Twelfth Moon (23 page)

“So he could bring you back to be hanged – again!” Kara spit out venomously.

“At first, yes,” Cadence admitted. “But then, he saved my life again, and then it was Twelfth Moon…and then he…we—”

“
Oh!
” Kara railed, her hands coming up to cover her face. “I don’t want to hear any more.” After a moment she dropped her hands. “Where is he?”

“I don’t know,” Cadence whispered, her heart breaking.

“He’ll come for you,” Jaelene said. “I’ve seen it.” She turned toward Ba'cho. “I won’t leave until Cadence’s fate unfolds and she is safe.”

He bowed his head respectfully. “
Ihe edn
– thank you,” he said softly. He turned and left the room, but not before shooting an odd glance at Kara.

As soon as Ba'cho was gone, Jaelene faced Cadence. “Now, tell us the rest.”

Cadence laughed weakly. “I would think you already knew.”

“Just the main parts.”

While Cadence told Jaelene and Kara about how she’d met Jonah, they helped her out of the doeskin dress, leggings, and moccasins, and into one of her familiar nightgowns. It was good to be home – in her own room – in her own bed.

She only wished Jonah was in it with her.

Seventeen

“JONAH IS ROBERT Kincaid’s brother?” Kara cried in disbelief. “Oh, Cadence. How could you have let that happen?”

“It’s not as if I planned it that way,” Cadence said with a touch of irritation. She loved her sister dearly, but Kara made it sound as if there’d been another choice. It put Cadence’s defenses up. But then, who was she trying to fool? Cadence knew, deep down, that if she hadn’t really wanted to mate with Jonah, she would have found the strength to resist him. She even went so far as to give him the chance to walk away – which he hadn’t done. No. Instead he’d chosen to stay with her. Had it been more than a physical attraction for him? For her there was no denying it – she’d wanted him. Plain and simple.

Realizing Kara was just showing her concern, Cadence sighed deeply. “I told you. Ned Furley had kidnapped me and as soon as he realized I was a woman and not the boy he thought I was he tried to force himself on me. It was Twelfth Moon. If Jonah hadn’t come along when he had, I would be mated to Furley right now. Which do you think I’d prefer?”

Kara waved her hand. “Okay, I see your point. But you killed his brother, Cadence. How are you going to be together? You already said that was the reason he left you at the Indian village.” Tears filled Kara’s eyes. “I don’t want to lose you because you can’t be with your mate.”

“I love him, Kara,” Cadence said softly. “I wanted to bond with him.”

“And you’re obviously not with child or you wouldn’t be so sick right now,” Kara said. “Mother told us that the separation sickness doesn’t affect us when there’s a pregnancy.”

A tight knot formed in Cadence’s chest, near her heart. If only she had Jonah’s child growing inside her. At least she would have had that.

“Does he love you?” Kara asked.

“I don’t know.” Cadence swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I think he does.”

Kara huffed, and then railed, “You
think
he does? How could he even consider putting his family first if he loves you? How could he let you suffer like this if he loves you?”

Cadence outwardly cringed. “He doesn’t know.”

“You didn’t tell him?” Kara asked in surprise, her eyes widening.

Jaelene placed a comforting hand on Kara’s shoulder. “Listen to me, both of you.” Her gaze locked with Cadence’s. “I don’t think you killed Robert Kincaid.”

“I saw him open his eyes and struggle to get up,” Jaelene said. “A shadow fell over him, and then there was nothing. Someone else was there, but I don’t know who, or what happened after that.”

“It still doesn’t mean he didn’t just die from his injuries,” Cadence said flatly, her brief flash of hope deflating.

“You know my visions aren’t always clear, especially when the subject is too far away. Maybe now that you’re home, I’ll get the answers we need.”

Just then, their housekeeper, Mrs. Riley, bustled into the room with Cadence’s father in tow, her arm linked through his, guiding him. “Here’s our Cadence, Mr. LaPorte, safe and sound. Thank the Lord she’s been returned to us.”

