Highland Sorcerer by Clover Autrey Read Free Book Online Page A

dropped his wrist. Geez, he was
stubborn. She grinned. Bet he gave Aldreth just as difficult a
time. Good. The thought of the witch and what she'd done to Toren
made her shiver.
    Charity got up quickly, keeping a
tendril of magical touch flowing between them. They didn't have
much more time. She needed to tell Toren what she had come back to
this moment in time for, and although she couldn't heal him, she
could give help in another way.
    "Soup," she announced, grabbing the
chenille throw off the back of her couch and draping it around
Toren.
    A dark eyebrow quirked up as he watched
her movements.
    She grabbed a can of chicken noodle and
shoved it under the electric can opener. Though trying to feign
indifference, he stretched his neck, trying to see what was making
the humming noise on the counter. Big bad torture device, also good
for opening cans of soup.
    Dumping the contents into a plastic
bowl, she set it in the microwave. Toren's eyes widened. Charity
leaned back against the counter to study him. If she squinted just
right, she could barely make out a ripple in the air of the magical
link she still had woven between them. She wasn’t about to release
it and so far he hadn’t made any attempt to unravel it. Probably
because he knew he could do so whenever he wanted. He’d undoubtedly
already sensed the pathetic amount of her magical prowess and knew
she wasn’t any kind of match for his strength.
    She smiled, trying to seem
nonthreatening so he wouldn’t feel the need to yank his magic away
from her slight touch. That would be a disaster and so far, this
wasn't going as planned anyway.
    She took a deep breath. "We have
minutes left maybe, so just hear me out."
    Toren’s hands clenched. Great. He was
being stubborn.
    "We've done this before. Well, not
exactly, this. I'm changing things even telling you this. Last time
I healed you."
    "Last time." Toren's eyes narrowed. So
far so good. He at least seemed to take that in stride. "Ah. But ye
won't do so now. Aldreth has gotten to you as she did all the
Healer Enchantresses of my time so ye've traveled back to undo what
ye have already done." He nodded as though fitting all the pieces
together.
    Charity's heart ached for him. "Is that
why you traveled so far through time?"
    Toren picked at the chenille blanket.
"Aldreth threatened any healers and their kin who dared aid me. I'd
hoped to find someone beyond her reach." He shrugged. "I was
mistaken. Forgive me for whatever harm my rash action coming here
has brought to ye and yer kin."
    The microwave dinged and they both
flinched. Flustered, Charity spun around to get the soup and a
spoon, and then brought it to Toren, sitting on the floor next to
him.
    He eyed it and her warily.
    She huffed. "It's just soup." She ate a
spoonful herself and dipped the spoon back in. "I can't heal you,
but I can at least give you some nourishment. Please. You’ll need
it. We don't have much longer."
    His Adam's apple bobbed and Toren took
the offered spoon, his hand closing over hers and a jolt of
electricity charged through them, raising the tiny hairs of their
arms. They stared at each other across the plastic bowl of chicken
noodle.
    Toren let go and shifted back.
"Mistress, I…"
    "Don't. Toren, this has happened
before. I healed you before and… " She fluttered her fingers in the
air and he reached out and stopped her. Then jolted, his brows
creasing together. Remembering? No. How could he remember something
that for him never happened?
    His eyes bore through her, examining,
looking for the trap that lay somewhere within his
suspicions.
    The tiny lines between his eyebrows
deepened. "Then why will ye not—"
    Setting the bowl on the floor, Charity
grabbed his forearms. "Because I'm going to save you. Trust in
that."
    He shook his head. "Nay. How can ye?
Aldreth, she—" He groaned. A tremor rolled through him and he
flickered.
    It was happening. Aldreth was pulling
him back through the open rift he’d created. Damn she wished