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“She’s awake!” I raced to the beside as Briar’s eyes fluttered in confusion, her gaze jumping from me to Rachel and back.
“No…”
Tears welled in her eyes, and Rachel and I exchanged a perplexed look.
“No more dreams!” Briar moaned. “No more drugs, Father…”
I sank to my knees and grabbed her hand.
“No, Briar,” I said softly. “This isn’t a dream. You’re safe now. You’re away from Barney.”
She blinked several times, again looking from me to Rachel, who also nodded, a wide smile on her face. “Welcome back, honey.”
A small gasp escaped Briar’s lips, and tears fell onto her cheeks. She raised her arms and whimpered.
“Oh, gods!” she mewled, trying to sit up. “My baby?”
“The baby seems fine,” Rachel assured her. “I hear her little heart pumping away, and she hasn’t stopped moving.”
Briar fell back and shook her head again, tears streaming fully down her cheeks now. “He’s going to come back for me. He’s not going to let you keep me.”
“He’s not going anywhere for anyone,” I snarled furiously.
Briar peered at me through her sidelong vision, and I tensed, wondering if that was news I should have saved.
“Is he dead?” she asked.
“Would you care if he was?”
“Yes,” Briar mumbled. “I hope he’s dead.”
She began to cough, and Rachel jumped up to get her a glass of water as I remained at her side, holding her hand.
“Is he dead?” she asked, managing through her coughing fit.
I nodded. “He is.”
Tears blurred her vision, and she sat up to throw her arms around my neck.
“Thank you,” she whispered, burying her face in my neck. “Thank you for saving me again.”
Chapter32
Briar
Ididn’t want to put too much hope in the idea that this wasn’t a dream, but as the minutes passed and I didn’t wake up, or it didn’t turn into a hideous nightmare, I had no choice but to accept that this was reality. Ash did care about me. He had cared about me enough to come and look for me, even though he had sent me away.
Since I’d regained full consciousness, he’d been at my side, his eyes boring into mine, studying me for injury. And I recovered slowly with his tender caresses.
“What changed?” I had to ask when I was finally able to sit up against a half dozen fluffy pillows, a compress on my head. Rachel found me a hot water bottle for my back, and a physician had been sent for to check on the baby’s vitals. A house staff member had found me a clean nightgown, the one I’d been wearing ordered into the incinerator by Ash. “Why did you come for me?”
“Nothing changed, Briar,” Ash sighed, looking away. “I never wanted any of this for you.”
He appeared pained to think I might have considered I would have. “I tried to warn you about your father.”
“I know,” I sighed. “And I know you’re right about him now. I found his ledger…”
I drew in a breath shakily, the memory of all my lost sisters hitting me again. “He’s been selling babies for years, and not just to strangers.”