Her father’s deep blue eyes were clear of any signs that his sight was impaired, without the usual cloudiness that most often accompanied someone who was completely blind. It had always given Cadence hope that someday he might see again.

Mamma Reba’s, for example, had been covered in a milky-white film, and she’d never really fixed her gaze on anything in particular, rather she’d stared, unfocused, into the distance.

Her father, on the other hand, was able to see shadows and movement, allowing him to get around some parts of the house without assistance. Unfortunately, in all those years since that incident with her mother and those hunters, his vision hadn’t gotten any better than that. If it were possible for him to regain his sight, wouldn’t it have happened already?

Mrs. Riley led her father to a chair near the bed, gently removing his hand from her arm. As she moved to sit next to Cadence, perching on the edge of the mattress, he smiled warmly at the housekeeper, and then turned his head to face Cadence.

Cadence blinked. Her father was still a handsome man and Mrs. Riley a lovely woman. She was of medium height, slender and shapely, with soulful brown eyes, and auburn hair only lightly peppered with gray. She wore it in an upswept style, leaving wispy strands to frame her face. And for the first time, Cadence noticed the tenderness that passed between the housekeeper and her father. Had it always been that way and because she’d been so busy, Cadence had entirely missed it? Or was it something that had only recently developed?

Mrs. Riley’s face showed her concern as she placed a hand gently on Cadence’s blanket-covered knee, shaking her from her thoughts. “How are you, sweetheart?” Mrs. Riley asked in her soft southern drawl. “You look so tired.”

“I’m as fine as can be expected, Mrs. Riley.” Cadence’s eyes prickled with tears at the woman’s motherly concern.

It was in that moment, brought home with stark clarity, that somehow, along the way, Mrs. Riley had not so much replaced Cadence’s mother, but had stepped in and quietly filled a much needed role. Cadence had been so young and hurt and determined, had worked so hard to keep the fractured pieces of their family together after her mother had died.

It was the guilt. Somehow, her child’s mind had concluded that because she’d arrived too late to save her mother, it was her fault that she’d died. So Cadence had become self-appointed mother to her two sisters. And even, in his grief and newfound blindness, mother to her own father. Mrs. Riley must have understood. All these years she’d stood aside and allowed Cadence to nurture and manage as she saw fit, but had always been there with her quiet and gentle support. And, Cadence realized, she’d known it all along. It’s what had given her the courage to go on.

And their cook, dear Mrs. Clemens, had always been kind and nurturing. Rather than feel her role had been usurped, Cadence felt a liberating sense of relief – to know that her father and her sisters would not want for care and affection. Cadence was free to have a life – a family – of her own.

Cadence swallowed the lump in her throat. She looked at Mrs. Riley, to her father, and then over to where her sisters stood quietly to the side. “I’ve missed you – I’ve missed you all,” she said, her voice cracking.

Jaelene and Kara came forward, and while Mrs. Riley leaned in and hugged her, Kara grasped one of her hands, and Jaelene smoothed a hand over Cadence’s forehead. She felt her father’s touch in her hair, ruffling the short, dark curls.

“We missed you, too, dear heart,” her papa said, his voice rough with emotion.

Cadence’s own emotions were running rampant, as evidenced by the tears that ran, unchecked, down her cheeks. She was growing weaker by the minute. Because of Ba'cho’s magic stone, they’d arrived days ahead of Jonah. The sudden increase in distance between them was wreaking havoc on her system.

“Let the girl have some air!” Mrs. Riley exclaimed with a short laugh and everyone moved back. Their worry was obvious, their expressions showing their concern at how weak Cadence had become.

Mrs. Clemens arrived just then, breaking into the moment. She was carrying a tray, red-faced and breathless from her trek up the stairs. After setting it on a table near the bed, she turned and perused Cadence, hands on her ample hips. “My goodness, honey, you look plum tuckered out! I’ve brought you a hearty broth that should make you right as rain.” She clapped her hands. “Everyone out, now! Our poor girl needs her nourishment and her rest.”

Cadence closed her eyes, savoring the familiar way in which Mrs. Clemens shot out orders, commanding everyone’s attention. They were all used to it. No one argued when the short, round cook was on a mission. She was like a much-loved aunt, as much a part of their odd family as any of them.

