The girl’s head turned slowly, and her large soft gray eyes fixed on Francesca’s face as if she were clutching at a lifeline. “I could never forget you.” Like Francesca, Skyler spoke in French, yet Francesca had the feeling it wasn’t her first language. There were several heartbeats of silence before the girl forced herself to continue. “Is it true? Is he really dead?”
Francesca glided across the room, her movements as fluid and graceful as those of a ballet dancer. There were no sharp edges to Francesca, only a whisper of sound as she moved. She dropped the package of clothes on the end of the bed. More carefully, she tucked the stuffed animal close beside the girl and took Skyler’s hand in her own. Gently. Lovingly. “Yes, my dear, he has passed from this life and can no longer touch you. I am hoping you will want to come and live with me.” With her free hand she stroked back Skyler’s wild hair. “I very much want you to live with me.” There was a trace of compulsion in the silvery purity of her voice.
To her astonishment, Skyler’s steady gaze wavered. She closed her eyes, the long lashes sweeping down so they lay like two thick black crescents against her pale skin. “I felt you inside me, reaching out to me. I know you aren’t like most people.” Her voice was so soft it was a mere thread of sound. “I know things I’m not supposed to know about people. When I touch them, I know things. You do, too. You know what he did to me, the things he let his friends do to me. You want to make it all better, but even if you could take away the memories, you can never make me innocent and good again.”
“You don’t believe that, Skyler. You’re smarter than that. They may have touched your body, but not your soul. They could have destroyed your body, but never your soul. You are already good and innocent. You have always been that. The things done to you cannot change your basic nature. They can shape you, make you stronger. You know that you’re strong, don’t you? You found a way to survive what would have destroyed others.”
Skyler’s small teeth touched her lower lip in agitation but she didn’t answer.
Francesca smiled at her, a gentle smile of commitment to Skyler’s healing. “You’re right about me. I am different, just as you are different. Perhaps the world around us can shape us, but we are strong inside. You are whole. There is no stain on your soul to cause you to be afraid to be with me. I shared everything with you, your pain, the degradation, the beatings, the fear, all of it. I want you with me where I can shelter you, offer you the things you should have had, things you truly deserve. You’re holding my hand, you know the things I am saying are true.”
“There were others with you when you were sharing my memories. I felt them, two men with us.”
“There was only one man,” Francesca corrected gently. “Gabriel. He is a very powerful man. Under his protection there is no one who can harm you.”
Skyler looked puzzled. “There was another. I am sure of it. There was one staying very quiet, lending his strength to you and to me. But the other remained passive while you were here with me. After you left, I remember him holding me, yet he wasn’t touching me at all. His arms were strong and felt very different than any other’s. He wanted nothing from me, only to comfort and help. Who is he?”
“Only Gabriel was with us, sweetheart. Maybe you were dreaming.”
“I felt all three of you distinctly. He was very strong. There was no anger or rage, only a quiet acceptance. He examined my memories. I know he was learning about you through me, I felt it.” Skyler sighed in resignation. “You don’t believe me. You think I’m making it up.”
“No, I don’t think that at all, Skyler,” Francesca said.
He was learning about you through me.
“I simply do not know who it was. I only felt you. Later I realized Gabriel had shared your ordeal with me, but I was so caught up in it at the time I was focused solely on you. I believe you have this gift. How could I do otherwise? You cannot lie to me. Even though I cannot ‘see’ this man in your mind, that does not mean he was not with you. You knew I shared your memories when few others would have known. You are aware I am different from others. Stay with us, Skyler, with Gabriel and me. We are different. I’m not going to pretend otherwise, but our feelings for you are genuine.” She sent a quick mental report of the conversation to Gabriel. It alarmed her that Skyler remembered so vividly the feeling of another sharing their mind merge.
“How can I ever face myself, look in the mirror again?” For the first time the thin, small voice held emotion, a sob of burning pain, quickly beaten back. Skyler’s torment immediately claimed Francesca’s full attention.
She tightened her hold on Skyler. “Look at me, sweetheart. Look at me.” It was a soft command.
Skyler turned her head once more and lifted her impossibly long lashes. She could see her face reflected in Francesca’s black eyes. Like a mirror. Skyler looked beautiful. “That’s not me.”
“Yes, it is. That’s how I see you. That’s how your mother saw you. That’s how Gabriel sees you. Who else matters? That man who claimed he was your father? A drunken shell of a human being who wanted only to use drugs to escape what he had become? His opinion cannot possibly matter to you, Skyler.”
“I didn’t want to come back. I was safe where I was.” There was a plea in the young voice, a heartbreaking plea. “I can’t face it all over again.”
Francesca stroked back the fringe of hair tumbling over the girl’s forehead, her touch soothing and healing at the same time. “Yes, you can. You’re strong, Skyler, and you’re no longer alone. You know I am different, I have certain abilities. I can dull your memories, give you time to heal properly. You will still feel the pain, but it will be bearable. You are surrounded by those who love you and you see yourself the way you really are inside, not the way that man tried to teach you. He was dead inside, a monster made of drugs and alcohol.”
“He is not the only monster in the world.”
“No, sweetheart, he is not. The world is filled with such creatures and they come in all forms and sizes.
We can only do what we can to stop them and rescue the innocents from their hands. Gabriel has dedicated his life to doing so and so have I in my own way. Give us the chance to love and care for you as you should have been.”
“I’m afraid,” Skyler said. “I don’t know if I can ever be whole again. I can’t bear the sight of men. Everything frightens me.”
“Deep within your heart and soul, Skyler, you know all men cannot be condemned for the despicable things your father did. All men are not alike. Most are fair and loving.”
“I’m still afraid, Francesca. It doesn’t matter that I know what you’re saying might be the truth. I can’t take the chance, I don’t want to take a chance.”
Francesca shook her head gently. “You retreated so that you would not become like them. You wanted to be like your mother, seeing the good in people and having compassion. I read that in you easily.”
Her eyelids fluttered, then bravely remained open. “I wanted him dead.”
“Of course you did. I wanted him dead, too. That does not mean we are monsters, sweetheart, only that we are not angels. Join with us. I want you with me, I have been inside your head and know you as your own mother did. Better perhaps. I would count myself blessed to share my life with yours. If that is not what you wish, I will provide the money for your education and upbringing. Either way, it is your choice. I will not abandon you.”
Skyler twisted her fingers tightly around Francesca’s. “You know what you’re asking of me. I know you do. I’ll have to go out into the world, be with others. I’ll never be the same as they are. I’ll never fit in.”
“You’ll fit in with me,” Francesca insisted. “With Gabriel and me. We appreciate talent such as you have, we really do. We can help you develop it. There are ways to tone it down or expand it if it is necessary to do so. And you will have plenty of time to heal before you need to face the world. Try to sit up, Skyler. You’re strong enough.”