Part 21 (1/2)

”Not that. There are other things. I have to brief you on what to expect in my

time and who the players are. It will be a crash course on Dalwyn's court, but it must be done if you are to help yourself stay afloat. I probably should have done this sooner.”

She felt the tremors run through her. It was finally happening. It's all a fairy tale like the ones Mummy told you. Blink hard once or twice and you'll find yourself waking up in your hammock, all this a nasty dream. If she were anywhere else, she might have convinced herself that was true. But when she looked at Archer... she knew. She knew she'd always known. Somewhere. Somehow. And she still wasn't ready.

”The dogs won't wait. So you're going to have to.” She went to push past him, but he stopped her with his hand on her arm. There was such solid strength, such conviction in his touch, she didn't know whether to shrink from it... or lean into it. Things were going to change, she'd known it, felt it. Archer was the one constant. The one thing she knew she could count on. The one person she could trust.

That thought alone should have sent her screaming into the house, behind any number of locked doors. Instead she looked into his eyes. Eyes that held hers with reliably steady strength. Eyes that looked at her and saw her for who she really was... and didn't turn away. Eyes that often looked at her with frustration and irritation, as well as desire. How had she come to trust him? Maybe it was because there was so much at stake for him, too, she knew he'd never risk failure. But that wasn't it. What she really thought was foolish. And dangerous. What she really thought was that he'd keep her safe because somewhere in that mercenary heart of his, he cared for her. She'd seen it in that moment he'd come out of the woods.

She blinked at a sudden moisture in her eyes, wis.h.i.+ng she could laugh instead. Because it really was a ridiculous notion. ”I know we have to deal with this. Please just let me handle the dogs and get Stella done and out of here. Surely we can wait that long.”

He finally bent somewhat and nodded curtly. ”By full dark, no later. And you

don't leave my sight.”

She wanted to argue, if for no other reason than it would give her a vent for all the screaming tension and fear building inside her. But time was moving on and she wasn't. So she nodded and went to work.

True to his word, for the next two and a half hours Archer never let her out of his sight, to the point where she swore his gaze alone felt like physical contact.

But then it had always been that way around him. She'd thought the presence of the animals and Stella would act like a s.h.i.+eld of sorts, but of course they hadn't.

In all honesty, as much as she dreaded what was to come later tonight, right now she was thankful for all his hovering. She might have been able to ignore the threat Jimmy had been to her... but there was no denying or forgetting the look in Anteri's eyes as he'd lunged for her. The idea that Anteri had been stalking her at the fair while she'd been blithely finding homes for her animals... She didn't want to think about what could have happened if Archer hadn't acted so quickly.

”They're all tucked in for the night,” Stella announced, coming around the

corner. ”I checked the water and put the horses in.”

Talia nodded. She finished administering medication to one of the strays she was still working with, then handed a tube of ointment to Stella. ”Put this on the little spot where we had to pull the hair off that pom mix, okay?”

Stella's eyes lit up. ”Sure.” Then a furrow creased her brow and Talia knew

she was working up her courage.

Not up to dealing with this tonight, she cut her off before she could speak. ”I know how you feel about the little guy, Stella. But we'll talk about it later.

Okay?”

Stella's face threatened to split from the force of her grin. An instant later Talia was enveloped in a hug. ”You won't be sorry, Talia, I promise.”

”Awful sure of yourself, aren't you?” she said, but there was no censure in it.

Stella beamed. ”I'm meant for him, Tal. And he for me. You know how

sometimes you just know it?”

Talia's smile faltered as Archer came into view at the far end of the kennel.

Ringer came to sit beside his feet. A man and his dog. If only it were that simple.

”Yeah, I know,” she said quietly. ”Go on home and get some good rest.

Tomorrow's going to be busy.” This last she said with her eye on Archer.

Somehow she had to convince him to let her stay another couple days. She had to see these guys safely away from here. Stella and her two part-time employees could deal with the horses and hold down the fort for the rest. She refused to think about the strays that could be turned away in her absence.

G.o.d, she thought. Was she really going to go? It wasn't as if she were going on a brief weekend jaunt to the sh.o.r.e, either. She couldn't truly wrap her mind around it. She smiled at Stella who nuzzled the sleepy little pom before shutting him back in his run for the night. ”Good night, Stella.”

She smiled, her eyes dreamy. ”Night, Talia. And thank you so much. You won't be sorry.”

”Tomorrow,” Talia said. ”We'll talk tomorrow.”

And then she was alone with Archer and wondering why she'd been in such a hurry to see her young employee go. She walked to the kennel door that Stella had just floated through and scratched Ringer's scruffy head while Archer made sure it was locked and secure for the night.

”Now what?” she asked, knowing she sounded a bit snakey, as he would say.

”We talk. Care for a walk?”