Read Online Twice Upon a Time by Olivia Cunning - Free Book Online Page B

for her death, she'd never forgive him. He couldn't stand to lose her. Not when they were growing so close.
    “We can't leap through time forever,” Lara said, “and how else are we going to get the other half of the amulet? I don't think Carl is going to hand it over just because we want him to.”
    “I’ll think about it. Carl's no push over.”
    “Well, neither are you,” she said, her fingers gently tracing the unbroken skin above the gash across his chest. She grinned up at him. “Don't you know better than to bring a fist to a knife fight?”
    He chuckled, sending a spear of pain through his skull. “I've been to a lot of dangerous places in my travels, but I don't think I've had this many malicious attacks on my life before. I never would have guessed there was so much danger in a harem.”
    “Well, at least your wounds don't seem to jump through time with you. That bruise you got jousting is gone.”
    “Yeah, but poor Reg still has to contend with it. On his wedding night.”
    “He'll probably be able to suffer through it.”
    Reece laughed and then grimaced in pain. “Sweetheart, would you mind not making me laugh? It hurts.”
    She examined the wound across his chest more closely. “This looks pretty deep.
    You might need stitches.”
    “I wonder if the eunuchs have a physician.”
    “I'll ask Farima's mother-in-law. She seems trustworthy to me.” When they arrived back at the room, the food that had been set out for the princess's breakfast was gone.
    “Covering their tracks, I guess,” Reece said.
    “Lie down.” She directed him over to the bed where he col apsed.
    “I'll go get my mother-in-law.”
    “No!” he protested. “You aren't going anywhere without me. Just let me catch my breath and I'll come with you.”
    “Don't be ridiculous. You're injured. I'll be fine.” He struggled out of the bed and back to his feet.
    She tried to reason with him. “What good will you be to me in this condition, Nasir?” She glanced around warily and leaned closer to Reece to whisper in his ear.
    “Someone's in here with us.”
    “How do you know?”
    “Try to cal me Lara,” she whispered.
    “You know I'll protect you, Farima, even if I have to die to do so,” he declared loudly.
    “You're right,” he whispered.
    He wobbled around to the back of the bed where there were draperies hanging from the wall. He pushed them aside cautiously. There was no one there. Lara's heart thudded in apprehension, eyes searching the room for potential danger. A movement in the drapes surrounding the doorway to the bathing pavilion caught her attention. Reece saw it, too. He raced across the room and grabbed the figure behind the curtain by the arm.
    There was a startled cry as a smal girl was pulled from her hiding place. Lara clutched her chest and let out a relieved breath. The girl's large brown eyes overflowed with tears and she let out an anguished wail. Reece released her as if she were hot to the touch.
    Lara approached her and squatted down to the child's level. She couldn't have been more than seven. “Are you hurt?” she asked the girl. When the girl cried louder, Lara turned her head and scowled at Reece. “You scared her.”
    “Why were you hiding in there?” Reece asked harshly.
    The girl rushed two steps forward and threw herself against Lara. Lara hugged her instinctively.
    “Do not cry,” Lara murmured to the girl. “What are you doing here?”
    “Someone said you were dead.”
    “Who said that?” Reece asked.
    The girl shook her head vigorously, her dark brown locks tumbling about her shoulders. “I don’t know.”
    “Was it a man or a woman?” Reece demanded.
    The girl flinched and her eyes welled up with tears.
    “Please answer, Nasir,” Lara said gently. “I enjoy living very much.”
    “Both.” She glanced up at Reece, her gaze fixating on the wound across his chest.
    “Why are you bleeding?”
    “He was protecting me,” Lara told her. “Can you go get your