Helplessly, she turned to Connor, who was watching the boy transfer from limb to fragile limb. Henry, whose wings were visible behind him, crouched now on the gazebo.
She gasped at the sound of a limb cracking, the sight of the boy tumbling, crashing down through the branches below him.
Beside her, Lannie finally caught sight of her son falling. For a horrifying instant, she froze. But by the time she was on her feet, she was too late. There was no way she could reach him in time.
Chapter Seven
It was, instead,a fully visible Connor who stepped forward to hold out his arms to the boy. Nathan fell against him like a leaf finding the ground. Connor set him down safely on his feet. The slow-motion sensation of the fall sped up in a blink as the boy stared up at Connor’s face and began to cry.
“Yer all right, then,” he told the boy. “Dinna fear.”
An instant later, Lannie was at the boy’s side, scooping him into her arms, profusely thanking the stranger who had saved her son.
Connor waved off her thanks but gave the boy a man-to-man look of such tenderness, it nearly broke Emma’s heart. In turn, Nathan sniffed and returned Connor’s look with all the seriousness a six-year-old could muster and a solemn nod.
After Connor left them, making his way into a stand of trees to become himself again, Lannie could hardly contain her emotions. She sat down with the boy, right there on the grass with tears wetting her cheeks.
“Nathan,” she cried, hugging him tightly. “When will you learn? What would I do if I lost you, too?”
“Who was that man?” Gabriella asked, kneeling down beside her. “He was just here a second ago. Where’d he go?”
“I didn’t even get his name,” Lannie told her, hugging Nathan against her.
Emma turned to find Henry standing beside her.
“Which is why Connor doesn’t do children,” he said. “He’s a softie. Lessons are sometimes painful.”
She wasn’t sure she liked this Henry character, but she was liking Connor more and more. “But aren’t you supposed to protect children?”
He nodded. “Sometimes the hard lessons are the most valuable ones. It would only have been a broken arm this time. And a lesson learned.” He looked her up and down. “So, who are you?”
“An in-betweener,” Connor answered for her, joining them. “Henry, Emma. Emma, Henry.”
Henry raised one brow in assessment. “Keeping your options open, eh? Can’t decide? Stay or go?”
“No,” she retorted. “I’m staying. I just need to wake up is all.”
“Coma,” Connor explained.
“Ah,” Henry said a bit indifferently before perking up. “Oh, wait. I heard about this one. Isn’t she your—”
“You’d better see to your boy there,” Connor said, cutting him off and gesturing at Nathan, who was walking away with his mother. “He seems a bit at loose ends.”
The twinkle in Henry’s eye reappeared. “Right. Well. Good to see you again, Connor. It’s been a while. Oh, did I forget to mention that Elspeth Aloysius asked after you?”
“She did?” Surprise lit his gray eyes.
“Last time I saw her in a little town called Leyton Grove, I believe. She seems quite happy there, all things considered. She and her mortal…can’t think of his name—?”
“Sam,” Connor supplied.
“Yes, Sam. Sam Wynter. Anyway, she said if I saw you to send her regards. So”—he clapped Connor on the shoulder—“regards. Also, to tell you she had something for you.”
“For me? Unlikely.”
“I couldn’t say what it is she has. Just passing along a message. But after hearing about her in action at the Council, you’d do well not to ignore her. She’s a force, that one. Not to be underestimated.”
“Aye, she is that. Thanks, Henry.”
