“Do you have an appointment?” She prompted icily, raising heavily charcoaled brows, which contrasted clownishly with the artificially bright hair.
“Oh, I think she’ll see me, Vidalia,” Kassian returned dryly.
That finally caught the woman’s attention and she glanced up. Her gaze passed over Kat, dismissing her without a second thought, but her eyes flashed with definite interest as they came to rest on Kassian. She surreptitiously inched the hunky hero and buxom beauty locked in book cover lust under some papers until they could no longer be seen from the visitor’s side of the desk, and then leaned forward providing Kat and Kassian with more than an eyeful of foundation-garment-assisted cleavage.
“Why, hello, Mr. McAllister,” she purred in a low, husky voice, pouting comically in a spot on imitation of the heaving heroine on the book’s cover. “We weren’t expecting you. As I said, we are completely filled, but I’m sure we could find something for your little friend here.” She favored him with an exaggerated wink that caused her lethally mascara-ed lashes to stick together. The resultant contortions to get her eye open completely negated any flirtatious effect.
“Don’t get up, Vidalia,” Kassian said. “I know the way.”
“I think you have an admirer, McAllister,” Kat said once they were out of earshot.
“It’s a curse…sometimes I have to beat them off with a stick.” He smirked.
“Oh, brother!” Kat rolled her eyes and pulled her hand free to dig in her purse.
“What are you looking for?”
“A pen…I wanted to add modesty to the list of your virtues.”
Kassian burst out laughing and recaptured her hand. He planted a kiss on her knuckles that she felt all the way to her toes, and pulled her down the long hallway. He stopped in front of the last door on the left and rapped once before turning the knob and dragging her into the room behind him.
The tall brunette who stood from behind the desk when they entered could have walked straight out of every man’s fantasy. Long and lean in a designer wrap dress that hugged her ample curves in all of the right places, her dark, almond shaped eyes lit up at the sight of Kassian and her generous lips curved in a welcoming smile that revealed a set of perfectly matched white teeth. Kat felt at a distinct disadvantage in the grubby jeans and sweater she’d thrown on earlier. Kassian released her hand as Estelle came around the desk to embrace him.
“Darling! We don’t see you nearly often enough these days.” Kat didn’t miss the casual way the woman’s lacquered nails brushed across Kassian’s high, firm butt before she drew back from the embrace. It was an obvious and familiar gesture and it immediately set Kat’s teeth on edge. The woman’s curious gaze swept up and down Kat’s smaller form then dismissed her as completely inconsequential. Kat felt the initial flash of jealousy followed closely by complete disinterest.
“What brings you here to our little neck of the woods, Kassian?”
Kat was gratified to feel the annoyance swirling around Kassian. At least she knew he wasn’t any happier than she was about that less than subtle little sweep of Estelle’s hand. Estelle wore her sensuality like she wore her clothes, bright, bold, and obvious. Sure, it was probably appealing to men, but Kat found it generally didn’t go over really well with women. And it definitely wasn’t going over really well with her. Not when it was directed at Kassian. Kassian reached back to pull her up beside him, cupping his hand possessively around the nape of her neck under her hair, his long fingers discreetly massaging the tight knots that had begun to form there.
“Estelle, I’d like you to meet Katrina Shephard…Kat, this is Estelle Townsend. She’s the director of the shelter.”
“Nice to meet you, Estelle,” Kat bit out shortly.
“Oh, er…yes, nice to meet you too...Kitty, was it?” she returned her attention to Kassian. “My mistake, I’d rather thought that you were bringing her here for…oh, never mind…a misunderstanding.” She unleashed the full effect of her smile. Kat knew it was for her benefit as much as McAllister’s. She was willing to bet that Estelle was just being Estelle. It had probably never bothered Kassian before, but the increased pressure of his fingers on her neck indicated that it might be bothering him now. Kat’s smile was even bigger and brighter than Estelle’s at the thought.
“Actually, her name is Kat. And she’s with me,” Kassian returned amicably enough but in a tone that left no doubt as to his meaning.
“I see,” Estelle replied in a voice that was shade cooler. “So, what can I do for you, Kassian?”
