Worlds Apart (35 page)

Tina heard his voice trail off and
realized that he was getting tired. She gave him a final squeeze
and stood, handing his cane to him.

“Let’s go back to your room.
You’ve been out here long enough.” She glanced at her stomach while
they walked. “I can see your aura, but I can’t see the baby’s. Why
is that?”

“No one can see their own aura,”
he said. “At least, not without a lot of training. During
pregnancy, the baby is part of the mother, so you can’t see the
aura.”

“Does it… look like yours?” she
asked, hoping he wasn’t offended. “Everyone tells me they can tell
he’s a werewolf by his aura.”

Clive stopped and turned to look
down at her belly. “He has the swirling dark aura you see around
me. The dark is interspersed with emerald and orange, colors which
are strong in your own aura.”

Tears burned Tina’s eyes.
Blinking, she glanced up at Clive, seeing her anguish mirrored in
his expression. She felt a little better when he squeezed her
hand.

“You’ll heal him,” he assured her.
“You and Shandari will find a way. I truly believe
that.”

“I can’t imagine what life will be
like for him if we don’t. Is it painful when you
change?”

“At first, yes,” he said
reluctantly.

“Can a baby survive
it?”

“I don’t know, Tina.” His hand
tightened on hers. His eyes were hollow with regret.

They heard someone clearing their
throat and looked up. Shandari stood in the doorway, her face
reflecting the pain she felt from them.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” she
said, coming toward them. “Kasia is here with Sensa Raison. They
wish to speak with both of you.”

“Who is Sensa Raison?” Tina looked
from Clive to Shandari, puzzled.

“Kasia’s boss,” Clive said. “He’s
also a council member.”

“Which means…?”

“Council members act as judges and
lawmakers within their regions,” Shandari explained. “They are
appointed for life.”

“What do they want with me?” Tina
asked, gripping Clive’s hand.

Shandari started to speak, but
Clive held up a hand. He turned to Tina. “It was the Council’s
ruling that forbids my returning to your world. Beyond that, you
must realize they have an interest in you and our baby. And a
responsibility as well.”

“To whom?”

“The people of Kaarmanesh,”
Shandari said, and Tina blinked at the authority of her
tone.

“You mean they might decide my
baby is dangerous, an animal not worth treating as human? The way
they let werewolves be treated?” Her voice was louder by the time
she finished.

Clive and Shandari were both
silent. Tina waited, breathing hard. When Shandari spoke, her voice
was kind.

“I think you’ll find they are
quite reasonable. Sensa Raison holds Clive in high regard. Please,
Tina, remember that Kasia is your friend and Clive’s as well. Come
see what they have to say.”

But she won’t go out to dinner
with him,
Tina thought, her bitterness still high.
Neither
will you.
Clive’s stiff posture made her realize that her
protests were just making it worse. She nodded and stuck close to
Clive as they walked with Shandari to his room.

Unlike a typical hospital room, it
contained a small sofa and table, as well as a desk and chair. The
bed was large enough for two, and made up with a white
comforter.

Kasia stood in front of the sofa,
next to a man so odd-looking that Tina wasn’t sure if he was a man.
Kasia introduced him as her boss, Sensa Raison. He was tall and
thin, with long white hair tucked behind furry, pointed ears. His
nose looked human enough, but his eyes were large and oval, with
long, thick lashes.

Like a goat’s,
Tina
thought, which was when she noticed that his legs ended in hoofs.
She didn’t dare look for a tail.

“I’m happy to meet you, Dr.
Cassidy,” he said, taking her hand and bowing forward. He sounded
respectful, but she saw a lively curiosity in his eyes. Despite her
nervousness, she had a feeling she would like him.

He turned to Clive and gripped his
shoulders, looking with earnest affection into his eyes. “You have
exceeded all my expectations, Officer Winslow, by returning to us
alive. I am delighted to say so.”

“Thank you, sir. I’m happy to
oblige,” Clive replied, dipping his head forward.

“My news affects you both. The
Council has been in session, taking up my appeal to their ruling
restricting the duties of Portal Enforcement employees.” Raison
folded his hands together at his waist. “I’m happy to report the
new ruling is in our favor. I really had no doubt about it, as the
Council is forbidden by law to interfere in departmental
operations. Still, it was necessary for the formalities to be
met.”

Next to Tina, Clive breathed a
sigh. Kasia, standing behind Raison, watched Clive with a satisfied
smile that looked almost smug.

“So Clive gets to keep his job?”
Tina asked.

“If he wants it,” Raison said.
“However, Kasia and I have been discussing a new position for him,
which I’d like to offer for your consideration.”

“What position is that?” Clive
asked warily.

Raison deferred to Kasia, who
seemed about to burst with the news.

“Keeper,” she announced. She
continued as Clive’s jaw dropped. “We want you to be the new Keeper
at Green Roads.”

Tina heard Shandari gasp behind
her. Clive seemed incapable of saying anything. Tina grabbed
Clive’s hand. “You mean to live there?” she asked excitedly. “Like
Mr. Ruth? He’ll be there all the time?”

Raison grinned at her, while Kasia
nodded and laughed at each question. Then Raison held up a finger,
serious again as he looked at Clive.

“You will, of course, have to
return to Kaarmanesh for each full moon, probably for three full
days on either side of it. We’ll work out the details later. For
now, the Council wants to nudge society toward a more tolerant view
of werewolves. They hope that placing you in the position of Keeper
will send a strong message to the people that we believe you to be
an honorable person. We hope that this, along with the news of a
possible cure, will help us loosen the restrictions werewolves
face.”

