The Outrider - A Paranormal Regency Romance ONC 2022

Chapter 12

In which our heroine overcomes her fright

Scrambling backward until her back hit a tree trunk, Corinna found herself besieged by a swarm of confused thoughts.

The creature in front of her must be a changeling. But it was also a  child, which appeared to be hurt. Further complications rolled into her troubled mind. If she helped the girl now, she would reveal she had seen something she shouldn't have seen. That would mean betraying herself. Until she had a better idea of where she stood in this place, revealing her true nature was not a good idea.

The baby panther raised its head and wailed. The image of the child had faded away, but she knew what she had seen, what wriggled and writhed in front of her.

She should be ashamed of herself. The poor baby was suffering, and she was the only one around to help.

"Promise me not to bite me," she said in her sternest governess voice.

The same moment a revelation dawned. Unless the child belonged to my lord's farmers and had entered the grounds from outside, it could only be her charge: Amanda, his lordship's niece.

Worry squirmed through her innards.

The eyes of the creature had been familiar because they resembled his lordship's.

"Oh, lordy me, as Mrs. Tuckles would say. Everything is just as she thought."

The panther child had stilled. Her heart hammering out a panicky tattoo, Corinna crept across and reached for the snare that trapped the baby panther's leg.

Twice, she pulled back her hand. Twice she reached out again. The third time she managed to slip a finger under the sharp metal and pry it away from the fur, sodden with a sticky fluid, that could only be blood.

The panther licked her hand, and her heart went out the creature.

The changeling truly wasn't dangerous. It...she wasn't wild. She was only a child.

A very heavy child, as Corinna found out when she lifted the furry body. How old would she be? Nine or ten, she guessed. The panther's weight confirmed the suspicion. Of course, she had no idea what a baby panther was supposed to weigh, not having encountered one on her journeys across Europe.

"Let me help you," said a male voice.

Corinna yelped and nearly dropped her charge. Hastily, she pressed the warm, furry body to her chest and swung around to confront the latest insomniac prowling the grounds of the Hall at night.

This one had every right to such ramblings because he owned the place. The Marquis of Demoral's face was a white oval in the moonlight, his hair not artfully brushed into disarray, but thoroughly messed up. He wore boots, breeches, and a frilly shirt open at the chest, heaving from what must have been a fast sprint.

Corinna experienced some rather inappropriate stirrings. Inappropriate not because she still carried Amanda, the baby panther whose heart fluttered close to her, but because of his lordship's...appearance.

"Are you aware who you carry in your arms?"

Don't tell him. Whatever you do, don't tell him how you found out.

"I have a good guess, my lord. Call it female intuition."

He stepped closer, and she could see his expression now, tense and unsmiling.

"Did you join us here because of your...intuition?"

"No." That at least was the truth, and nothing but the truth.