She shooed everyone from the room, taking Mrs. Riley’s place on the bed at Cadence’s side. Reaching for the bowl, she began spooning the rich broth into Cadence’s mouth. “Now, honey, what’s this I hear about a bonding?”

Both Mrs. Riley and Mrs. Clemens had known about Cadence’s mother’s ability to change into a panther and instead of being afraid, they’d quickly accepted what even now would make most people run screaming in terror. The two women had become a part of their household before Cadence and her sisters were born, and it still remained a mystery as to where they’d come from, or how they’d come to be there. They knew everything about the sisters. And they understood the significance of Twelfth Moon, what it meant to become bonded with a mate, and what happened when they were separated from that mate. But most of all, they could be trusted with the family secrets.

Cadence swallowed a spoonful of broth before answering. “It’s true. But I—”

“Now you just hush, girl,” Mrs. Clemens admonished. She knew Cadence well enough to guess her line of thinking. “Don’t you dare say that you regret your decision. Don’t you dare doubt yourself.”

“Jaelene said he would find me.”

“Well, there you go. If Jaelene said as much, then so it shall be. Now you finish up this here broth, so you can keep your strength for when your man returns to you.”

In the days that followed, taking broth didn’t help. And Jonah hadn’t returned.

Cadence alternated between incapacitating agony and the fierce urge to leap from the bed and hunt down Jonah. She was feverish and sweating one moment, then shivering with chills the next. Jaelene, Kara, Mrs. Riley, and of course, Mrs. Clemens, took turns either washing her down with a cool cloth, or bundling her up in extra blankets when she shivered uncontrollably.

She grew weaker as the days passed. Jonah should have had plenty of time to reach New Orleans, but he still hadn’t appeared. But why would he? What did she have to offer him?

She began to spiral further and further into dark despair, the emptiness so acute, she could hardly bear it. She was aware of her sisters’ concern, of Ba'cho’s look of compassion and understanding whenever he’d come to visit, but she couldn’t seem to dredge up the will to go on without Jonah. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she should fight it, should force herself to continue on, but her heart and soul were sinking into a deep abyss of hopelessness that would soon be irreversible.

Cadence lay quietly, staring up at the ceiling in the darkness. Hot tears slipped down the sides of her face. She was alone in her bed, her arms resting listlessly at her sides. Everyone had retired to their rooms hours ago.

It was time.

She was ready to let go of this life – a life that was nothing without Jonah. He obviously didn’t care for her as much as she did for him, or he would have come for her, wouldn’t he? She felt betrayed and abandoned.

She closed her eyes, a feeling of calm acceptance washing over her.

If this was her fate, so be it.

Her mind drifted as she listened to the night sounds coming from the open window. The noise slowly faded away, and then there was nothing but blackness all around her. Was she falling? She wasn’t sure. It felt like she floated gently on a current of air.

Her heart slowed its rhythm, each beat thrumming in her ears, until more and more time passed between them. Her breaths were barely registering. She felt at peace, only a thin thread anchoring her to the world she was leaving behind.

She was almost gone, the thread almost severed, when a faint current of energy sparked through her body, snatching her back from the brink of oblivion. She’d been taking her last shallow breaths when the life-giving force took root as a small seed, spreading warmth through her veins.

Eighteen

JONAH LIFTED HIS head and sniffed the air. He could smell her -
Cadence
. After nearly two grueling weeks on the trail, he was finally here.

And still in a rage.

He hadn’t even been home yet. How could he possibly go there when he was like this? He could barely control it.
She
had done this to him.

In his panther form, he moved from his position at the edge of the tree line, padding soundlessly across the lawn toward the house. It was dark, but he could see as though it were daylight. His vision, along with all his other senses, was extremely heightened in this state. He detected Ba'cho’s scent, as well as his two brothers, not far away.

Jonah’s lip curled in a snarl of disgust.

Ba'cho had known all along. Jonah suspected Cadence had known as well, but neither one of them had thought it was important enough to tell him.