This time, she saw them. Huge figures, composed completely of glowing light, standing around her and gazing down at her with what she knew, somehow, was worry. She could feel that something was terribly wrong with her… that something was going on in her chest, something bad, something that made her feel panic creeping in around her mind. The only thing that kept it at bay was the knowledge, pure and true as anything, that the people standing around her were going to help. Were in the process of helping, in fact, their glowing hands reaching down to her ruined chest, light pouring into her body and knitting up the terrible damage that had been done by the close-range gunshot that had all but ended her —
She sat bolt upright with a muffled scream. The cottage was well-lit now, light pouring in through the windows, and she could see the clutter of the place in full detail now, as opposed to the cozy, dull haze that had surrounded all the mess the night before. It was truly chaotic… but there was something soothing about it, too. She looked at item after item, curiously shaped jars, strange vases and bowls with oddly colored powders and liquids kept inside them, slowly cataloguing them in her mind, guessing at what they might be while she slowly but surely regained her calm. And once her pounding heartbeat had settled, she lay back down, propped up on her elbows, to give the whole situation a bit of thought.
One way or another, she was here for good. A night of sleep had proved that — if she was going to wake up from a dream, she'd have woken up just then. This was real — this was no hallucination, unless it was a kind she'd never heard of before. But no. Everything was so consistent, so reliable, so clear… nothing that strange had happened. Well, strange things had happened… but they were consistently strange. And as she stretched her legs under the blankets and felt the familiar twinge that indicated she'd overdone it on exercise, she knew that this was no dream. She'd never felt pain in dreams. Pain always woke her straight up… and right now, she was awake. She'd bet her life on it.
But then — what did that mean about where she was? She glanced down at Aelfred, still fast asleep beside her, his back turned to her and that gorgeous pale blond hair falling across his face in a way that made her itch to push it gently back behind his ear… she stopped herself, shaking her head fiercely. Don't make it weird with your only friend here, she told herself firmly. Handsome or not, Aelfred was an ally. She wasn't going to risk alienating him by creeping on him in his sleep. She returned her attention to the little cottage, wondering where Maggie was. Asleep upstairs, perhaps? She was a little tempted to return to sleep as well… but her mind was racing now, and she knew from experience that she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep if she tried. This was case-solving mode. But this was a much more important case than usual. The Case of Where the Hell She Was… and the stakes were higher than a ruined marriage or a shady business deal.
Did she dare believe Aelfred and Maggie — that some kind of fairy creature had brought her here? She thought back to her dream, of the glowing shapes that had stood over her, staring down at her. She'd thought that that had been a hallucination… but she'd had it twice, hadn't she? Once in a dream, but once before that, too… once between the confrontation in the hotel room and waking up in the depths of the lake. She'd seen them, the glowing figures. Felt them… what? Touching her? Healing her, perhaps? She stared down at her chest, glanced at Aelfred, then quickly pulled her singlet over her head once she'd ascertained that he was definitely still asleep.
There it was — her ribcage. Completely intact. No scar, no sign of damage at all. But the more she thought about the confrontation in the hotel room, the more she was grimly sure of what had happened. She'd been struck by the bullet that had fired from Gina's gun, she knew that absolutely had happened — from the hazy memory of flying across the room, to the red stickiness that had been soaking her coat and her hands… she'd been shot, and near-fatally, too.
So, what on Earth had happened after that?
Chapter 6
Her heart was pounding as she rolled over in her bedroll, restless and wishing that Aelfred was awake, just for someone to talk to. He stirred a little, and she realized with acute relief that he was finally waking up. Good. Maybe he could help clear some of her worries up… and she smiled a little as he gazed up at her, his eyes still half-asleep, a dazed smile on his face. Yes, he was definitely just as beautiful in the light of the sun as he was in the light of the moon… those cheekbones were ridiculous, and those shining silver eyes… how could they be natural? Was he even real, this man? She grinned to herself. Maybe he was a dashing Faerie man... but then a shiver ran down her spine as the very real possibility struck her that maybe that was true. Maybe he wasn't even human.
"How did you sleep?" he asked, his voice still hoarse with sleep.
She sighed. "Not the best sleep I've ever had," she admitted, shaking her head. "Strange dreams."
"Oh, aye. Me too. The Sidhe, mostly," he said with a smile. "And yours?"
"The same, I suspect," she said thoughtfully, giving him a meaningful look. "At least, I think so? What do they look like?"
"Hard to say," he said simply, running a hand through his tangled blond hair and wincing comically at how tangled it was. "Does Maggie have a comb, I wonder…"
"Like light?" She wanted to know and was a little impatient with the way he was searching for a grooming implement when she was trying to figure out just how the hell she had gotten here. "Like vaguely human figures made completely of light?"
"Yes, that's how they appeared to me at first, too," Aelfred said, turning back to her with a surprised look on his face. "Eventually I suppose my eyes adjusted to the light… though it's hard to say how long it took," he added, frowning. "Time passes very strangely over there. I'm still a little surprised that day follows night, though I suppose that's how it's supposed to be…"
"Sounds about right."
