Free CarnalHealing by Virginia Reede Page B

towel and wheeled her chair back to
deposit it in a wicker hamper. “Weird, how?” She sorted through her manicurist
tools, nodding as if completing a satisfactory inventory.
    Leonore had been thinking about what she would tell her
sister about the incident. “Remember when you told me about the strange
customer you had? The one you thought was directing some bad feeling toward
you?”
    Now it was Millie’s turn to shiver. “Yes. I-I’ve been
dreaming about it.”
    “Have you really?” Leonore felt her concern heighten. “Well,
I think I met someone like that. But with this guy, there’s no doubt about it.
He hates me, Millie. He wishes me harm.”
    “Did he say that? Where was this?” Alarm was plain on
Millie’s face, and she was sitting very still.
    Leonore shook her head. “No, he didn’t say anything. He
just…just looked at me, and I could feel it. He knew I could feel it too, and I
got the impression he was doing it on purpose. He wanted me to know…something.”
She was frustrated that she couldn’t make herself clearer. “I was at the
children’s hospital,” she went on, ignoring Ludmilla’s rising eyebrows.
“Healing a child. Or, re-healing a child, I should say.“
    Leonore described the incident in as great a detail as she
could manage, explaining about how she had become worried about Lucy, and
having seen the man once before. Millie listened without comment but with great
concentration. When Leonore was done, she was silent for a moment.
    “I wonder if it was the same man?” she said. “The
description fits—dark-haired, handsome, not too tall.”
    “That’s a pretty general description,” Leonore said. “If
Lily was here, she could draw him, but I couldn’t produce much more than a
stick figure.”
    “Me, either.” Ludmilla sighed deeply. “Do you think they
could be…you know.”
    “Members of the Draíodóir ?” Leonore shook her head.
“Of course, I considered it. It’s way too coincidental, with the equinox coming
up. And our plans for the power-building ritual, although I can’t imagine any
way they’d have found out about that.”
    “If they even exist,” Millie said, but she didn’t sound as
skeptical as Letisha had the other day.
    “Well, the man I saw existed, whether he was Draíodóir or not. The Druid language must have been a tongue twister.” Ludmilla seemed to
shake herself a little. “We need to talk to all of the circle members about
this, to make sure they’re on their guard. And, as long as you’re here, we may
as well do your manicure. And you can finally tell me about your new lover.”
    “Do you have time? I took a long time with my story.”
    “I’m fine. My three o’clock cancelled.” Millie froze in the
act of reaching for Leonore’s hands. “Do you think that little girl—Lucy, I
think you called her—is in danger?”
    “Maybe. I’m positive that she was completely healed before
the…the stranger showed up. I’ll figure out a way to stop by and check on her
again.”
    “Good idea. And, you’d better make sure you keep having
regular sex, in case you have to heal her again.” She held her hands open, and
Leonore place one of hers into them.
    Ludmilla gasped, and her mouth formed an “o”.
    “What?” Lenore tried to pull her hand back, but Millie
tightened her grip.
    “ Leonore. You didn’t tell me!”
    “Tell you what?” Leonore was mystified at Millie’s reaction,
but she could see that her friend was beaming, all traces of her earlier
concern having vanished.
    “Give me you other hand.” Without relinquishing the hand she
already held, Ludmilla gestured emphatically for the other.
    “Millie, tell me what’s wrong,” Leonore said, but put her
left hand into Ludmilla’s right, and felt light pressure as both were squeezed.
Millie closed her eyes, and her smile became positively beatific. She signed
ecstatically.
    “Will you tell me what is going on?” Leonore was starting to
get annoyed.
    Ludmilla opened