“Lass,” Gavin, whispered hotly.
“For God’s sake,” she snapped annoyed her pity-party was cut short. “What?”
“Do not make any hasty movements,” he warned in a breath of air that immediately sent shivers of dread cascading down her spine.
The old tubby-two ton, she was offering up to be sacrificed only minutes before actually took off up the rock-laden incline moving much faster than she would have given him credit for. Her mind finally registered what Gavin had said and all the men’s reactions in front of her only added credence to it.
Slowly, she turned, and looked up into the glowing eyes of the infamous monster of the Loch Morar, looming above us.
“Holy Shhh…”
Gavin wrapped his arms around her. “Do not look.”
It was too late for that. She had already seen the God-awful looking creature and now she couldn’t turn away. Its scaly snake like head listed to the side, and then swung back in the other direction, tracking the movement of the men running.
Like a whip cracking, the head snapped out above, snatching three men in one fell swoop.
“See, I told you the monster wouldn’t care what it ate,” she told him, feeling like she was watching a movie, not actually about to be devoured by the monster she was commentating on like some kind of critic. Part in terror and part in astonishment, she watched as the monster made quick work of the three men. A pair of feet dangled out from under the sharp teeth and then disappeared down into its long scaly throat.
Just as the gypsy/witch/legend said, submerged in the water, she could see the glimmering golden mouth of a cave behind the creature, which looked to be filled with a Kings treasure. Hell, if you asked her, it looked like Fort Knox.
Gavin pulled her closer, and pressed her head against his shoulder protectively with his free hand. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him back.
“I will miss ye, lass,” he whispered hotly in her ear as his hand stroked down over her back.
Reality came crashing in, smashing her dreamlike trance to smithereens. Trying to force back the tears that were suddenly clouding her vision, she tightened her grip.
“Take heed,” he whispered. “The mist is almost here.”
Paige held him tighter. She didn’t want to leave yet…maybe not ever…fine, maybe that was a stretch considering what they were facing but she certainly didn’t want to leave like this. She had only just started getting used to…all this…and now…she didn’t want to go back through the mist. She wanted to stay here, with him, forever.
Her legs grew weak. She fought the darkness trying to lay claim to her as the mist came closer. “No. I can’t leave you.”
“Ye have to.” He smoothed his hands over her hair to hold her face in his hands. The monster seemed not to see them, only the men running as it snatched two more into its mouth.
No, I don’t, she thought, but she didn’t tell him that.
He lifted her hand and pressed it with his to where her heart resided in her chest. “I will always be right here with ye.”
He dropped her hand and took a step away as the mist wound its way around her body, pulling.
“Do not be afraid, lass.” A look of pain entered his eyes once more.
“Gavin, what are you doing?” She planted her feet, trying to lean away from the pull of the mist.
“I have to get the treasure while the beast is occupied.”
Like hell you will, she thought. The gypsy’s words that she had forgotten came back in a rush.
“If ye want ta have a Highlander for yer verra own, do ye think ye could keep him from choosing a Kings treasure over ye?”
She remembered with perfect clarity saying, “Of course I can.”
“I hope ye are right, lass.” The gypsy patted her bottom and ushered her from her tent.
The sound of men screaming brought her mind back to the moment at hand.
“What about me?” she couldn’t help asking.
Gavin turned back around and grabbed hold of her arms. “Ye stay put. Do not move a muscle. The mist will take ye away any moment now. Remember what I told ye, aye?” And with that, he turned and dove into the water.
Frozen in place, she couldn’t quite grasp what happened. What about his declarations of love?
Fine. It wasn’t the best time but seriously? He wasn’t going to see her again. Did their time together mean so little? Tears came rushing to the surface. She couldn’t believe he didn’t even tell her he was going to miss her.
As the creature swayed back and forth above her head, Paige stared at the break of water where he dove, looking for him. Maybe he would wave or call to her from the water and tell her what she so desperately wanted to hear.
Gavin reemerged from the water, he was already waist deep.
Paige stifled a sob. He didn’t turn around like she was hoping. Instead, he was like a madman, using deep strokes to glide across the water towards the treasure.
Still in denial, she couldn’t quite grasp the fact that he had just left her standing here with a monster making meals out the men running away. And yet, Gavin, her highlander, didn’t seem to care. He had chosen the damnable treasure over her.
Well, she thought, getting riled again. She had news for him. She wasn’t going to give up…not now. Forcing her feet forward, she stepped further into the water to follow him.
♦
Treading water, Gavin’s head bobbed up and down on the crest of a wave. He was hoping to have one last glimpse of his lass before she disappeared from his life forever. It saddened him greatly, more so then he imagined it would. But it was for the best. If she was gone he wouldn’t have to worry about her any longer. He also wouldn’t get to see her smiling face anymore or have her shapely body press up against his while they slept or ….
He spotted her, and what he saw made his heart seize.
“Lass, what are ye doing?”
