A Conquest Like No Other by Emma Anderson Read Free Book Online

from epilepsy. Nothing as bad as Emily’s, but I think
you might need to see a doctor yourself.”
    “No, Nikki, you don’t understand.
I never had epilepsy, and neither does Emily.”
    “Excuse me?” she asked, shocked
at that revelation. Her gaze passed between Emily, who had gone back to
watching television, and Charli. The woman was currently staring intently at
her hands.
    “Look, could you please shut the
door, and I’ll explain it all to you,” Charli requested, her violet gaze now
turned back onto Nikki. Her eyes begged for understanding. “But I’m trusting
you with this information. If the word gets out about us, both Emily and I will
be in danger from our father.”
    “Hold on a minute, your father , but I thought Emily was
your daughter,” Nikki challenged.
    For the first time since meeting
them both she examined their features more closely. Emily’s blonde, curly hair
seemed to oppose Charli’s black, straight strands. They both had large eyes but
of differing color. Their differences were obvious, though not enough to
challenge either Nikki’s previous belief or Charli’s latest claims. Nikki
conceded that both her curiosity and her fondness of both Charli and Emily had
her desiring more information.
    “Please, just shut the door, and
I’ll explain.”
    She took a quick glance at her
watch before saying, “Look, I have to go and do hand over now, but I promise
you I’ll return before heading home.”
    “Please, remember what I said
about the danger you would be placing us in if you tell anyone. And if you
choose not to return, I’ll understand, but please remember what I said about
the man in your house before you think about going home. He means you harm.”
    Less than twenty minutes later,
Nikki returned to Emily’s tiny hospital room. The size felt almost oppressive
as she entered. Emily had been placed in a single room to protect the other
children from the sight of her seizures. Now it would seem that it would also
be protecting Emily and Charli’s secret. Something told her that what was about
to be shared with her was larger than the tiny room would be able to handle.
    Shutting the door, she moved to
sit in the other chair provided and asked, “So what’s going on, Charli?”
    “I’m psychic. A clairvoyant, if
you were.”
    “What’s that got to do with your
father or the danger he poses?” Nikki asked, not surprised that such people
really existed.
    “My grandmother was also psychic.
But it seemed to have skipped my father. When I started showing signs of
inheriting the family gift, my mother moved us away from him. It turned out
that he wanted to use my gift to help his boss, a local bookie and cousin to a
mafia boss. He planned on using my ability to alter the odds according to what
I saw or felt,” Charli explained. “Anyway, when Mum died, I was placed in his
care, and immediately he forced me to use my gift. He was a very abusive man. I
was just lucky to have a teacher who believed in my ability with computers. He
helped me get a scholarship to college on the other side of the country, away
from my father. Unfortunately, by that time he met another woman and it wasn’t
long before he knocked her up. When Emily started to show the same signs as me,
my father became interested in her. Emily’s mother fought to protect her but
ended up losing her life. I had known something bad was about to happen, but I
was snowed in at the airport. Anyway to make a long story short, my father was
found guilty of Emily’s mother’s murder, and I was granted full custody of
Emily. We have been moving around ever since, trying to stay one step ahead of
my father’s associates.”
    “What does this all have to do
with your seizures?”
    “The best answer I have come up
with is that the seizures I experienced as a child and Emily is now suffering
are the brain’s way of dealing with the excess of information that we are
bombarded with. As a nurse you would know that our brains