The Invincible Mystic Master

Chapter 002

Will smiled faintly. He had spent twenty years training under Blind Crowe, enduring punishing summers and freezing winters in the mountains. If he couldn't handle something this simple, he'd have no right to call himself a member of the Order of the Veil.

Summer stared at him, her expression conflicted.

The truth was, he had been right. She had a medical condition, although it was far too personal to discuss with a stranger on a crowded bus.

She had inherited an unusual condition from her mother. For the past ten years, every period had brought crippling abdominal pain, and cold or damp weather made it even worse. She'd consulted specialists and experienced energy healers alike, but nothing had offered a lasting cure. Eventually she'd learned to endure the milder episodes and rely on painkillers when they became unbearable.

Yet the instant Will touched those spots on her body, the pain vanished. In its place came an unfamiliar warmth and relief she hadn't felt in years.

Before Will could explain, a college-aged passenger stood up.

“Don't fall for it, lady. That's an old trick.”

He gave Will a smug look. “One of my professors explained it. Press certain points on anyone's body and they'll feel something unusual. Quacks have been using that routine for ages.”

Will's patience evaporated.

“Fine. Believe whatever you want.”

The bus had reached his stop. He stepped off without another word.

“Don't go after him,” an older passenger told Summer. “If something's wrong, see a real doctor.”

“He looks like trouble,” another agreed.

Their advice sounded reasonable. But none of them had lived with her pain for ten years, and none had felt what she'd just experienced.

After a moment's hesitation, Summer hurried off the bus and caught up with him.

“Wait!”

Will stopped, a knowing smile tugging at his lips.

“Changed your mind?”

“How did you know something was wrong with me?”

“Easy. A good healer learns to read what the body is telling him, and the face is the first place to look.”

He glanced at her more closely.

“Your makeup hides how exhausted you are, but it can't conceal everything. There's a grayish tint to your lips, and your energy is badly out of balance. You get terrible cramps during your period, especially when the weather turns cold or rainy. Am I wrong?”

Summer's mouth fell open.

Every detail was accurate. Doctors and energy healers had spent years questioning her about her symptoms. This stranger had recognized the problem with a glance.

“Can you... actually treat it?” she asked.

“Sure. The body's connected in ways most people never learn to recognize. In your case, a little pressure-point work should be enough.”

“Where would you have to do that?”

“Your feet.”

Summer blushed. Her feet had always been painfully sensitive; even her parents hadn't been able to touch them when she was little. Allowing a stranger to do it was almost unthinkable.

But what if he could really cure her?

Ten years of suffering had taught her not to dismiss a chance like this.

“Okay,” she said at last. “Let's try.”

She sat on a nearby bench, slipped off her heels, and lifted her feet toward him.

Will crouched and gently took one in his hands.

“Ah!” Summer gasped. Her toes curled and every muscle in her leg went taut.

“Relax,” Will told her. “I can't do anything if you keep tensing up.”

“R-right.”

The contact sent a strange tingling sensation through her, almost like a mild electric current. Her body softened against the back of the bench as the tension she'd carried for years began to melt away.

This was Summer Morton, the formidable CEO of Morton Group, a woman who could silence a boardroom with a look. Yet here she was, struggling to keep her composure over a simple foot massage.

An involuntary sound escaped her lips.

Will shifted uncomfortably. He was only human, and the situation was becoming more distracting by the second.

“Could you keep it down a little?”

He found another pressure point and pressed firmly.

Summer shivered. A deep warmth spread through her abdomen, replacing the icy ache that had plagued her for so long. Each careful movement seemed to ease another layer of pain, until she could scarcely believe what she was feeling.

“There,” Will said eventually. “You can put your shoes back on.”

It took her a moment to gather herself. She hurriedly slipped into her heels, her cheeks burning as she remembered the sounds she'd made.

“Well?” Will asked. “How do you feel?”

Summer paused to check. Her eyes widened.

The pain was gone. Completely gone.

“Much better,” she whispered, almost afraid to believe it.

Will wasn't surprised. A condition like hers barely qualified as a challenge for someone trained by the Order of the Veil.

But Summer's thoughts had already turned to someone else.

Three months earlier, her father, Matthew Morton, the former CEO of Morton Group, had collapsed and fallen into a coma. The family had brought in renowned doctors from across the country and overseas, but no one had been able to identify a cause, let alone help him.

As Matthew wasted away, the company he'd built began to unravel. Summer had stepped in as CEO to preserve his life's work, but she lacked his authority and experience. Shareholders undermined her at every turn, while rival companies circled, looking for a weakness to exploit.

Morton Group was dangerously close to collapse.

And now a young stranger had cured what everyone else considered incurable.

Maybe he could save her father, too.

“I'm sorry,” she said. “I never asked your name.”

“Will Hartnett.”

“Mr. Hartnett, there's something else I need to ask you.”

“You want me to treat someone in your family,” Will said before she could continue.

Summer froze. “How did you know?”

“It's written all over you. There's a shadow hanging over your family, and it centers on someone very close to you. Your father, I'd guess. He's seriously ill, isn't he?”

Summer stared at him in astonishment.

He could heal people and apparently read their fortunes, too? She had never met anyone like him.

“Master Hartnett, please,” she said, her voice turning urgent. “Help my father. If you can save him, I'll give you anything you ask for.”

Will shook his head.

“Sorry. I can't.”