“It’s all right,” she told him, stepping further into the water. “Don’t worry about me. Go ahead, get your treasure.” The word left a bad taste in her mouth. Taking another step, she tried to move forward but it was harder now. The mist was surrounding her and like he said it would, she could feel it starting to pull her away.
“I told ye ta stay put!” his voice was harsh
Paige acted like she didn’t hear him.
Gavin dove under the water as the serpentine head of the monster swung towards him.
She ducked down too, but the water was retreating so she couldn’t go under.
He resurfaced and swiped the wetness from his eyes. “Lass, do not move, not an inch, do ye ken what I am saying ta ye?”
The sound of his voice cut her to the bone, and she immediately started second-guessing her hasty decision to follow him.
The monster’s head whipped in the other direction as more men made a break for it.
Paige kept crouched down, trying to cover her face against the smell of death that permeated the air.
A shoe dropped into the water in front of her with a big splash.
Belatedly, she realized a leg was still attached.
The dream like trance she was in vanished and everything became a very harsh, a very scary reality. She wasn’t in a movie. She was in the past with a God-awful creature that was apparently really hungry and if she wasn’t careful, she too, would be part of its meal. A bubble of hysterical laughter threatened to erupt from her, thinking that she couldn’t make this shit up if she tried.
♦
When Gavin saw Paige crouching in the water with the monster so close to her, something snapped. Getting the treasure was upmost in his mind until this very moment. And then he realized something that had been buried deep inside. He didn’t really give a damn about the treasure or the King’s wrath. What he cared about, the only thing he cared about was getting to the woman who somehow managed to wheedle her way into his heart.
Diving back into the swell of water, the treasure forgotten, he tr
ied to get back to her. He had to get to her, to tell her the truth, before it was too late.
Everything seemed to slow down. And Paige was sure her short life would flash before her eyes at any moment.
But it didn’t.
Instead, through the mist surrounding her, she saw Gavin.
He let out a bloodcurdling roar and just like on the training field, like poetry in motion, she watched, spellbound as he whirled around, with his sword high above his head, slicing it through the air as the glinting metal landed deeply into the scaly flesh of the monster.
Blood rained down onto the water, coating her and everything else in the general vicinity.
Frozen in terror, the most unholy sound she had ever heard surrounded her.
Belatedly, Paige realized it was not coming from Gavin, the monster, or the men…it was coming from her own mouth.
A loud hiss rent the air as the serpentine head swung back around, the glowing eyes settling on her as it prepared to strike.
She couldn’t move if she tried.
The pull of the mist was too strong.
Gavin let out a feral roar and slammed into her.
Air forced from her lungs from impact as she was plunged deep under the frigid water with him on top. Reflexively, she wrapped her arms around his waist.
They resurfaced.
“Lass, let me go.”
He pushed her arms.
Paige was being pulled in two directions. Part with Gavin, and part by the mist.
Instead of letting him go, like she knew he wanted, she did what any sensible woman would have done in her predicament.
She tightened her hold and pulled him back through the mist with her.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
GRANDFATHER MOUNTAIN
Present Day
The screaming is what woke him when the darkness finally receded from his mind. Gavin pulled himself up into a sitting position and looked around the desolate landscape of the mountain.
It seemed different.
People were milling about, which wouldn’t be all that strange, but they were wearing some peculiar looking clothing.
Something shifted beside him and he looked down. Curled up at his side was his lass, still clutching to his plaid.
“Lass…” He shook her arm. A voice cut through the din she was hearing in her mind. The Scottish brogue unmistakable even with her eyes closed. The fog receded from her brain as her eyes opened. Directly above her was her highlander.
Paige sat up and immediately noticed all the people in normal clothing, walking around and giving them strange looks. “We made it!” She threw her arms around him.
His hands clenched her waist, holding her aloft. “Aye, lass, it would seem so.”
Little bells of warning were sounding in her brain but she was too happy to worry about them now. “We made it!” she repeated, hugging him tighter, ignoring how rigid he was.
“Aye, lass, we did,” he agreed.
Leaning back, she looked at him. “That was close, right?”
“Aye.” He nodded.
“I didn’t think we would get out of there. I had my doubts about that mist you told me about…” she was speaking fast not able to help herself.
“Lass,” he exhaled. “If ye want me ta respond ta ye, ye need ta speak more plainly.”
“Oh, right. Sorry.”
“I know what ye did.” He gave her a stern look.
“Huh?” She played dumb.
“Ye disobeyed me.”
“Well, you didn’t leave me much choice.”
A resolute expression crossed his face. “Aye, I suppose you are right about that.”
“Are you upset?” She couldn’t tell.
“No. I am no upset.”
“Are you glad?”
“What do you think?” He gave her another one of his unreadable looks.
“Well…” she hedged. “ I hope you are.”
He turned and looked across the horizon, then back to Paige. His expression was grim. “Lass,” he exhaled. “What I mean to say is…”
Oh, crap. Her heart kicked into double time. “It’s all right.” She waved her hand. “I’m sure this is a lot to take. Well, not for me, but you. You know we are in the future, right?”
