by Lynn Donovan
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are all products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblances to persons, organizations, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
The book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. All rights are reserved with the exceptions of quotes used in reviews. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage system without express written permission from the author.
Beyond the VEIL Series
©2019 Lynn Donovan
Cover Design by Virginia McKevitt
Editing by Cyndi Rule
Lynn Donovan’s Newsletter
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Entangled with Faeries
Table of Contents
Copyright
Lynn Donovan’s Newsletter
Appreciation
Dedication
Introduction
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Personal Note from the Author
Newsletter and Free Book
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Appreciation
Thank you to everybody in my life who has contributed in one way or another to the writing of this book. My husband, my children, my children-in-law, and my grandchildren. You all are my unconditional fans. My BETA readers, writers’ group, and grammar guru who make me look gooder than I am. [Bad grammar intended.] My fellow author friends who chat with me daily to exchange ideas, encourage, maintain sanity, and keep me from being a total recluse/hermit.
Mostly, I thank God for the talent he has given me. I hope to hear you say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant,” when I cross the Jordan and run into your arms—Many, many years from now. God bless you all!
Dedication
To Abbie Jane
Introduction
Love is a fantasy, especially when it’s an accident.
Geologist Dr. Abbie Crossan finds a problem in the strata surrounding the VEIL experiment. No one believes her. Is it because of her Tinker Bell obsession and bright pink hair?
Joseph Assad agrees that Abbie’s concerns are minimal until the quantum experiment explodes. Was she right all along? What are these strange creatures entering the facility through the mysterious fog?
Is there any way Joseph and Abbie’s new relationship can survive the swarm of faeries that affect their emotions? How much danger is the open portal to our world anyway? Is there a way to find a Happy Ever After when they are Entangled with Faeries?
Chapter One
“Hey!” Abbie Crossan tucked a strand of bright pink hair behind her ear and rapped her knuckle on the glass wall of the Absolutely Sterile Environment laboratory. “You ready for lunch, Sis?”
Karole Crossan looked up from a microscope. Red-ringed impressions still lingered around her eyes. “Oh! Hey.”
She slipped her bronze wire-framed glasses on and glanced at the only decoration on the stark white wall, an extra-large black and white clock. “Is it lunch time already?”
Abbie snickered at the fading rosy raccoon mask as her sister prepared to leave the ASE lab. Karole might be a medical doctor who graduated with honors, but she was still her geeky older sister. Karole slid out of her green medical lab coat and tossed it in a container marked “WFD.”
Apparently it was a joke for the medical lab only. Abbie had worked with this Variable Entanglement Investigation at Loville facility for three years and her sister had just come on board two weeks ago, yet Karole refused to explain it to Abbie. The VEIL facility had so many acronyms they had formed an acronym department. But Abbie couldn’t find WFD listed anywhere.
Karole stepped into the small decontamination chamber the size of a phone booth. In fact, Abbie had helped the medical team a year ago to paint it to look like the TARDIS. That had been when she was dating one of the doctors, but it felt like a life time or two before this one.
The door to the chamber sealed shut and a white fog engulfed Karole, starting at her feet, and dissipated through the ceiling air return system. Abbie always wished her sister would emerge from the mist in a faerie costume, like Tinker Bell, but it never happened.
Karole stepped into the outer laboratory to give Abbie a hug. Abbie leaned back with her nose wrinkled. “That leaves such a weird smell on you. I’m glad I don’t have to do that every time I leave my office.”
Karole shrugged. “You get used to it, I guess. Besides, why would dirt diggers need an ASE?”
“I’m a geologist, not a dirt digger!” Abbie glared at her. “And you’d be surprised what we can get exposed to digging in ancient layers of sediment, in fact, my stratigraphical analysis of this mountain—”
Karole waved the old argument off. “I’m sorry, I’m just tired. Please don’t explain your studies on the strata in this mountain to me again. Even now that I work here, I still don’t… care.”
Abbie stared at her sister, the words still hanging in her mouth. “Yeah, I’m not in a good mood either.” Abbie pondered the sterilizing booth. “I wonder? If I didn’t come by to get you, would you eat?”