That was Maggie's voice, and Melanie sat bolt upright, shocked to hear that voice sounding from behind them. How had she gotten past them? Hadn't she been upstairs? The woman was pottering around in the kitchen, and gave them a toothless, cheery grin as she brought a small pile of firewood over and bent to start industriously fussing with the remnants of the fire from the night before. It seemed a few embers were still alight, because it wasn't long before a small blaze was crackling again, bathing Melanie in its slight warmth.
"Thank you, for your hospitality last night," Melanie said, remembering what a state she'd been in. "And I'm sorry if I was rude."
"Not a problem, dearie," Maggie said, though the smile on her face seemed to indicate that she was pleased with the apology. "You've been through a great deal. The both of you have, in fact."
"It's very disorienting, travelling through the Burgh," Aelfred agreed, nodding. "I've only done it a few times… and I've never traveled between times. At least, I don't think so. Like I said, time over there…"
"It's a different river." Maggie nodded.
Melanie tried and failed to puzzle out exactly what that meant before giving up. Riddles and cryptic comments could wait. She had more practical questions to ask.
"Before I — before I woke up here," she said, frowning, "I was in a hotel room with an angry woman and a couple — well, never mind what they were up to. But a gun went off. I think — I think I was shot."
Aelfred tilted his head to the side, clearly confused. "Shot? By an arrow?"
"By a bullet." She hesitated. Did he really not know what a gun was? Medieval time, her mind said brightly… and she fought the urge to close her eyes and go back to sleep. "Like a very fast, very fatal arrow."
"Well translated," Maggie said with a grin. "Aye, that would be why they brought you here, I'd warrant."
"They?"
"The Sidhe have a habit of collecting lost souls," Maggie said firmly, gesturing toward the Loch. "Again, like I said last night, you're not alone. Plenty of women have come before you — similarly saved from certain death."
A chill ran down her spine. "Death?"
"Oh, aye. That bullet would have killed you without the Sidhe's interference, that's for certain. They wouldn't have yanked you away from your life like that if you'd had any life left to live."
There was something about Maggie's matter-of-fact tone that made her want to believe her… even though all of her investigatory instincts were screaming at her that it was ridiculous. But didn't she remember being shot by a bullet at close range? Didn't she vaguely remember thinking that the wound must have been fatal? "They … healed a gunshot wound? In five seconds?"
"Five seconds, five months, five decades. Impossible to say how long time takes in the Fae," Maggie said with a shrug of her shoulders. "It's why I never answer when people ask how old I am. There's no way of telling if you've spent any time in the Fae at all."
"And you have?"
"Oh, aye. Much of my life. But I much prefer this side of the Burgh," Maggie said, her eyes twinkling. "There's something about humans. Most of us Fae folk prefer our own company, but I suppose I've always been strange. Besides, I'm only half Fae."
Melanie blinked hard, processing all of this as best as she could. She seemed to have decided to believe these two strangers, to take what they were saying at face value, as truth… though she couldn't help but keep a small but fervent faith alive that they were both just messing with her. "And you, Aelfred? Are you half Fae as well?" It would make sense, wouldn't it? Those shining eyes of his didn't seem human… but he shook his head, frowning a little.
"No. No, I was born here. My childhood was here… I'm human, as far as I know. But then when I was younger, the Sidhe took me through the Burgh, and I grew up over there. As Maggie said… it's hard to say how long I spent there. Long enough to grow up, I suppose. To learn to ride, and fight, and dance."
She stopped herself thinking some downright unladylike thoughts about which of those skills she was most interested in seeing in action and forced herself to focus on what he was saying.
"And now… well, it was time to come back, I suspect. Or maybe someone told me. It's all so hard to remember, now," he said softly, shaking his head.
Maggie was smiling at him sympathetically. "Aye, that's right. It's always hard, coming back from the Burgh. Even for me," she said softly. "The disorientation, that's part of moving from a place outside of time to a place governed by it, like this one. But you'll settle in," she said briskly. "You've got friends on the ground here — you've got me, and you've got Melanie here. And as a Grant, you've got family."
He looked up, his expression brightening. "Yes! Clan Grant — I remember. I remember that name, at least," he added, shaking his head a little ruefully. "Not much more. Do they live around here? Do they have a — a house, or something, somewhere I can go?"
Maggie chuckled. "Oh, I can do you one better than that, Aelfred Grant. You and your family have a whole blasted castle to yourselves."
Melanie's eyes widened. A castle… could it be the one they'd seen the night before, looming in the distance, lit up by what had looked like torches and the light of the moon? She'd half convinced herself she'd dreamed it — she'd been so tired and confused last night, so utterly out of it with the adrenaline of swimming for their lives, the utter shock and confusion of being here. But she had seen it, hadn't she? The castle. And was she hearing this right? Aelfred's family owned the thing?
"The pair of you can travel there together," Maggie said firmly, in the kind of tone that brooked no argument. "It's only a half hour's walk or so if you move quickly. Clan Grant, you see, is where you'll find all the others, Melanie," Maggie said kindly, giving her a firm little nod. "It's where you ought to be, until you find your place here."