A crease marred his otherwise perfect brow. “I know where we are, lass.”
“Of course, you do…”
He took her hands in his. “Lass,” he said looking deeply into her eyes. “I have something I need to tell ye...”
This was it. He was finally going to tell her of his feelings for her. “Yes.” It was a surreal moment to be sure. She held her breath and prepared herself.
Gavin couldn’t quite get the words out of his mouth that he knew he needed to say. Words, he knew she wanted to hear. But they were stuck.
The longer Gavin looked at her, with those blue-green eyes of his, the same color of Loch Morar, the happiness she had been feeling evaporated, and instead, a sinking feeling settled in the pit of her stomach.
“What’s wrong?”
“I wanted to…” he trailed off, looking nervous suddenly. “I should have told ye…”
Paige cut him off at the pass. “Oh, who cares,” she said quickly. She had a tendency to do that when things in her life seemed like they were going south. “We’re safe that is all that matters. Right?”
“O’ course.”
“I’m sorry about the treasure.” Fine. That was an outright lie. She wasn’t sorry about that at all.
“It’s all right.”
Paige squeezed his hands and cast her line in the proverbial pond looking for a miniscule nibble that would assure her that she did indeed matter more to him than that damnable treasure. “But you were so close…”
“I know.”
That was it! “Are you upset I brought you with me?” She tried a different tactic. Apparently, the damn pond was empty.
“Nay.” He shook his head solemnly back and forth. “It was bound to happen sooner or later.”
That didn’t sound close to what she envisioned he should say. She was waiting for “I love you like no other and I could never be away from you….Fine. Maybe not that much, but at least a, “I do love ye.” She got neither. Not wanting him to see the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes, she turned away.
“Don’t ye know how I feel about ye by now, lass?” he asked, sounding like he was getting choked up.
Finally. A ray of hope glimmered. She turned back towards him. “Not really.”
“Ah…” His voice caught. He cleared his throat and tried again. “I was going to tell ye… ”
“Tell me…what?” The sinking feeling was back in her stomach.
He took a deep breath.
The pained look she had seen so many times before made another appearance.
Her heart jumped into double time. It didn’t look like he was about to declare his love for her. It actually looked like he was going to tell her something that she didn’t want to hear. Freaking out, she jumped up. “Gosh, I’m starving…”
♦
In that moment, Gavin made up his mind. Mayhap, some things were better left unsaid, at least for now. He knew what she wanted. But how could he tell the lass how he felt for her when part of his heart still belonged to another? He stood up and winced.
Besides, he thought grimly. He had other things to attend to, like finding a certain Gypsy.
“Are you all right?”
“Aye. Just hungry.”
Paige didn’t really believe him. Gavin sucked at lying. At least he used to in the past. Now he was in foreign territory. Maybe he had been lying to her the whole time. Pretending like he cared for her. She didn’t believe that, though. He must be in shock. Yes. Now that makes complete sense. Besides, there was no way she wanted to continue the awkward conversation about feelings or lack thereof, while they had an audience and especially not while they were still on this damnable mountain. Who knew if that damn gypsy/witch/crone whatever she wa
s…she could still be around here. At that thought, an all too familiar shiver of unease slid up her spine.
Stop it, Paige. Just cold, no need to start freaking out. The gypsy/witch/crone probably, most likely, assuredly, has gone back to wherever she came from, she reasoned silently.
Taking a bracing breath, Paige gave up labeling the woman and simply dubbed her, old bat, and directly shoved her wrinkled ass out of her thoughts, and turned her mind back to Gavin. She would have plenty of time to talk to him about what was bothering him, later, or at least that is what she told herself. “Well, we should get going before it gets dark.” She brushed off her skirts acting like she wasn’t upset at him and held out her hand for him to take.
“Aye,” he said. “We should go before it gets dark.” As he took her hand, Gavin could swear someone was watching them…waiting...
He had been in the past long enough to know his gut wasn’t usually wrong. As they headed down the mountain, he could swear he heard the cackling laughter of the Gypsy…Morag.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
BLOWING ROCK, NORTH CAROLINA
Dream Weavers Shop - One month later
“My God! Who is that?”
Paige gritted her teeth and tried hard not to roll her eyes. Even without looking, she knew exactly who Ashley was speaking about.
“He’s with me.”
Ashley’s amber eyes rounded to the size of saucers accompanied by a staple look of disbelief that Paige was getting used to. “Where did you meet him?”
“At the Highland Games.”
“Are you kidding me?” Her shock was apparent.
“Nope. I’m serious.” Granted that wasn’t exactly true. Paige had met Gavin in the past but had she not been at the games on Grandfather Mountain and made a deal with a gypsy…err… witch… she would not have met him. So, in a roundabout way, it was the truth.
Lost in the Highlands, Volume One Page 30