

  The admiral patted his cell phone, which sat on his desk. “Got her on speed dial,” he confirmed with a grin. “There’s not much Granny Tucker doesn’t know. She’s a good resource when I have esoteric questions. I like to think we’ve helped each other over the years. She sent this along so you would know this plan has her endorsement.” He handed an envelope across the desk.

  Lynn accepted it, noting Gram’s unique seal on the flap. So few people used sealing wax these days, and even fewer used magical seals that could not be broken except by the intended recipient. This was one of those, and it was definitely of Gram’s making. Lynn didn’t have a lot of magic, but she could always recognize the feel of her grandmother’s spells and charms. Lynn was certain this was one of her grandmother’s creations.

  Lynn touched her finger to the wax seal, and it sparkled merrily as the seal broke exactly in half along the decorative pattern without her applying any force. She unfolded the paper and read the message within.

  Sweetie. The letter began in her Gram’s spidery script. I’m vouching for Morrow and his friends. They are good boys, working for the best of all goals. If you can help them, I hope you will. And, by the by, you might just find your destiny on that little island of theirs, and if it works out like I hope, it’ll be sweeter than you can even imagine. All my love, Gram.

  Curiouser and curiouser.

  Lynn heard the written words running through her brain in her Gram’s voice and smiled. Her grandmother’s words were a little cryptic and vague, but that was her usual style.

  Lynn thought it was probably impolite to tell the admiral that her grandmother had never mentioned him. Then again, there were probably a million things Gram knew that she’d never told her mostly non-magical granddaughter.

  “This is Commander Kinkaid, his son, Liam, and Captain Haliwell.” The admiral introduced the other men seated around the room when she looked up from the letter. They had all stood politely when she’d walked in, but had not been introduced until now. “If you agree, you’ll be shipping out with them right after this meeting, to their facility on Plum Island.”

  “The little island just off of Long Island, in New York?” she asked. “I thought they tested anthrax there decades ago, but it’s been out of service since then.”

  She realized as she spoke that Gram had mentioned a little island in her letter. Had she foreseen it, or had the admiral told Gram about the mission? Lynn didn’t know which it had been, but either way, there were startling implications. If Gram had foreseen it, then it was important to Lynn’s future in some way. If the admiral had briefed Gram on the task, then their relationship had to be even deeper than Lynn suspected.

  The admiral grinned at her. “That’s the story we encourage,” he replied. “The actual truth is something a bit different.”

  The admiral invited the commander to describe the facilities on the island and the lab Lynn would be working in, should she take the job. What they weren’t saying, she realized, was exactly what she would be studying. That information would come only if she agreed, and then, only when they had reached their destination.

  “Does that sound to your liking? I can assure you, the laboratory was purpose-built specifically for this task. You will have everything you need at your disposal,” the admiral told her. “What I want to know is if you’re willing to take on this assignment.”

  “Even without knowing exactly what it is?” she asked, smiling to soften her words.

  The admiral nodded. “Even without that knowledge. We can’t disclose any more to you without your agreement to be part of our team.”

  “I understand, sir.” She paused, weighing her options.

  “I can assure you that this task is well within your bailiwick. Your past experience, your record of success, and your grandmother, all give me confidence that, if anyone can handle this work, it’s you,” the admiral went on.

  The major deciding factor for Lynn was that her grandmother had recommended her. Gram didn’t often interfere in her life—especially her work—without darn good reason. If Gram thought Lynn would be a worthy member of this team, then Lynn had to follow that advice and see where it led. Her grandmother loved her and would never steer her wrong.

  “All right, then,” Lynn said, breathing deep for courage. “I’m in.”

  *

  Dr. Rick Lovelace was cooling his heels on the Coast Guard Cutter they had taken from the eastern tip of Long Island to just off the coast of Cape May, New Jersey. He hadn’t liked being left behind on the boat while his commanding officer, Captain Haliwell, along with Commander Kinkaid and his son, Liam, went traipsing off to the Pentagon for a meeting. Still, it was a comfortable ride on the eight-seven foot long patrol boat.

&nbs
p; Rick didn’t even really know why he had been tasked to take the trip to begin with, but a word from Jeeves and his gal, Rosie—the unit’s resident foreseers—had him walking the plank onto this little excursion. Then again, it was nice to get off the island for a while. He hadn’t been allowed to travel anywhere since his journey out west to help his friend Wil’s terminally-ill father. That Wil’s dad was now healthy once more, and working as a consultant on the island, was due in part to Rick’s unique gift of healing.

  He’d been glad to help the old man, who was still a legend in Special Forces circles. Rick had also been gratified to help his teammate, Wil, get a little more time with his father. If only Rick could’ve helped his own parents live longer. Alas, his healing gift had come to him long after they’d both passed away. Long after he could do them any good at all.

  Rick still didn’t know why the clairvoyant contingent had said he must be on this boat. Although he kept alert for any sign of danger, the water was calm, the sun was shining, and it was altogether a beautiful day on the Atlantic coast. The only thing that would make it even better was if he could have brought along his fishing rod and a cold six-pack of beer. But somehow, he didn’t imagine the Coast Guard would go for that sort of behavior on their vessel.

  More’s the pity.

  *

  Dr. Lynn Tucker’s mind was reeling as she walked out of the admiral’s office. As she followed the three military men out of the Pentagon, she marveled at how quickly things had changed for her. There was a helicopter waiting to whisk her—and the small group she’d just met—to the coast, where they would board a ship headed for her new assignment.

