The Illegitimate Claim (36 page)

breasts against his chest. The feel of her, the smell of her, the taste of her when he’d

gently kissed her pouting lips while she slept, all of it made it impossible for him to stay

asleep.

So he had slipped out of bed without waking her, and showered before heading

back out to assist with the search. Now an hour later, he worked to stay focused so he

could think clearly.

“The cottage is heavily guarded. Leave these men here to continue their search and

let’s get these women out of here.”

Gilroy nodded then turned to the two women.

“Lord Andru, I really don’t want to be kept with her anymore. Could you arrange

for her to be put somewhere else?” Sharay wrapped her fingers around Andru’s large

biceps.

He looked down at her manicured fingernails as they touched his bare skin. His

senses were still on red alert from Meah. He didn’t have time to respond before the

other Neurian woman spoke up.

“Could you think about someone besides yourself for a change, Sharay?” Paleah

rolled her eyes in disgust. “Is it so awful to spend time with your half-sister?”

“You’re a bastard and a whore.” Sharay’s look was venomous but her tone

remained civil and calm. “I have my reputation to consider.”

Paleah laughed under her breath. “The only difference between our reputations,

sister, is that you require being wined and dined before you’ll fuck a man and I simply

take the cash.”

“There is no comparison between you and me.” Sharay tossed her head and moved

closer to Andru. “Your mama was a lousy slut and so are you.”

“How dare you,” Paleah screamed, as she lunged at Sharay, who quickly scurried

to the other side of Andru.

Paleah just about had the woman by the hair when Gilroy reached down and

grabbed her by the neck before picking her up—with her legs and arms flapping

wildly—and half pushed, half threw her toward his glider.

“That’s the kind of treatment you’re used to, isn’t it?” Sharay smiled wickedly as

she peeked around Andru at Paleah who struggled to get to her feet.

“That’s enough,” Andru said sternly, as he pulled away from Sharay, trying to hide

his disgust while fighting the urge to send her flying as well. He looked up at Gilroy.

“You take that one, and I’ll take this one. Let’s head to the cottage.”

141

Lorie O’Clare

Meah rolled over in the bed, and reached for Andru. He wasn’t there. She opened

her eyes, and sat up so quickly her head began to spin. She ignored it, and forced

herself to climb out of the bed.

“What time is it?” she asked after she wandered into the hall and found one of the

Gothman servant girls.

“Would my lady want a bath now?” The servant girl stopped in her tracks, and

eyed Meah from head to toe.

“What I want is to know what time it is,” Meah snapped.

The servant girl glared at her then shrugged. “It’ll be supper time soon. You slept

most of the day away, you did. And I daresay you need a bath, or his lord won’t want

you when he comes back.”

“I don’t care what his lord wants,” Meah snapped, and shoved her tangled hair

from her face.

One of the doors at the end of the hallway opened then and Ana appeared in a long

silky bathrobe with wet curls hanging down her back. The young servant turned

quickly at the sound of her mistress.

“Don’t you have chores to finish?” Ana spoke quietly to the girl who looked from

Ana to Meah, before tossing her auburn locks and marching to the staircase.

Ana walked up to Meah and stroked her tangled mane. “A bath probably wouldn’t

hurt,” she said with a smile.

Meah grinned in spite of herself, and allowed herself a moment to study the many

ringlets that fell over Ana’s front and down her back.

“I guess I’ve never seen your hair wet before,” she said when she realized she’d

been staring.

Ana guided Meah back to the guest room and then checked the bathroom to make

sure there were towels and toiletries. When Meah had showered and put on the clean

Runner outfit that sat folded on the bureau, she joined Ana downstairs and welcomed

the hot cup of coffee offered to her.

“Have you talked to anyone? Have they found Tory?” Meah asked as she braided

her wet hair.

“No, they haven’t.” Ana put her hand on Meah’s arm. “But Mama says they just

found Paleah and Sharay and are taking them to the cottage. I figured we’d start there.”

Meah nodded and finished off the coffee then grabbed an apple from the bowl on

the counter before following Ana out the door. She needed to eat…needed to keep her

strength up…needed to find her son. The children were playing in the backyard with

the nanny and about ten Gothman warriors scattered around the edge of the yard

keeping watch. Meah was overwhelmed when Tia noticed them and then ran straight

up to Ana.

142

The Illegitimate Claim

“Aunt Ana,” she whispered shyly when her aunt picked her up. She reached for

Meah, but turned to face her aunt when she was in her mama’s arms. “You’re going to

go get Tory now?”

