Page 127 of At Her Will

“You should go home,” Ros said.

He rubbed a hand over his face and straightened. “She needs to know I won’t leave, even if she tell me to. She needs to know I’m not like her family. I’m never going to abandon her just because we not seeing eye to eye on something. I not a Navy SEAL, or a cop, or a big scary fellow like Tiger. But I don’t need to be. My strength come from Love, and the love I feel for her… no one is going to make me abandon her. Not even her. Or you.”

He said the last with a respectful but firm nod. Her eyes stayed expressionless. “You made her feel abandoned.”

It hurt him to the core to hear it. Thinking Veracity had told Ros that, drove him to the edge of his control. He needed to go to her, be with her, and take that pain away. It was the one pain for sure he could ease, because it didn’t change the truth. As Lawrence had pointed out.

“No,” he said. “Her family done that, so when I had to make the decision I did, it took her back to it. That’s all. Which is also why I need to be here, to see her. To remind her that this ain’t that.”

He gave her a bitter smile. “I not any more likely to be driven away than your own man, or any of the men who belong to you all. She a very strong woman, but even a strong woman has limits. She needs me to help her find her strength. I know it, so I sit here until she ready to call that strength to her.”

Ros rose. Her expression changed, suddenly showing so much emotion he had to rise, too. “I’m so sorry, Miss Thomas. For all of it. If I could have been there sooner, if I could have known what they planned, I would have done anything to stopthem from hurting her like this. God forgive me, I do mean anything. I’d have sold my soul and gone straight to hell to keep her from it.”

His faith had been shaken tonight. Not his faith in God, but his faith in those around him. Life could be unpredictable, but when the earthly ground you were sure of gave way beneath you, it was the toughest loss to take.

Ros stared at him. He’d reached out and gripped her hand, too moved by her distress not to make contact. Her fingers were cold. She stayed at arm’s length, but her eyes were damp. “All right,” she said. “Room 6A.”

Then she cleared her throat. “I’m going home for a little while.”

“Will Lawrence be there for you?” He was worried about the things he felt from her.

“He’s always there for me.”

She moved around him, headed for the elevators. After he watched the doors close on her, he reached for the phone Veracity wanted him to carry and carefully typed in a message.

Your Mistress headed home. She needs you.

Just pulled back into the parking lot. I’m her ride. But thanks for letting me know.

Rev put the phone away and walked down the hall, his shoes squeaking. Through open doorways, he saw patients sleeping or watching TV on low volume. A nurse making her rounds gave him a nod.

As Rev reached 6A, Cyn was coming out. The phone she held suggested Ros had sent her a text, letting her know Rev was on his way. Thinking of what Lawrence had said, he braced himself for the possibility of a more forceful tongue lashing, but once again Cyn merely gave him a short nod. “I’ll be in the lobby when you’re done,” she said.

“I’ll be here until they throw me out,” he told her. “So if you need to go home and get some sleep, I’ll be here when you come back.”

“I’ll see ifshethrows you out before I make that decision.” Cyn glanced over her shoulder, and Rev saw a rare look of tenderness on her resolute face. “I’ve never seen her this fragile. Go easy. Else I’ll break your legs.”

“Yes’m.”

She surprised him with a light pat on his arm, and left him.

When he stepped in the room and was able to look upon the woman he most wanted to see, Rev felt a wave of relief so strong he gripped the doorway to keep from staggering.

Veracity was asleep, but her expression was troubled, deep lines around her mouth and forehead. Her fists were clenched on the top of the covers. He knelt by the bed.

I dreem of kneeling…for her.

For you.

He murmured that, then put his hand next to her fist, and bowed his head to pray. It took a while, but he used what he knew of prayer and what she’d taught him, about those channels and the energy to fill them. He pulled it through him, offered it to her, his hand shifting to cover hers, to create a channel between them. When her fingers seemed looser, more relaxed, he reached across her body to grip the other hand, to keep that circuit closed.

Eventually, he felt an answering pressure, but he simply kept praying and channeling. Somewhere along the way, their breathing started to synchronize. He thought their hearts did, too. With every in and out, every beat, he gave her his will and love. Anything she needed. And he asked for her forgiveness.

Throughout the night, even when the nurse came in to check on her, he remained in that position, holding a vigil. No words spoken. Just a million thoughts and feelings passing throughthat connection, but one in particular, the same one he’d prayed for when they brought her out of the water. Only this time he was asking not for her life, but for the return of her trust and faith.

Come back to me.

Vera woke to see two things. One, Ros at the door with a flat of three coffees in hand, and Rev. His head was on the covers next to their clasped hands, his folded-over big body wedged in a small chair.

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