novelraw Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Four
She’d held the child as though it were her own, her eyes misting with unshed tears when the grateful family had finally eased the baby from her arms. Emma had cared for the little one for seven days. It took Cu Sith that long to gather the royal Fae child’s scattered kin. The kelpies had decimated the baby’s clan and surviving family members were few. But the faery hound had finally found them and brought them back to their offspring.
Now she stood staring out the window, her gaze rooted to the spot where the Fae had shimmered back into the mist. Torin’s heart swelled with renewed hope and aching love, the more he learned about this headstrong woman from this chaotic time, the more he decided life might be worth enjoying. Lore, he never thought he’d ever experience such a knowing, such a certainty within his heart. Emma possessed his very soul. Clearing his throat, Torin spoke softly. He hated intruding on Emma’s pain. “Ye know ye will see young Alaria again?”
Emma sniffed. She didn’t answer, just pressed her forehead against the pane of glass.
“She needed to be with her people, Emma. They’ll properly guide her as she matures.” Torin eased his arms around her tensed body and propped his chin atop her shoulder. “That way, she’ll never experience the frustration of trying to discover her heritage. She’ll no’ suffer with the shocking discovery of the truth of her destiny—as you have.”
“I know,” Emma whispered. Her voice quivered with raw emotion. “I’m just so used to always having someone to look out for…and now, she’s gone too.”
Maybe now was the time to convince her to travel with him to join his clan. Her acceptance of her fate and control of her powers had grown over the past few weeks. They’d soon be able to face Arach and hopefully, reseal the portal. Then Cailleach na Mointeach would grant him passage across the web of dimensions. Finally. He’d be able to shed this world, freeing himself of the constant confusion as though shaking the dust from his plaid. But he couldn’t bear the thought of leaving this reality without Emma at his side. “Then say ye’ll stay with me forever, Emma. Ye can care for me. I need ye even more than that wee child did. I’ll always need ye, Emma,” Torin whispered against the velvet skin of her ear. He cuddled her body back against his chest.
“I didn’t think you liked it here.” Emma shuddered with a despondent sigh, pulling out of his embrace to lean forward against the windowsill.
Torin tensed, missing the loss of her sweet warmth pressed against his chest. Had he been so transparent in his longing to leave this world? He thought he’d hidden his unhappiness better. Now that she’d sensed it, perhaps it best if he simply told her the truth. “I dinna belong here. Ye know that full well. This reality swarms with the chaos of man’s bending of the natural ways. But that doesna mean we canna be together.” Stalling for time with a fortifying breath, Torin tumbled his thoughts off his tongue. “Ye can travel with me across the dimensions. Say ye’ll come with me, Emma. Pass with me through the veil. We can be happy together in the simplicity of the higher level. We can even have our own family.” There. He’d said it. Torin held his breath, waiting for Emma’s reaction.
She stood as though frozen, her forehead pressed against the window. Had she heard him? Or had those thoughts whirling through her lovely head drowned his voice from her ears? Then she stirred, looping a stray curl behind one ear and ducking her head as she turned. His heart fell at the rejection shouting from her hooded expression. With a furrowed brow, she avoided his gaze, her lower lip caught between her teeth. The woman prepared to break his heart. The silence between them screamed her refusal. Torin could not bear it. “Emma. Ye must no’ refuse me. Ye know we belong together.”
“I can’t do it, Torin. I’m sorry but I can’t abandon everything in this world. I don’t really understand exactly what you’re talking about, but it sounds too permanent…too unknown.” Emma shuffled her feet, her gaze focused on the floor as though something extremely interesting was about to spring up from the carpet. “What you’re suggesting sounds almost as permanent as death.” Emma hugged herself farther away from him, drawing in a sobbing breath as she raised her head and finally met his gaze. “I just can’t do it, Torin. I don’t belong wherever it is you’re headed any more than you belong here.”
His body grew numb at her words. How could the woman turn her back on all they had become? “Then what are we to do, Emma? As soon as we’re able to close the portal, I must leave this world.”
“I don’t know.” Emma turned back to the window, shutting him out as she stared out into the gathering dusk.