Stolen Heart

chapter 25




Balvraine – 2 months later



Kieran knocked on the door and heard, “Come in.”

Opening the door, he stepped in and saw Claire sitting at her desk. “Kieran! You’re right on time.”

Claire walked around her desk and gave Kieran a warm hug. Things sure had changed. Two months ago, he stood in this same spot with a knife held to her throat. The thought made him chuckle.

“What’s so funny?”

“I was just thinking that two months ago I was threatening to slit your throat, and now here we are, all hugs and kisses.”

Claire laughed. “Well, you have the hug part right but forget about the kisses.”

Kieran watched as Claire walked back to her desk and sat down. Her eyes were alive and bright with excitement. She radiated confidence.

“Well, I brought it. Are you anxious to see it?”

Claire’s eyes lit up. She nodded her head with a big grin on her face and he thought she looked like a kid at Christmas.

Reaching into his pack, he pulled out Claire’s Scepter. He reached across her desk and handed it to her. It wasn’t the ugly iron bar she had once stolen from Ava, but instead a crystal dove, its shimmery wings spread in flight.

“Oh,” Claire whispered reverently. “It’s so beautiful. I didn’t expect…”

“Ava wanted you to have something that represented peace. She wanted to be here herself, but Emma is sick and there was no way she was leaving her.”

Claire reached out and accepted the dove. She stroked her thumbs over the wings. “I still don’t understand why you and Ava helped me. Not after what I did to you.”

“Claire, you made a dumb mistake. You were sorry. We forgave you. And Ava…well, she likes to help. You’re like her pet project now.”

Claire nodded in agreement. She set the dove down on her desk and then turned to look back at Kieran. She cocked her head to the side. “How come you can so easily forgive me but you can’t forgive Annika?”

Kieran flinched at the question. The subject of Annika had been taboo, ever since their first meeting after he returned to Balvraine. He and Ava had come together to meet Claire and tell her of their desire to help her. Before they left, Claire had implored Kieran to give Annika another chance, but he shut her down quickly. He told her that Annika was a subject that was off limits. And yet, here she was now bringing it up again.

“Don’t go there Claire.” He laced his tone with enough of a growl that she should get the warning. She ignored it.

“Why not? Doesn’t she deserve the same gift you gave me?”

Kieran was confused. “A scepter?”

“No, you knucklehead.” Kieran raised an eyebrow at her. She appeared to have completely gotten over her fear of him. “I’m talking about the gift of forgiveness. You gave it to me. Why not Annika?”

Kieran sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He sat down in the chair opposite her desk. “It’s just different, Claire. Everything is different with Annika.”

“Of course it should be different. You love her.”

“Loved.”

“Love.”

“Whatever. I’m not going to argue about it.”

“I don’t want to argue with you either. I’ve grown very fond of you over the last few months. But I just don’t understand how you can forgive me the crime but not Annika? Ava’s forgiven her.”

“Yes, well, Ava’s a lot nicer than I am.”

Claire cursed in frustration. “Why Kieran? Please tell me.”

“Fine. I’ll tell you why. It’s harder to forgive her because I loved her. And I believe she loved me even though she was too stubborn to admit it. She should have trusted me with the truth from the beginning.” Kieran paused and reflected. He looked out the window, then back to Claire. “She trusted me enough to tell me about Mason. She should have trusted me enough to tell me the truth about The Scepter. I didn’t have that expectation with you, Claire. But I did have it with Annika.”

“Fair enough,” Claire said with finality.

Kieran looked at Claire in surprise. “You accept that? You’re not going to continue to defend Annika’s actions to me? Not going to hound me to forgive her?”

“No,” Claire said in resignation. “You’ve made a good point. I’ll have to respect that.”

“Really?” Kieran was shocked she was letting it go.

“Really. In fact, I kind of agree with you. Given what the two of you shared, it would be hard to trust again.”

Kieran didn’t know what to say, but for some reason, it wasn’t setting right. Which made no f*cking sense. She was doing nothing more than agreeing with what he felt was the very sound logic he had just laid out to her.

“Well, I better get back to Kestevayne. I have some pressing matters to handle.”

“Sounds good. I’ll see you next week when I come to see Ava.” Claire had been meeting Ava weekly for magic lessons.

Kieran started to walk toward the door. When he reached it, he paused, and then looked back at Claire. “Can I ask you something about Annika?”

“Sure. What is it?”

“Why does she steal? I mean, I understand why she stole The Scepter. I guess I don’t get the other stuff.”

Claire laughed. “She’s a modern day Robin Hood, Kieran. She robs from the rich and gives to the poor. Well, the abused.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously,” Claire said with a smile. “Look. It’s wrong. We all know that. But it’s something that Annika had to do to save her sanity. She lived every day under a cloud of guilt and shame over what Mason had done to her. She couldn’t go back and change that. But she could make a difference in other people’s lives.”

Kieran’s heart sank. He had been judging her pretty harshly over her criminal activities. Still, he had to point out. “She is still hurting the people she robs.”

“Not really. First, she only robs people that she knows have a direct connection to and actively helps aid abusers. For example, the woman that she stole from the night on Park Avenue? Her son beat his wife so severely, she ended up in the hospital for a week. And he did it while his mother watched and did nothing to stop it. She bailed him out of jail, hired the best attorney in New York City, and got the charges dropped. The woman is stinking filthy rich. The missing jewels probably weren’t even missed. And the money those jewels will fetch will help keep safe many women.”

Kieran didn’t say anything. His whole perception about Annika had been changed in just a matter of minutes.

“If it also helps, I can tell you that Annika has given up her stealing. Like I said, she knows it’s wrong. And besides, I actually think you may have helped her heal the guilt she had been carrying over Mason raping her.”

“That wasn’t her fault,” Kieran snarled.

“I know that. You know that. And now Annika knows that. She said you helped her see that she was the victim and she couldn’t help what happened.”

This was all a lot to process. He’d have to mull it over, but as he had just told Claire, he had some more pressing matters to handle.