Raison placed a hand on Clive’s
and Tina’s shoulders, his gaze earnest. “The two of you need to
talk about this. You both must be in agreement, as Clive’s
permanent presence in Green Roads will greatly affect your
relationship. Take your time to decide. Shandari says you’ll need
at least a week to heal. Kasia has a roster of temporary Keepers in
place at the moment.”

He glanced at Kasia and jerked his
head to the door. Kasia winked at them as she followed him
out.

Clive sank onto the sofa, running
a hand over his face. Tina noted that he was looking pale. He
stared ahead at nothing. She sat next to him and took his hand in
hers, counting his pulse. It was faster than normal, but not
dangerously so.

“I’ll leave you two alone,”
Shandari said, touching Clive’s shoulder. “This is amazing news.
Don’t try to assimilate it all at once.” Shandari waited a moment
more. Tina saw the spark in her eyes that revealed she was healing.
When Clive sat up straighter and nodded, Shandari smiled and
stepped toward the door.

“I’ll send up some food for you
both. Tina, see to it that Clive rests afterward.” She turned to
regard Tina with a slight frown. “You rest, too.”

“I will.” Tina gripped Clive’s
hand as she said it.

The door closed behind Shandari.
Tina stared at the floor, too nervous to look at Clive. He held her
hand but didn’t say anything. Was he waiting for her to speak? She
couldn’t find the courage to ask.

“I never imagined such a
possibility.” He spoke in a gruff whisper as he gently stroked her
fingers. “It’s the perfect answer, if…” He turned toward her and
she lifted her head to meet his gaze. His eyes were wide with hope
and fear. “Do you want me there, Tina? Or is it too much, too
soon?”

She clasped both hands around his.
“I wondered the same thing about you. I do want you there, Clive.
I’d stay here with you if I had to, but I’d much rather stay in
Green Roads. I want to be with you, wherever that is.”

He claimed her lips, his kiss
rough and desperate.

His kiss banished the last of her
doubt. Her own passion flared in response, and she swung onto his
lap to straddle him, prolonging the kiss as she rubbed against him.
He gripped her bottom, keeping her close.

She raised her head to gaze into
his eyes, amazed at the love and hope she saw there. If she did
nothing else for the rest of her life, providing such joy to this
man would be enough.

His lips moved into a slow smile.
He lifted a hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, his thumb
caressing her cheek. “Then I will be there with you.” His smile
turned into a chuckle of wonder. “I can’t believe this is
happening.”

“You keep saying that,” she
teased.

“I’ll probably say it a lot more.
It’s going to take a while to get used to it.”

“
We’ll get used to it together.”
She brushed a kiss on his forehead, then sought his lips again,
teasing him with her tongue as her hands dropped to his
belt.

He stopped the kiss and grabbed
her hands. His brows lowered in stern rebuke as he glared at her.
“I am
not
spanking a pregnant woman. Don’t even
ask.”

She laughed, surprised at his
vehemence. “Okay, I can’t argue with that. I won’t always be
pregnant, though.”

His lips twitched. “No, you
won’t.”

She heard the promise in his voice
and lifted his hands to kiss them. “I think it will be a while
before I’m ready for rough treatment, anyway,” she said, realizing
it was true even as she said it. “This is a time for
TLC.”

“TLC?”

“Tender, loving, care.”

“Ah. Like this?” He cupped her
face in his hands and pressed a kiss to her lips. It was indeed
tender and he took his time with it, his soft lips and tongue
sending shivers through her body and claiming her complete
attention.

He ended the kiss and waited, his
lips a feather’s width away from hers.

She remembered he had asked a
question. “Yes. Like that,” she said. Her voice was shaky. It
occurred to her that they didn’t need to rush anything. All their
future days offered opportunity to explore their love.

He seemed to have the same
thought, for he lifted her from his lap to sit at his side again.
He held her close and watched her with gentle regard before
speaking with some hesitation.

“I want you to know… that first
morning, when you asked me to stay… I wanted to say yes. I wanted
it more than anything in my life.”

He let go of her and moved his
hands to his lap, his face serious as he watched her. She almost
gave in to an impulse to brush off his apology and assure him that
she understood. She did understand, but something in his eyes kept
her silent. He needed to say this. Perhaps she needed to hear
it.

“
After I left, I thought about you
all the time,” he continued. “Everything I did or said, everything
I learned about the investigation… my first thoughts were of you. I
made up a hundred fantasies of how I could go back, how I could
work it out.

“
I knew it was foolish. The only
way I could stay with you was if I lied to you about who I am.
About what I am.” His eyes narrowed as he shook his head. “I
couldn’t do that. But I wanted to come back to you. Please believe
me.”

“I do believe you. We can do this,
Clive. We can live in Green Roads. You watch the portal and I’ll
practice medicine. We’ll work with Shandari to find the
cure.”

Clive lifted her hands to his lips
and her heart swelled with confidence as he nodded. “We’ll find
it,” he said. “With both magic and medicine at our disposal, we’ll
find it.”

Tina took a long, deep breath,
letting his words fill her. She realized that this was part of how
the magic worked. She could see it between them, an ethereal
blueprint of their hopes.

Magic.

She didn’t know what to make of
this new ability to see the magical dimension, but her medical
training also allowed her to see the science behind the spell.
Shandari would have to explain this as well.

Tina blinked and the spell left
her sight, although she knew it was still there. She smiled into
Clive’s warm golden eyes and leaned fosrward to lose herself again
in his kiss.

About the Author

Born in Tucson, Arizona, Marlene
Dotterer lived there until the day she loaded her five children
into her station wagon, and drove north-west to the San Francisco
Bay Area. Since then, she has earned a degree in geology, worked in
nuclear waste, run her own business as a personal chef, and now
teaches natural childbirth classes. She says she writes, “to
silence the voices,” obsessed with the possibilities of other
worlds and other times.