Harvest by Sharon Bayliss

Author:Sharon Bayliss [Bayliss, Sharon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781948661751
Publisher: Animus Ferrum
Published: 2020-01-18T22:00:00+00:00

Xavier’s heart hammered and he could still taste West Texas dirt and bile in his mouth, but his rational mind had caught up to his instincts. The man with Samantha wasn’t Xavier’s stepfather. This could only be his son, the one who inherited the other half of Rachel Colter’s wealth. If Xavier had never seen his face, he wouldn’t feel sick and humiliated like he did right now. This man’s magic was nothing like his father’s, and if they didn’t look so alike, Xavier would have never guessed they were even distantly related. His aura of spring was so potent Xavier’s eyes itched from phantom pollen.

“Your distraction was just enough to throw the balance in our favor,” Samantha said. “You saved us.”

While Samantha smiled at him brilliantly, she gently pulled the little girl away from him. He had been so distracted by the man; he had barely registered the small hand clutching his. At Samantha’s coaxing, she released Xavier’s hand and wrapped her arms around Samantha’s leg. As Xavier watched the girl with furrowed brows, Samantha tried to push her further behind her and gently pressed her head into her hip to shield her face.

Mundanes might not notice, but the girl’s magic was nothing like theirs. A wizard would see two lambs raising a dinosaur. She did not belong to them. For some reason, Xavier felt as if the girl belonged to him instead, even though that wasn’t possible. But she was the one who called him here to step in at just the right moment.

“This is Sophie,” Samantha said, tousling her hair so blond curls fell over her face. “Our daughter.”

Her smile remained ebullient, but her eyes were wide, and she didn’t blink often enough. She knew he knew she was lying, and her eyes seemed to plead with him to accept the lie. He felt himself nodding as if someone else was running the controls. “Your daughter,” he repeated. She had managed to use magic to compel him to nod and agree but her magic wasn’t strong enough to actually change his mind.

He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the drugged sensation. “I have to go,” he said, without any idea of where he needed to be. He needed to be away from that man. And he already felt sick without Samantha plunging into his mind and trying to move things around.

“Okay,” Samantha said.

The man said something too, but Xavier had managed to block him out as well as he could block himself out and all he heard was a muffled murmur, sending vibrations into the air with no sound.

As much as he had the urge to leave, he also had the inexplicable urge to take the little girl with him. Even though he just met her, he felt like if he left her, he’d be leaving something critical behind.

“She’s not safe,” Xavier said, gesturing toward Sophie.

“We’ll keep her safe,” Samantha said.

“If I hadn’t shown up, she would have died,” Xavier said simply. He hadn’t done anything special to save her.

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