Time to Heal Read online

  His frown deepened.

  “I am a Kindred! We revere females and worship the Goddess. I would never take a woman against her will.”

  “You think because you’re a Kindred I should automatically trust you?” Emmeline sneered at him. “I’m sorry, but I have heard similar arguments before. Gentlemen, for instance, are supposed to be trustworthy as well. But I found out the hard way it is a lie—they are not to be trusted. No male is.”

  His face grew grave.

  “I see you have been hurt before,” he said, his voice a low, gentle rumble. “No wonder you are shy of my touch. Forgive me.”

  “None of that is your business.” Emmeline felt her face getting hot with shame but she held her head high. She might be ruined but it had been through no fault of her own and the blame for what had happened was not hers.

  Or so she tried to tell herself—though she saw the opposite in the eyes of those who knew of her fate.

  But the big Kindred’s eyes were not accusatory or disgusted—they simply looked…sad? Emmeline was not sure but she told herself she didn’t care one way or the other.

  “My past is not your business,” she said again, more firmly.

  “No…” He sighed. “I suppose it is not. Very well—how can I convince you that I mean you no harm and get you to come with me to heal the Peace Crystal in my world?”

  “How can you…?” Emmeline shook her head. “I am sorry, Sir, but I am not going anywhere with you. There is no way that you can convince me to leave the safety of this house and go with a man I have only just met to a strange place I have no knowledge of.”

  He looked thoughtful.

  “What about that which you were forced to part with—what about your son? If I get him back for you, then will you come with me?”

  Emmeline felt her heart leap into her throat. To have Jamie, back in her arms. To feel his chubby little body cuddled close to her chest and hear his soft coo as he nuzzled close to her—that was what she truly wanted. Of course, she would have to engage a wet nurse for him herself but she made good money here at Mother Griffith’s—she could do that. And soon enough he would be weaned and eating softened foods so it would only be a temporary expense. Nick or one of the other girls could tend him while she was with a Jonny. Yes, it really might work!

  But what about his future? whispered a dark little voice in her head. If you take him away, you’re condemning him to a life as a whore’s son instead of the ward of a Viscount. His life will be nothing but poverty and ruin if you take him now.

  I could at least go see him though, she argued with herself. I could make certain he was well. He sounded so sickly the last time I heard his cry—I’m certain if I could just hold him for a moment I could tell if he was all right. Surely that would be all right.

  She thought of her mother’s cold, forbidding face and the heavy, immovable bulk of the brass Tick-Tock butler blocking the doorway to her old home. Could the huge Kindred get her through such barricades? Could he truly help her see her son again?

  The sudden longing to hold her baby in her arms once more overcame her and she knew what she was going to do. Even though it was foolish, she couldn’t pass up the chance to see and hold Jamie again. Her heart ached for him desperately.

  She looked up at Skahr who had been waiting patiently for her to think his proposal through. His strange blue eyes were quiet and unreadable as he looked down at her. In his utter silence and stillness, he reminded Emmeline of a vast statue.

  “I will consider your proposal,” she said carefully. “If you can get me in to see my son. I do not promise anything, mind you,” she added quickly. “I will only consider it.”

  “Fair enough.” He nodded and headed for the door.

  “Wait—where are you going?” Emmeline asked.

  “To find your son.” He frowned back over his shoulder. “Are you coming? We must go to him at once.”

  “At this time of night? Are you mad?” Emmeline demanded. “We cannot go now! Far better to wait for mid-afternoon tomorrow. With any luck my mother will be out making calls at that time and we will have only the servants to contend with.”

  Skahr’s broad forehead creased.

  “Your mother? Do you mean to say your own mother took your son from you?”

  “I gave him up to her,” Emmeline said unwillingly. “So that he could have a better life than the one I could offer him here.” She made a gesture with one hand which encompassed all of Mother Griffith’s and her life at the bordello. “But when I did, it was with the understanding that I would be allowed to come and visit him. Now…” She swallowed, trying to push back the tears that threatened. “Now my mother has said that I should not come any more—she never wants me to see him again.”

  His face grew as dark as a thundercloud.

  “No one should separate a mother from her child. It is an abomination.”

  “I agree.” Emmeline sniffed and lifted her chin. “I only want to see him and make certain he’s all right—that’s all. It doesn’t seem so much to ask.”

  “I will make sure you see him if that is what you wish.” Skahr put a clenched fist to his heart. “This is my oath to you, my lady.”

  Emmeline found herself oddly touched by his old-fashioned chivalry. He was like a knight offering fealty to his queen.

  “Well…thank you,” she said, inclining her head. “Then you may meet me here tomorrow at noon and we shall go to Hastings Hall together.”

  “As you say.” He nodded again and turned to go, then stopped. “Wait—will you get into trouble if I do not give you money in exchange for the time we have spent together?” Without waiting for her to answer, he pulled out a large number of crumpled bank notes and bundled them carelessly into her hands. “Here.”

  “But this is too much!” Emmeline protested, looking at the jumbled pile. “And you didn’t even come for the usual, er, treatment in the first place!”

  “I certainly got it, though.” The corners of his eyes crinkled and his lips twitched into that smile she couldn’t help liking, even though she tried not to. “You have a good arm, Emmeline. Small though you are, you would make a formidable warrior woman.”

  Then, before she could answer, he left the room, leaving Emmeline filled with equal measures confusion and hope. Could the big Kindred really help her to see Jamie again?

  Oh God, she hoped so! She truly hoped so.

  Seven

  Skahr came for her at noon, just as she had told him to. He was shown into the house by a round-eyed boy who looked him up and down mistrustfully as he let him in. In the light of day, the crimson and black furnishings and decorations didn’t look nearly so grand as they had by gaslight the night before. There was something sad and shabby about the bordello when exposed to daylight, he thought.

  “I’ll go and see if The Countess will receive you, Sir—so I will,” the boy told him and scampered up the stairs.

  Skahr yawned and made himself comfortable on one of the crimson padded couches in the waiting area. It had taken him some time to find a place to sleep the night before but even when he had, he had tossed and turned in the too-small bed, his mind taken up with thoughts of Emmeline.

  At first, when he had realized his mistaken interpretation of the prophecy, he had been disappointed. He had been so certain that she was going to be of Zonian proportions—able to beat him in battle. Instead, a more literal interpretation of “beating” was clearly what the prophecy had in mind. Who could have imagined she would beat him, not in battle, but with a switch, as a naughty ‘prentice boy might be beaten?

  Another warrior might have had hurt pride over what had happened, but Skahr was only amused when he remembered how she had bent him over the padded bench and whipped him soundly.

  Though she might be diminutive in stature, it was clear she was a giantess at heart. What other woman would dare to treat him so? He couldn’t think of a single one. Maeve and her Zonians might cross swords with him, but not a one of them would take h