In the next moment his arms were around her and he was gathering her against the broadness of his chest, wrapping his warmth and strength around her.
“I do not regret what the All Mother granted me.” His rumble was like fierce thunder. “I am grateful for what I have had even if it is fated I must lose you to another. Every moment with you has been precious. I know you were never truly mine at all, little one . . .” His voice caught. “But I will always be yours.”
He cradled her, her cheek pressed against his chest; she could feel the strong beat of his heart. She could almost feel that other—so very precious—heart, a half a galaxy away, beating too . . .
“Emma,” she whispered hoarsely. “My daughter’s name is Emma.”
Thirteen
Ke’lar went still. “What?” He drew back to regard her, his brilliant eyes wide. “What did you say?”
“I have a little girl, Emma, back on Earth.” Her tears overflowed. “She’s three. Well, three and a half actually.”
“You—” He shook his head as if he sought to clear it, as if his ears were buzzing. “You have a child?”
“That’s why I ran away from Ar’ar. That’s why your father has to get me to Earth, why I can’t stay with you. I have to get back to my baby. My baby needs me.”
“She is the one you love,” he breathed. “This is the source of your guilt? Not—not—”
“No, it’s not another man.” She wiped at her face with the back of her hand. “And mommy guilt comes with the job. But being on the other side of the galaxy without even a cell phone, raises it to a whole new level.”
“A child—a daughter . . .” He searched her eyes. “By the Goddess, little one, why did you not tell me?”
“Are you kidding? I couldn’t tell anyone! Females are so rare here, any daughter, even a fully human adopted one, would give Ar’ar—and the Betari—so much status that he could never just let her be! As my mate Hir law gives Ar’ar a legal claim as her guardian. What if he found her, forced her to live with the Betari too, kept her imprisoned in their enclosure—”
“Ar’ar should never have brought you to Hir! Should never have captured you at all. No female with offspring is to be taken. If you already have a child then . . .” His gaze snapped to hers, his eyes wild. “Your child—Emma—Where is she? Is she—?”
Summer shook her head. “She’s safe. She wasn’t with me when Ar’ar kidnapped me. She’s with her father.”
His lips tightened. “Your human mate.”
“Ex-mate—and thank you very much, State of Virginia.” Summer bit her lip. “But Emma is only visiting him for two weeks. And nine of those fourteen days are already gone. He’s bringing her for Christmas but if Dean brings her back to Brittle Bridge and I’m not there—if people find the house empty, they’re going to think that—” She shook her head. “Oh, hell, I don’t know what they’ll think! That I’m dead, that I’ve starting doing drugs—I don’t know! But what I do know is that if I’m not there Dean’ll call Social Services and dump Emma with them. He’ll tell them I’m nowhere to be found, that I’ve run off, that I’m an unfit mother—”
His brow furrowed. “But . . . surely if you were to return after the Choosing Day—”
“With no memory of where I was for a month?” she cried. “They won’t let me go back to Earth unless they wipe my memory of Hir, of everything from the moment I stepped out of the house! I won’t have an explanation of where I’ve been, why no one has seen me, why I didn’t even take my cell. I haven’t even called Dean to find out how Emma is and that’s—look, that’s just not like me. I still have the rest of this moon cycle before the Day of Choosing comes and I can’t wait that long. Unless your father intervenes and helps me get home I’ll get back two weeks after Dean is going to drop Emma off.”
“And he—Dean—will search for you?”
She gave a short bitter laugh. “Actually, first he’ll search for my wallet and relieve me of any cash I have, then he’ll call Social Services and tell them I ran off.” Summer shook her head, not bothering to check her tears. “Don’t you understand? The courts could take Emma away from me. It might be years before I get her back—or never.”
“I will go,” Ke’lar promised swiftly. “I will go to Earth and find your child. I will bring her to you. I will appeal to the Council myself, apprise them of the urgency—”
“Ke’lar!” she cried. “You’re an almost seven-foot-tall alien! You can’t go running around the southeastern part the United States, hoping to find one little girl—even if your government allowed it—and we both know they aren’t going to let you go.” Summer passed her hand over her eyes. “Look, it comes down to this—if I’m not there when Dean comes back he’ll probably hand her over to the state. I have four days left to get back to Earth.”