All Chapters of Healing The Devil I Once Loved: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

ZARIA That also meant my days of ‘normal’ were over.Was it Grace? Her voice was unmistakable over the landline. No. Grace wouldn’t do that. Reasons?My mind gave me two solid reasons and the first was: She wasn't a hacker. Secondly; she was old. I exhaled slowly and shook my head, forcing the thought aside.I was tired. Pregnant. On edge.That was all.I turned toward the seeds section, scanning the shelves carefully. I was looking for moringa seeds and was asked by Uncle Thomas to grab a handful. Shit. Where was this fucking seed?!The noise of the supermarket didn’t stop as people still talked, baskets still scraped the floor, coins still clinked… but it all dulled, like someone had shoved cotton into my ears and turned the world down a notch.That couldn’t be Hawk.I knew that.I had to know that.Hawk was Renzo's hunting dog. He didn’t just appear randomly in village supermarkets halfway across the world. A loyal dog wouldn't wander far away from its master. If Hawk were he

RENZO “Or someone,” she said slowly.I didn’t answer.“You foolish boy,” she whispered. “You are still searching for Zaria.”The machine beside me beeped faster. And outside the room, footsteps were heading towards the door of the room.I felt it then… that subtle change in the air, the wrongness that had nothing to do with my chest or the IV line taped to my arm. I had lived long enough to know when something was about to snap.The footsteps outside the door stopped.I didn’t bother to ask or check who was at the door. Instead, I slid my hand slowly under the pillow, until my fingers curled around cold metal.Gotcha.Juanita didn’t hear the discussion that had led us here. If she had, she would have hightailed out of here without looking back. It was typical of my mother to make whatever this visit was to look… harmless. It was anything but harmless anyway. The poor girl had been too far, too distracted, too busy trying to be invisible. But I had a feeling she wasn’t as stupid as

ZARIA “... Organs! Not an empty basket!”I winced. “It wasn’t that simple.”“Simple or not, you play with tiger tail,” she snapped. “Tiger bite.”She paced the room, muttering angrily. “And that woman—what's her name? Grace? Housekeeper call you?”“Yes.”Mama Li stopped short. “Everybody mafia now? How does a housekeeper have power like that?”I laughed despite myself. “Grace has served Renzo for a long time. She knows things and he trusts her.”Mama Li shook her head as the world had officially gone mad.Then her expression sobered again.“But this now,” she said, lowering her voice. “People notice you. If eyes are on you, then maybe spies. Are there local gangs here? One that leads into the city?”My stomach tightened. “I don’t know.”She shook her head. “No big gangs here. But I ask Thomas.”“Uncle Thomas?” I repeated.“Who else?” she asked. “He knows the street. He knows who moves and who pretends not to move.”I exhaled slowly. If Renzo Dominico had truly found a way to trace me

RENZO The bed was cozy enough but I couldn't sleep.Sleep was a luxury for people who weren’t dying and weren’t being hunted by time and ghosts wearing the face of the woman they loved.I've been confined to bed in the house again. But I wasn't complaining. Until a cure is found, this will be my life. I washed my hands until the water ran cold, until the smell of antiseptic replaced the metallic tang of blood and IV fluid, then pulled on a black shirt and jacket.The mirror showed me what I already knew: my pale face, my sunken eyes, and my jaws locked so tight it ached… but I didn’t blink. If I cracked now, I would shatter. For three years, I never let anything break me. Today, we were going to try something new because everything and every method we used in the past failed. But now, I was going to use my wild card.I stepped into the briefing room without announcing myself.They all stopped talking.Hawk leaned against the table, arms crossed. He didn't talk much after reporting

RENZO “I’m going to ask her,” I continued. “If she wants this war to continue. If she wants me dead. If she wants freedom without me.”“And if she says yes?” Syl whispered.My jaw tightened. “Then I let her go.” That hit harder than any threat I’d made all night.Even Ivan stopped arguing.Asher searched my face. “You’d give up everything?”“I’d give up control,” I corrected. “Not everything.”Silence again.Then Hawk gave a slow nod, looking at Asher disdainfully. “Now, that’s how you win,” he said.I didn’t care to ask what had happened between the two of them. “I don’t need to win,” I replied. “I need to know.”__________That fucking governor did not call us back into his office. Once I gave him something to think about, he made us wait. Which was worse than I had expected.If not for Asher and Hawk trying to make me see reason. With them working together for once was enough entertainment to pass the time.Back at the warehouse, the Doctors had nearly shat themselves, trying to