“You’ve heard Rapier is in the area?”
Estelle’s perfect face was not as perfect when it screwed up in a little moue of distaste.
“Of course; bad news travels fast.”
“This last girl…any connections to us?”
“No, none. The one before her, though, the night of your party…that one was staying here, as you know. There was a younger brother, Brian. He’s still here. Can’t be more than seven or eight. He hasn’t spoken a word since it happened. I’m not sure he even realizes his sister is gone. I’ve tried reading him, but his thoughts are so scattered and so chaotic I can’t make any sense of them. We’ll have to alert Children and Youth soon…we haven’t been able to determine if there is any other family.”
Kassian nodded stiffly; Kat knew it was one more tragedy that Rapier would have to answer for.
“McAllister…” Kat began hesitantly. She remembered exactly how it felt to be left suddenly and irrevocably alone, and she’d had a few years on this poor child. “Could I see him? Maybe I could help?”
“You?” Estelle spat out doubtfully then reddened and snapped her lips together. Kassian’s glare could have melted glaciers. She quickly added in a friendlier tone. “Do you, uh, have experience with children?”
“Kat is an empath.”
Estelle’s cool gaze warmed with slightly more interest. “I see…how unusual. Well, at this point, anything is worth a try. No one here has been able to get through to him. Come this way.”
They followed the authoritative tap of her Manolo Blahniks to the elevator. Kassian’s soothing fingers never left Kat’s neck. She concentrated on the hypnotic rotation of his fingertips and gripped her locket tightly, like a talisman. She felt hope in this place, but such an undercurrent of despair that she had difficulty tuning it out. They got off at the second floor and followed Estelle down the hallway, past bright, cheerful rooms set up with multiple twin beds, dormitory style. Each bed had a small trunk at the foot; some covered with colorful blankets and children’s toys. At the end of the hall, Estelle stopped and gestured inside. A young boy sat alone on a bed near the window. He stared blankly into space and rocked slightly back and forth, humming quietly to himself. There were no blankets or toys piled on the trunk at the foot of his bed, and the bed linens were obviously those provided by the shelter. They observed him in silence for a few moments. He didn’t acknowledge their arrival.
“Could he be autistic?” Kassian said in a low voice.
“That’s the problem…we don’t know. They’d only arrived that morning and no one really noticed him until afterwards. The sister gave very little information on the intake form, and now that she’s gone...” Estelle shrugged.
Kat barely heard them. She was focused solely on the boy as she approached him cautiously. Fear and misery radiated from him in waves and Kat knew immediately that he wasn’t autistic; his rocking and humming were his way of blocking out the world, the way she sometimes used music and poetry when she was feeling overwhelmed. When she was about a foot away, she squatted down to his eye level. Then she lowered herself slowly and cautiously to sit cross-legged beside the bed, being careful not to startle him.
“Hi Brian…my name is Kat.” She fought to maintain a calm, neutral tone, as his anguish threatened to engulf her. He didn’t look at her, but he stopped humming, though the rocking continued. “I wondered if maybe I could talk to you for a little while? I guess things have been ki
nd of tough lately, huh? Some pretty scary stuff going on.”
The boy’s eyes flickered to her face, quickly, furtively, and then returned to the window. Well, at least she had his attention. She touched his mind, briefly, and got a private Technicolor show of horrors that no one should ever have to see, let alone a child. She blanched and swallowed hard, working to stay focused and not become overwhelmed by the pain. She hadn’t been able to hide her reaction and she felt it when Kassian’s mind touched and followed hers.
“Estelle, you didn’t tell me he’d witnessed the murder,” he whispered.
“We weren’t sure,” she replied quietly. “They went out together, but he returned alone. I guess he didn’t know where else to go. We didn’t know how much he’d seen or what he knew. That poor kid.”
“Brian,” Kat continued gently, tuning out their whispered exchange. “I know you’ve seen some awful things. There are very bad people in the world, and sometimes they do terrible things, but there are a lot of good people too, and they want to help you. What happened to your sister was an awful thing, but she’s safe now. No one can hurt her ever again. That’s why she brought you here…so you would be safe and cared for. Miss Townsend and the other nice people here can make sure that nothing bad ever happens to you again. They can find you a place where you’ll be safe and loved and no one can ever hurt you. Won’t you let us help you, Brian? It’s okay to be afraid and sad, but you’re safe now. I promise you that you’re safe.”