  Lynn was a civilian but more than willing to take on a military contract. She was a medical researcher by profession but had been between jobs when she’d gotten a call from an unexpected source.

  Lynn’s background was a bit different from most of her colleagues, and she often had to withhold some of the things she knew about the wider world when working with people who were unaware of the paranormal creatures and abilities that existed. The only reason she knew about the Others that lived alongside humans, in secret, was that her grandmother was a powerful witch.

  Lynn’s mother had been killed in a car crash, along with Lynn’s dad, when Lynn was just a baby. Gram had taken Lynn in and raised her with full knowledge of the paranormal world in which Gram worked, but humoring Lynn’s desire to study science and follow in her father’s footsteps.

  Lynn’s dad had been a doctor and had fallen head over heels—or so the story went—for Lynn’s mother. Love at first sight, and a relationship that had bridged the mortal world with the supernatural world of Lynn’s maternal line.

  As a result, Lynn had knowledge few of her medical colleagues shared, and her grandmother apparently had even more impressive connections than Lynn knew. She’d had no idea, for instance, that Gram knew an admiral well enough to have his home phone number—and that the he had hers.

  That the admiral was also some kind of powerful Other was a new discovery for Lynn. Gram had to have known, of course. In fact, it was clear now, that Gram had been consulted by Admiral Morrow at least a few times, in the past. This seemed to be just the most recent instance of the admiral calling on Granny Tucker for advice.

  “Ma’am.” The deep voice came from her side, and she realized she’d been woolgathering. The young Naval officer was handsome as sin, and he probably knew it, as he smiled encouragingly for her to board the helicopter. He had his hands out, ready to help her, if she needed it.

  But Lynn wasn’t in need of this sexy blond boy’s brand of help. She hopped up into the helicopter without his assistance and took a seat. He sat next to her, crowding her a bit in the small cabin of the military craft. The seat padding was practically nonexistent, and she felt every jolt and bobble as the rotors sped up and they lifted into the sky.

  Lynn had been on a helicopter only once before in her life. That had been a comparatively luxurious civilian model in which she’d toured the Grand Canyon from the air. She’d been in Las Vegas for a medical conference and had scheduled an extra day or two for sightseeing.

  The noise of the rotors precluded anyone from speaking unless they were wearing a headset. She hadn’t been given one, so she spent her time looking out the window and surreptitiously glancing at the people seated across from her. There were two men seated opposite her and the younger blond giant at her side. The elder two were also built on the large side. Knowing what she knew now, she suspected at least two of the three men were shifters.

  The idea of shifters in the military was a new one to her, but as she thought about it, it made sense. Her grandmother had always told her that many shifters served the goddess and fought in the eternal war between good and evil. What better way to fight evil, in this day and age, than to do it with the approval and resources of the human government?

  The man directly across from her was older. Blond, like his son. Both were in the Navy. And both were stationed on the island to which they were traveling.

  Commander Lester Kinkaid was in charge of the base on Plum Island, she’d been told. It was a top-secret installation. Oh, everybody knew that the military had been doing something out on that little island, but the full extent of the military presence, and the special nature of those who worked there, was known to only a privileged few.

  Somehow, Lynn was now part of that singular group. The briefing had made it clear that something still undefined, but altogether extraordinary, had occurred to a group of Special Forces soldiers who had been deployed to Iraq. They were home now, but had been forever changed by their time in the desert.

  Because of her unique background and knowledge of the unseen world, Lynn had been chosen to be part of a very small group of researchers trying to help those men come to terms with their changes. They weren’t shifters. In fact, they had been just regular human beings without significant knowledge of the supernatural world, until they had met with something truly amazing in the ancient city of Babylon.

  As a result of their experiences—which were still not totally clear to her—they were now stationed alongside what had to be the largest concentration of shifters in the military. Commander Kinkaid oversaw the operation on the island, and he worked hand-in-hand with Admiral Morrow to help keep shifter troops ready for action. His mission had been expanded to add the small group of Army Green Berets to his island.

  It was unusual in the extreme for a father and son to be working together when both were active duty military. However, Lynn knew that shifters were very close knit within their families, Tribes, Clans, and especially Packs. If the elder Kincaid was the Alpha for those stationed on the island, then his son had to be one of his lieutenants.

  The third man, who was seated next to the elder Kincaid and across from the younger, was a bit of a mystery. He was big and muscular enough to be a shifter, but he wasn’t. There was something different about him, though, that sent her witchy senses tingling. She wasn’t much of a witch, but she had enough latent power to recognize the Otherness of the paranormal beings she met.

  This man read as human, but with something…extra. She wasn’t sure what it was yet, but he’d been introduced as the leader of the Special Forces squad she’d was going to study and assist. He hadn’t said much—and the briefing hadn’t covered exactly what phenomena she would be researching. All she’d been told was that it involved his unit and that they had been changed by an experience in the desert.

  The rest of the briefing had been about the installation itself. She’d had to sign a multitude of documents with nondisclosure agreements and even take an oath not to discuss what she would learn from this assignment. Most importantly, she was to keep the secret of shifters in the military and their training base on Plum Island.

  The admiral had assured her that she would have access to state-of-the-art laboratory equipment and whatever supplies she needed. The newly-built lab was enticing, as were the resumes of the people already part of the project who would be her co-workers and potential lab assistants. The idea of working with an entirely new paranormal phenomenon was irresistible to her inquiring mind, so she’d said yes, and now, she was heading for her new job without even her go bag—the one she always kept packed and ready should she need to bug out quickly.