"Find my place? I want to go back," she said blankly. "Back to LA, back to my life. My father will be worried about me."
"Time travel, remember?" Maggie said with a click of her tongue. "Your father hasn't been born yet, Melanie. Best not to fret about that just now."
That, too, made her feel ridiculous, and a rush of dizziness swept over her, making her bite her lip and sway a little even where she was setting. She felt Aelfred put a warm hand on her arm to steady her, looked into those bright silver eyes and caught her breath at the look of concern and empathy there. "Are you alright?"
"Just a little dizzy," she said, looking down, worried her expression would give her away if she looked at him too long.
"It's understandable," he said softly. "You'll be disoriented for a while, after traveling as far as you had. But sooner or later, you'll start feeling normal again. I promise."
She wasn't sure if he was right about that… but the reassuring tone in his voice, and the clearly sincere attempt at comforting her, that was very welcome. She found herself smiling back, and to her surprise she did feel better, as though a warm little fire had been lit in her belly, keeping her safe. Still, she wasn't sure about traveling to a castle… "Will the people at this Keep know how to get me home?"
Maggie shook her head sharply. "Best to break this news as soon as possible," she said firmly. "There's no way back, girlie. Not for you — not for anyone, for that matter, but especially not for you. You have to understand how this works. In your own time, you're dead. Even if there was a way of getting back there… well, death would catch up with you sooner or later. Touched by it, you would be. Cursed, if you like that word, though it's not exactly right. It's more like… what comes up must come down. You died that day, Melanie. You can have a life here… or you can go back there and meet your death as sure as a rock thrown into the air falls back down to the earth."
Melanie bit her lip. What Maggie was saying was frightening, and dark, and not exactly something she wanted to think about right now. The idea of walking along the lake shore with Aelfred to visit a medieval castle, though, that sounded okay. Better than being told she was fated to die in her own time. She resisted the thought, resisted it as hard as she could… then decided to simply stop thinking about it. After all, she couldn't get upset about the ramifications of what Maggie had said if she didn't think about it, could she? So, she just nodded, tightly, and turned her attention to Aelfred.
"Fine," she said with a shrug. "If you'd like to travel together…"
A bright smile wreathed his face immediately, and she couldn't help but feel a small one arise on her face to mirror it. There was something so infectious about his happiness. "Excellent," he said happily, reaching out to touch her hand gratefully. "Thank you, Melanie. It will be good to have a fellow traveler to share the road with. You make me feel a little less lost."
I wish I could say the same, Melanie thought faintly, looking at him as he clambered to his feet and began to dress himself again. She reached out for her own shirt, expecting it to still be half damp — after all, fire or no, they hadn't been hanging up to dry long, and after all, they'd been soaked utterly in the water of the Loch. But to her shock, the shirt was bone dry, for all the world as though she'd just pulled it out of the dryer back home. It was even slightly warm to the touch, even though the fire wasn't nearly big enough to justify such a thing, and when she pulled it on over her head, it felt like a warm hug.
Magic, a treacherous part of her mind wondered. Was it magic? Don't be ridiculous, she told it sharply. Who on Earth would use magic to dry clothing? You don't know, the thought occurred suddenly. You don't have the faintest idea what people use magic for. You didn't know people used magic to save women from fatal gunshot wounds before today, did you? Maybe Maggie had dried my shirt, she thought as she clambered to her feet… and another wave of dizziness crashed over her, causing her to stumble toward Aelfred. He caught her in his arms, steadying her, and she tried to pretend that her heart hadn't done a backflip at the touch of his hand.
"Still dizzy," she said, shaking her head ruefully.
Maggie's eyes were twinkling from where she was perched in the kitchen on a stool, a pile of knitting in her lap, but if she was thinking anything in particular, she didn't give voice to it. And Melanie wasn't going to ask. The last thing she needed was
for things to get awkward between her and her traveling companion.
The two of them dressed quickly. She relaced her boots, surprised by how dry they were, and by how little damage seemed to have been done to them by their dip in the lake — she'd expected the leather to have warped somehow, but it looked good as new. Did she have Maggie to thank for that, somehow? She gave the woman a cautious look, wondering whether to bring it up… but the glint in her eye made her think better of it. What was it about Old Maggie that made her feel like she was always making fun of her, somehow, even when she wasn't speaking?
The old woman followed them out onto the porch, where a bright, clear new day greeted them. It was lovely, if a little chillier than she was used to, and Melanie tugged her coat close around her, feeling a little conspicuous in her modern clothes. If it was medieval times — and she still hadn't fully accepted or acknowledged that particular piece of ridiculous information — then she'd be dressed rather strangely, wouldn't she? Then again, from the way Maggie had eyed Aelfred, she imagined that he, too, was dressed a little strangely. There certainly was something odd about the fine, shining red fabric that his clothing was composed of… but he didn't seem shy as they bid a warm farewell to Maggie before setting off on their travels.
"Thanks again, Maggie," Melanie said softly, reaching out to squeeze the woman's wrinkled old hands. She squeezed back with a surprising strength. "I appreciate your — well, trying to explain it all to me."
Trusted By The Highlander: A Scottish Time Travel Romance Page 5