“Your papa is out looking for him right now. He’ll be home soon.” Ana stroked the

child’s head and smiled.

Tia smiled too then hugged her mama’s neck, before agreeing to be put down so the

women could join their troops.

The cottage swarmed with Runners and Gothman when the women arrived. A

large Gothman gestured for them to park their gliders in a designated area and from

there they walked through the warriors until they spotted Tara.

“You both look much better.” Tara’s smile was strained. “I just spoke with Darius.

He should be arriving any minute and Andru and Gilroy are on their way here from

Taratown.”

“Good. Our timing is perfect.” Ana smiled then glanced at Meah’s brooding

expression. “How far has our search gone for Tory?”

“We’ve scoured Bryton, Taratown, and the Blood Circle clan,” Tara said and also

looked at Meah.

“They must be moving him around.” Meah glanced from one woman to the other.

“I’ve thought of that. The Neurian women said they were taken to the shack where

we found them this morning and that’s when they were separated from Tory.”

“So he’s all right?” The smallest glint of hope appeared in Meah’s blue-green eyes.

“He was this morning.” Tara smiled and then patted Meah’s arm. “They won’t hurt

him. You know Rog better than I do and I’m comfortable with the fact that they are

simply trying to make a point.”

“I know Rog and I wouldn’t have thought him capable of this. I couldn’t tell you

what he’s going to do next. Has anyone talked to Gowsky?”

“We urged him to speak to the Neurians this morning and encourage them to stop

these antics. If they don’t, it wouldn’t be hard to annihilate that entire campsite.” Tara’s

tone was serious.

“Has anyone said that to Rog?” Meah barely had the question out when Ana

pointed toward the sky and Meah and Tara turned to see a group of gliders

approaching.

“Who’s with them?” Ana held her hand over her eyes to block the morning sun.

“Now keep your tempers cool and don’t go jumping to conclusions,” Tara said

quickly when the men were close enough to tell who their passengers were.

Meah wanted to turn and run but she knew her place was by Ana. It made sense

that Andru was concerned to have Sharay back since he planned to claim her. She

couldn’t hide her scowl though, when the Neurian woman reached for Andru’s hand

and he lifted her from the glider.

143

Lorie O’Clare

“I could use a few more servants,” Meah heard Sharay say, as she walked next to

Andru. “And you aren’t going to make that bastard whore stay with me, are you?”

Meah didn’t realize her fists were clenched until she felt pain from her fingernails

digging into her hands. She folded her arms across her chest and looked from Andru to

Ana. The heir to the Runners also frowned, and was staring at her brother as he walked

past them. Oh, what she wouldn’t do to know what Andru was thinking at that

moment.

“Go inside. We’ll discuss it later,” she heard Andru say.

There was no way she’d turn around and look at him, her pride stung too deep.

Meah didn’t realize Darius stood behind her until Andru started talking to him. She

couldn’t just turn around and listen to their conversation so she continued to focus on

Ana and pretend the men weren’t behind her.

Ana faced them with her arms crossed, and after staring her brother down she

turned her attention to Gilroy. He didn’t help Paleah off the glider. She jumped off by

herself, and when she noticed Meah, she walked straight to her with her head down.

Gilroy followed a few paces behind and appeared to be talking to someone on his

comm.

“Meah, I’m so sorry. I can’t believe this happened. Is Tia okay?” Her singsong

accent quavered as the girl did a bad job of controlling her emotions. “I know I don’t

know a lot about children, but I really was trying to keep a close eye on them.”

“It isn’t your fault,” Meah said quietly, and with that Paleah burst into tears.

“No one’s ever given me that kind of chance before, you know, to do a different

job.” Paleah wiped her eyes, and glanced at Ana and Tara who were both looking at

her. “I really made a mess of things. Are you going to send me back to Semore?”

Her last question almost got stuck in her throat as a new group of tears fell down

her cheeks. Meah found herself pulling the girl into her arms.

“I can’t answer that question.” She held Paleah and tried to soothe her. “I don’t

make those decisions. You should go inside and wash yourself up.”

“Sharay doesn’t want me around her.” Paleah pulled away from Meah and smeared

tears across her cheeks.

“Then go sit right next to her,” Meah grumbled close to her ear.

Ana heard her and snickered and Paleah smiled knowingly.

“Anything for you,” Paleah said, and hurried off toward the cabin.

“Ana, you need to be home with the children.” Gilroy’s baritone order turned all