Read Online NocC 005 - Caridad Pineiro - Amazon Awakening - Harlequin 2011-12 by Nocturne - Free Book Online

you.”
    “I’ll be there in a second,” she said and closed the door, her heart pounding in her chest with fear.
    Rey was immediately at her side, stroking her face. “You’re pale. Has something happened?”
    She suddenly became aware of a disturbance which shook her core. Something had happened. Something more than a fall. “My grandmother…she’s not well. We need to go to her.” Rey was in motion, slipping his pants and shirt back on. Taking hold of her hand and leading her down the hallway to her grandmother’s bedroom.
     
    The door was closed and several servants stood outside, anxious looks on their faces.
    Fear twisted Paola’s gut.
    As they walked in, the doctor was rising from the side of the bed and closing his bag. “You need to rest. You can’t go gallivanting around the rain forest anymore. Your strength is not what it used to be.”
    Her grandmother released an annoyed sigh and gave an imperious wave of her hand. “If I don’t go who will? Who will lead?”
    She was sitting up in bed, propped against a wealth of pillows, her silver hair spread about her like a halo. Her skin was almost ghostly white, but there was still vigor in her eyes as they met Paola’s.
    “There was no need to disturb the two of you,” she said, shooting a knowing look at them and then over Paola’s shoulder to Rey.
    “What happened?” Paola said and went to her grandmother’s side. She sat on the edge of the bed and took the older woman’s hand in hers. Was there a weakness there that she had not sensed the day before? Did her skin feel more papery and less substantial?
    “She was coming back from the rain forest when she passed out,” the doctor said, warning alive in his tones.
    “I merely tripped on a root,” her grandmother replied with an indignant sniff, clearly not wanting to profess to any weakness.
    The doctor turned to Paola. “I believe your grandmother may have had a small stroke. With you here now to protect the sacred space, there is no reason for her to be an active Guardian any longer.”
    “But I’m not here—”
    “Could you all please give us some privacy,” Patricia said with another regal wave of her hand. Even as the staff surrounding her quickly scurried to honor her request, Paola noticed a tremor in her grandmother’s hand that had not existed before and the trivial action seemed to tax her.
    When Rey headed for the door as well, Patricia called out, “Not you, my son.”
    Rey nodded, and, after the last person had left the room, he closed the door and then leaned back against it, his arms across his chest. His features were etched with concern.
    “You should not have gone out tonight,” he admonished.
    “I was worried about you both. I needed to know you were safe.” The tone of her voice was strained, as it if were costing her a great deal to speak.
    “You need to rest, Grandmother. We can talk later,” Paola said and patted the hand she still held.
    “No,” Patricia said forcefully, but then lay back against the pillows and peered past Paolo to Rey. “Please. You explain.”
    Rey walked to the side of the bed opposite Paola and sat on the edge. He took hold of Patricia’s other hand in his large ones. Tenderly, he rubbed it, offering consolation. When he spoke, his voice was pitched low, so only the three of them could hear.
    “Your grandmother has sensed for some time that her spirit is waning. She has patrolled the space for far more years than any Guardian Priestess before her.”
    “But you told me you could not visit too often or stay too long,” Paola said.
     
    Rey nodded. “It is only because of the strength in the Lopes blood that Patricia has been able to lead and guard for all these decades. But it is time for another to assume her place as the leader of the Guardians.”
    When he looked at Paola, it all suddenly became clear. The Lopes legacy was not about money or even this plantation. It was about protecting the sacred space. It was about being in