The tears were pouring down Kat’s pale face as she absorbed the young boy’s agony. She held up a hand as she saw Kassian moving toward her from the corner of her eye. The boy had stopped rocking and now stared directly at Kat. She’d knew she’d gotten through to him as the empty look left his eyes and they overflowed with tears. He reached out to touch Kat’s face with shaking hands.
“Lissy told me to stay here, but I didn’t…and then the man came and I knew he was a bad man…and …and then she told me to run away…so I hid…and he hurt her…he hurt her and even when she stopped screaming he kept hurting her.”
He gasped the words over deep gut-wrenching sobs and Kat wrapped her arms around herself and nearly doubled over from his pain. But as he finally got the words out, Kat simply opened her arms and he threw himself into them sobbing as though his heart would break. Through her own tears, Kat looked over his head toward the doorway. Estelle stood with a hand pressed to her mouth and a river of mascara running down her cheeks. Even Kassian’s eyes were moist and his jaw clenched as tightly as she’d ever seen it. She held the little boy and rocked him in her arms for what seemed like hours until they both were spent, his breath coming in strangled hiccoughs, and then she motioned Estelle into the room and introduced her to Brian.
“Brian, Miss Townsend is in charge here, and she is going to make sure that you’re safe and happy…and my friend, Mac, over there, he’s going to make sure that the man who hurt your sister is punished. You don’t have to be afraid anymore, do you understand?”
“What about…my dad? He’ll find me…he’ll make me go back,” he said nervously. Kat looked at Estelle and Kassian, who both nodded shortly. They understood one another completely. Estelle would make sure that the father’s rights were terminated one way or another. If not, Kassian would make sure that the father never got near this child again.
“He can’t hurt you anymore either, Brian. It’s over. None of it was your fault, do you hear me? None of it. Your sister made her own choice; you couldn’t stop her and you couldn’t save her. It wasn’t your fault.” As she said this, she looked over his head again at Kassian. Her words were as much for him as for the suffering little boy. She guided the child toward Estelle in her designer duds, who to her credit, did not shrink away and wrapped her arms around the shaking child.
Kassian crossed the room in two strides and swept Kat from the floor and into his arms. Her whole body trembled from the strain and exhaustion weighed her down to the point of near collapse. She wasn’t sure her legs would hold her, but she felt like an idiot being held like a child while Estelle looked on with interest.
“Kassian, put me down, I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine.”
“Okay, I’m not fine, but I feel like a fool so put me down. You can hold me up if it will make you feel like a hero.”
Kassian smiled and lowered her feet to the floor. But he was right, she wasn’t fine, at least not yet, and hero that he was he held her upright on her feet as she leaned against him with an arm wrapped around his waist.
“Why don’t you take Miss Shephard back down to my office? There’s coffee there, or some tea if you’d rather…and there’s a fridge with cold drinks, too. And if I’m not mistaken, there might be a package of cookies hidden somewhere. Please help yourselves. You look like you could use something.” The smile she gave Kat was far more genuine this time. “I’m going to talk with Brian for a few minutes and then I’ll join you.”
“Thank you, Estelle.” Kat smiled tiredly. “And please call me Kat. I vastly prefer that to either Miss Shephard or Kitty.” Estelle colored immediately, and Kat gave her a quick wink to let her know that there were no hard feelings. Anyone who could overlook a child rubbing tears and snot all over her five hundred dollar silk dress couldn’t be all bad.
****
“C’mon, baby, drink this,” Kassian coaxed gently, pouring hot tea heavily laced with sugar down her throat. Kat nearly gagged. Between the sickening sweetness and the scalding temperature, his attempts at playing nursemaid were painful.
