“Stone guardians are brave warriors,” Torin interrupted. “The lad fears nothing now.” Reaching into the bedraggled sporran dripping at his waist, Torin retrieved a smooth, blackened disk and held it out to the child. He tapped on the center of the glyph-carved stone until it took on an eerie glow. “Take this stone, boy. It will protect ye from evil. Every stone guardian wears an amulet such as this one right above his heart.”
Emma swallowed hard. Her heart rate ratcheted to an alarming thump as her hand flew to the lucky necklace tucked just inside her blouse. She didn’t have to look to know that the stone Torin offered the boy was identical to hers.
The boy closed his tiny hand around the amulet. His dark eyes rounded with wonder. “Awesome,” he whispered as he stared down into his hand.
“What do ye say?” His mother scolded, nudging the enraptured child’s shoulder.
“Thank ye, my chieftain.” The boy breathed, never lifting his gaze from the prize cradled in his hands.
“Dinna thank me.” Torin rested his hand atop the boy’s shoulder and bent to level a stern gaze straight into the boy’s face. “The amulet cried out for ye as soon as ye entered. Heed your destiny, boy. Never deny that the magic truly exists. Grow strong and take your place among the guardians of the stones.”
His mother twitched with a sharp intake of breath and gave a quick shake of her head. With a trembling hand, she waved Emma closer as she stepped away from her son. “I’m verra pleased that the clinic has gone to such lengths to make thechildren feel welcome. But please take care about what ye tell them.” Leaning closer, tears filled her eyes as she glanced first at the beaming face of her child then turned back to Emma. “My son is dying. He will never be more than the sweet little boy ye see standin’ before ye today.”
Emma feared as much just from looking at the yellowish-gray pallor tinting the boy’s skin. But as long as life beat within his tiny chest, she wouldn’t give up hope. “Don’t ever let him hear that you have given up. A fighting will to live is stronger than any medicine I can ever prescribe. We will do everything we can to help your son. I know it’s not easy, but he needs your strength right now.”
As the boy scurried away to show his brothers his amulet, Torin stepped closer to the mother. “Your son willna die as a child. You will cross through the veil long before he does.”
“Torin!” Emma glanced from the mother’s widening eyes to Torin’s stubborn scowl. “You can’t say such things.”
“How do you know?” the mother asked, her voice trembling with hope.
Ignoring Emma, Torin nodded toward the child standing in the center of the play area holding the amulet up for all to see. “It is not his destiny to die young. Since I have ordained him into my clan, he will live many centuries guarding the stones.”
The mother’s face fell. “I see.” Turning to Emma, her lips flattened into a bitter line. “Tell your actor it is a cruel thing to raise the hopes of a desperate parent. He needs to save his fairy tales for amusing the sick children.” With a sharp sniff, she hitched the strap of her purse higher on her shoulder and pushed past Emma to sign in at the registration desk.
Emma swallowed a groan and turned to Torin. “Do you realize what you’ve done?”
Torin shrugged. “I told the woman the truth. The boy willna die. I scourged the poison attacking his body when I named him as a guardian.”
Emma glanced at the child laughing in the aisle between the rows of mismatched chairs. His face did appear a bit more pink; his eyes sparkled with newfound energy. Could Torin be telling the truth? Had he healed the child? “You can heal people of their diseases?”
“Not everyone.” Torin’s face darkened; pain showed in the slump of his shoulders. “The child is brave and holds the legends safe in his heart, setting him along the path of a stone guardian is well within my powers. The protection of the amulet around his neck is his true salvation.”
Emma fingered the warm stone resting at her throat. “So, you’re telling me that as long as he keeps that necklace close, he’s protected from any sort of illness?”
Torin nodded, then his good eye narrowed beneath knotted brows as he took a step closer to Emma. “If properly blessed, the amulet shields us against many dangers or illnesses. It even prevents drowning.”
His words hit like a slap in the face. Why would Torin mention drowning? Did he know? How could he know? Emma retreated a step until her back pressed against the waist-high counter. He needed to leave. The longer he stared at her with that penetrating gaze, the more certain she felt this man knew entirely too much about her. With a choked whisper, she tore free of his stare and sidled around to the rear of the counter. “I think you need to go, Torin. I have children to care for and I can’t deal with you right now.”
Torin’s jaw tightened; the muscles rippled beneath his tanned skin as he ground his teeth. His scarred face flinched as though she had struck him. He snapped his head forward witha single nod. “Fine. I will leave ye to the children. But we’re not finished yet, you and I.”
Emma pressed trembling fingers to her mouth as she watched him charge out the door.
Chapter
Eighteen
Torin wrapped his plaid close about his shoulders and stepped between the dimensions. He emerged from the clinic’s shadows and waved a taunting hand in front of Harris while the old man swept with a tireless rhythm against the water puddled in the doorway. Harris didn’t react. The industrious old man was oblivious to the hulking man standing at his side. Torin grunted with satisfaction. He had never enjoyed walking in the in-between but he needed his form cloaked.
Emma brushed past him on her way to her car. Head down, brow furrowed into a troubled scowl, she yanked open the vehicle’s door and heaved her bulging briefcase across the seat. Sliding in behind the wheel, her knuckles whitened as she gripped it in a stranglehold.
He had upset her. Perhaps he shouldn’t have mentioned drowning. Torin blew out a frustrated huff as he sifted into the car beside her. He’d only wished to show her he understood the pain she carried from her past. How had women evolved into such complicated beings over the centuries? They were difficult enough to figure out hundreds of years ago.
Perhaps that was why she had never married. Too much pain filled her heart, leaving room for little else. Torin studied her as she fought the sticking gearshift. What a waste. A woman so fine and yet all alone. Had she been around centuries ago, many would have vied for her hand. Maybe even—No. Torin forced the thought from his mind. He had known excitement and passion from his beloved Eilean and look where that had led.
Unbidden voices from the past taunted him with their whispers. Marriage to Eilean had also provided him with a good share of misery. Flashes of Eilean’s unexplained absences from his bed writhed like a venomous snake in the shadows of his mind. The vicious rumors sliced through his memories with the deadly accuracy of a poison-dipped arrow.
Closing his eyes, Torin groaned in a shaking breath, trying to escape the truth. A delicate sweetness wafted across his senses. The faintest hint of lilies soothed the agony burning in his chest. He had never truly noticed it before. The essence of the flowers perfuming her skin transmitted an air of innocence and vulnerability around her. Torin filled his lungs with the beguiling scent. Damn, but it suited her well.
