Read My Healer (Bewitched and Bewildered Book 3) for Free Online Page B

concern was helping Penny to speak again. Now, I'm far from home, I don't have my brothers or a job. But Penny's never looked happier. It's like she's a different child."
    "Can you tell us what happened to her?" Colton asked wrapping an arm around her chair.
    Rheia drew in a ragged breath. "There's not much to tell. About a year ago, Radek was sent to check on a house because a concerned neighbor reported the couple that lived there hadn't been seen in a few days. When he got there he could tell the door had been kicked in, but then shut again so that no one could see from the road. He said he found Penny's father in the hallway. Radek could tell he had been trying to defend the door to the master bedroom; the poor man had been ripped to pieces. He said as horrible as the hallway was, the scene in the master bedroom was a hundred times worse, blood and chucks of flesh were everywhere. He was about to turn and leave the room for fresh air when he heard a tiny noise. He found Penny wedged, pinned really, between the bed and the wall, she was three at the time. He said the blankets had been thrown over her and that if he hadn't heard the sound he never would have known she was there. The smell of the blood completely masked her scent."
    "When he lifted her out she was covered in urine and feces. She had been so terrified she hadn't moved from the spot in days. Her legs had cramped, she nearly suffocated under the layers of blankets, and had been surrounded by blood and the stench of death from what was left of her own mother." Rheia had to take a deep breath.
    "Dear Gods," Beth whispered. Gavriel pulled her close, his hand stroking her hair comfortingly.
    "You don't have to go on," Colton said, taking her hand.
    Rheia shook her head. "I can go on. Penny lived it, I'm only telling you about it. I can be no less brave than her."
    Colton raised her hand and kissed her fingers gently. She took comfort in that small action.
    "Radek knew the couple had been paranormal, so he called Athan to pick Penny up. They brought her to me, knowing I would never turn her away." She paused and looked around. "You see, I was adopted when I was a little girl, too. My father was the town Sheriff at the time; he found me much in the same way Radek found Penny, except both of my parents were alive, they were just too high to feed and take care of me. Daddy took me home, the same home where I was living when Penny came to me." She smiled. "He didn't have to forge any paperwork like we did, he just stubbornly refused to give me up. Eventually the judge awarded them custody. You can't do something like that anymore though."
    "For the first six months Penny was with me, she was practically catatonic, completely non-responsive. It took me nearly a year to get her to the point where she was communicating with nods, head shakes and thumbs up signs. Her smiling today was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen." She swallowed hard and wiped the tears from her eyes.
    "That's it!" Colton said his eyes blazing. He stood up and pounded the table with both hands.
    Everyone stared at him in shock.
    "What in the world?" Rheia asked.
    He turned to her his eyes suspiciously moist. "We're going to mother fucking Disney World! You and Penny have lived through hell. I want to do everything I can to make you smile. You deserve to spend the rest of your life smiling."
    Rheia couldn't take her eyes off him. He stood there, green eyes bright, his blond hair glowing in the afternoon sun and to Rheia he looked exactly like what she dreamed Prince Charming would be.
    Smiling up at him, she nodded. "Okay, let's do Disney World."
    His smile was beatific. He sat back down in his chair and took her hand. "I swear, on my life, to do everything in my power to make you happy."
    "Oh, that was just beautiful," Beth said sighing happily.
    Rheia blushed; she wasn't used to such open displays of emotion.
    "I want to go to Disney World, too." Meryn said looking up at Aiden with puppy dog