Within ten minutes, more than thirty people had packed into Erin’s house. I kept looking about for the threat with questions tripping over each other in my mind. Where were the Protectors? Could it be Asher? Had he followed me here and been discovered? It took several minutes of watching everyone and listening to their quiet conversations before I understood that by here, Dorthea meant Pacifica and not her front yard. If I had thought about how Healers would react to an impending Protector invasion, I would have guessed that these people would jump into action to protect one of their own. Instead, I watched in confusion as they did the opposite. They sat around and talked about what the woman’s fate might be. Many of them made a beeline straight for my grandfather, their faces bright with fear. It had been eight months since a Healer went missing, and they wanted his assurance that they were safe. For the first time, I grasped his true place in this society of Healers. Not just as an old wise man, but as their leader.