“McAllister, I know you are trying to be helpful, but could you please stop before you kill me?” she laughed, sucking in cool air to soothe her burnt tongue. He fussed around her like an old maid and given his massive size and his usual macho-er-than-thou attitude, it was almost comical. He handed her a half a bag of peanut M&Ms that he’d found tucked behind the coffee filters in the small cabinet, remembering that she liked them, and plopped down beside her hauling her possessively against his side. She felt remarkably better, but Kat wasn’t complaining about the close contact. Knowing what Rapier was capable of was bad enough, but it couldn’t begin to compare to reliving the actual murder through Brian’s eyes. So that was Rapier, Jack the Ripper, the Whitechapel murderer. She wished Brian’s memories of Rapier were clearer; he’d naturally been more absorbed in his sister. It would have been nice to be able to put a face to her threat. The experience had shaken her deeply, leaving her feeling drained and vulnerable.
“You were amazing in there.” He pressed his lips to her temple.
“Kassian, isn’t there anything you can do for him? Erase his memory or something? I remember Dimitri saying something about erasing a girl’s memory before bringing her to Estelle. Ordinarily I’d never condone such a thing, but I’m not sure that this child will ever heal with the trauma he’s carrying around in his head.”
He shook his head slowly. “Not completely, too much time has passed. I may be able to soften the worst of it, though.”
“Then do it…do whatever you can. No child should have to live with that if we can help it,” Kat responded wearily. “You know, I think that this might be the first time that I actually felt like what I can do might be a gift instead of a curse. Up until now it never seemed like it was good for much of anything beyond causing me misery.” She shook the last few candies into her mouth and crunched contentedly. “I guess I owe Estelle a bag of these.”
“Maybe you’d consider it payment in full?” Estelle breezed in with a smile. “It’s the least I can do.”
“Fair enough,” Kat smiled back.
“You wouldn’t be interested in volunteering down here once in a while, would you? We get some really tough cases, especially the kids. I think they would benefit from your…er, talents,” Estelle smiled hopefully.
“Not a chance in hell, Estelle,” Kassian answered for her before she was able to formulate a response.
“Um, hey look at me, over here.” Kat waved a hand in t
he air. “Last time I checked, I can still speak for myself.”
Kassian’s brows drew together in a dark frown.
“We’ll talk about it later,” he pronounced.
“There isn’t anything to talk about,” she returned. “I’ll give you a call, Estelle, and we’ll set something up?”
Estelle’s eyes didn’t leave Kassian’s face. His expression said he wouldn’t be happy if she took Kat up on the offer.
“That would be fine. But, please don’t feel obligated if you change your mind. I’ll understand completely.”
“We should get going. Galen or Dimitri will be outside during the night if there are any problems, and you know how to get hold of me.” Kassian pulled Kat to her feet and kept an arm securely around her shoulders. Estelle rose, as well, and moved around the desk offering Kat her hand.
Kat took Estelle’s manicured fingers in her own. “Seriously, call me. I’d really like to help.” Estelle simply smiled and looked to Kassian who shook his head. Kat elbowed him and frowned.
“We’ll discuss it later,” he said to Kat.
“There’s nothing to discuss, McAllister.” Kat smiled tightly. “I’m perfectly capable of making my own decisions.”
****
Kassian forked a hand through his hair in frustration. She must have missed the part in his little speech earlier about his being stubborn, arrogant, and liking his own way. He would never let her risk herself like that again. He was glad she’d been able to help the child, but he was not about to let her put herself through that on a regular basis for anyone. It had taken everything he had to stand back and let her do it this one time. He knew what it cost her to open herself up and absorb all of those negative emotions. He had been so tempted to put her out to spare her the pain as he had at the party. She was lucky that she had him to take care of her. She didn’t even realize how draining it had been for her.
Kassian had always assumed that if he ever found a woman to share his life, she would be obedient and biddable; well, at least that’s what he thought when he bothered to think of it at all. It hadn’t been his priority in more years than he cared to remember. He spared a fond thought for his empty but fairly mundane former life, pre-Kat, where he was in charge and there were few surprises. Maybe boredom hadn’t been such a bad thing, after all. Battle, anger, remorse, there was a predictable flow and consistency; he knew precisely what to expect every day. Maybe he was too old for this.
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