Page 35 of Her Noble Protector

She watched as he pressed in some numbers and put the phone to his ear. She couldn’t hear what he was saying, but he smiled. Then he handed the phone through the window to her.

“Here she is,” he said.

Lisa put the phone up to her ear and didn’t say anything.

“Lisa? Are you there?”

It was Camilla. She remembered her voice. She sounded young. She sounded happy.

“Lisa?”

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“Lisa, are you okay? You sound different. Your voice is raspy. Have you been crying?”

How could she know that?

Lisa nodded. “Yes.”

“Lisa, are you in your house?” Camilla asked softly. “Can you talk to me?”

Lisa turned away from the window and sat on the side of the bed, hunching down so she could whisper into the phone. “Yes, I’m in my house. Raiden’s outside; he passed his phone through the window.”

“He says you don’t want him to come inside,” Camilla whispered back.

“I don’t,” Lisa’s whisper was even quieter.

“He says you’ve been in your house since Mexico and you haven’t come out.”

“I haven’t,” Lisa said in a voice that was barely there.

“Are you scared all the time?”

“Yeah.” It was barely a breath of air.

“I was too,” Camilla said.

“Did you have nightmares?” Lisa asked.

“Yeah. They were bad. Sometimes I had nightmares when I was awake.”

“I have those too,” Lisa admitted.

“Can I come and see you?” Camilla asked quietly.

“I don’t want anyone to come inside my house. I’m ashamed.” Lisa’s voice was just a breath again.

“We’re sisters,” Camilla said, her voice just a whisper. “We’ve traveled the same road, you and I. There’s no shame between sisters.”

“It’s bad.”

“No, Lisa, the only thing that is bad were those animals in Mexico. They caused this. I’m not bad. You’re not bad. They’re bad. Let me come. I can help get you on the right path.”

“I don’t want Raiden to know,” Lisa whispered again.

“Then he won’t.”

A small sob escaped. “Really?”