“Probably not. Besides, I’m still feeling out a routine. But think of all the weight I’d lose not going by your stomach’s insistent clock.”
They laughed.
“Yeah, that’s called starvation, Karole, not weight loss.”
“Well, good thing I have you to keep me nourished.” She glanced around the office and patted her ID badge hanging from a lanyard around her neck. “Okay, I’m ready.”
Abbie wrapped her arm around her sister’s shoulder and led the way. “When are you going to divulge the secret code for the WFD?”
Karole’s eyes twinkled. “It’s above your pay grade, dear sister.”
Abbie shook her head. Together they exited the Medical building, walking toward the facility’s cafeteria.
Karole ran a cursory eye down Abbie’s length. Genuine interest washed over her face. “So, why are you in a bad mood?”
“Oh…” Abbie sighed heavily. “… I have a concern— maybe it’s nothing.” Abbie plucked an aspen leaf. Its gradient autumn transformation transposed from yellow to rust. Twisting it as they walked, she made it into a rose.
A groundskeeper smiled up at them from a dormant flowerbed she was attending. Karole scanned the indigenous garden between the buildings. “Mmm. It’s so pretty here.”
“Yes it is. Morning, Ling.” Abbie greeted the groundskeeper with a smile and a nod.
Karole turned back to Abbie. “I’m sure you’ll work it out.”
“Yeah. I’m trying.” Abbie tucked a strand of pink hair behind her ear along with the fiery flower.
“Can you feel the excitement in the air?” Karole looked around, as if she
could actually see something sparkle in the atmosphere.
Abbie sighed again. “Yeah. I think the physicists in QuCAD are getting close to a giga-breakthrough.” She shook her head. “I just hope everything goes okay.”
“You scientists and your acronyms. What’s QuCAD again?”
“Quantum Chemistry Applications Department.” Abbie chuckled. “Yeah, acronyms help keep our operations as obscure as possible.”
Karole laughed. “That’s the truth. Like our WFD container.” Karole chortled. “I’ll get the hang of it eventually, er, I mean, ASAP?” She walked sideways to make eye contact with Abbie. “Why wouldn’t it?”
Abbie met her sister’s gaze, confused. “Why wouldn’t what?”
“Why wouldn’t everything go okay?”
“Oh!” Abbie threw her head back. “Because! I don’t know what WFD stands for and it may ruin everything as we know it!”
Karole shook her head as she continued walking at Abbie’s side. “Stop that! From what I was told at orientation, the Quantum Entanglement Physics Lab is super safe, contained against the mountain, and Patrick said all of the component tests have been successful.”
Abbie dropped her gaze to the ground. “I know… It’s just— never mind.”
“Patrick also said today’s the day they’re firing up the whole shebang.” Karole smiled as they entered the dining hall.
“Interesting use of words. Is that what our little brother calls the Quantum Entanglement Super Toroid, the whole shebang?”
Karole opened her mouth wide as if with surprise. “Ha! I know that one! What you geeks call the ‘QEST’.”
Abbie glanced around the cafeteria. “That or just QuEST, like everybody else.” Lowering her voice to a whisper, she grabbed her sister’s arm. “Look. There he is!”
“Who?” Karole lifted a tray and placed it on the skid, then followed Abbie’s line of sight. “How long are you going to admire that guy from afar? Go over there and introduce yourself!”
Abbie placed half a turkey-on-rye sandwich wrapped in a see-through cream-colored cloth on her tray along with a small Cobb salad and a little container of balsamic dressing.
Karole stared at the sandwich with disgust. “What is your sandwich wrapped in?”
Abbie glanced down at her selection. “It’s Bee’s Wrap, organic cotton muslin infused with beeswax, jojoba oil, and tree resin…” She leaned down to sniff the wrap. “… and lilac I believe. It’s an environmentally safe alternative to plastic wrap.”
Karole halted in moving down the food selection line and turned to Abbie with frustration gleaming in her eyes. “You guys implemented it? Didn’t you?”
Abbie frowned. “I didn’t. But yes, my department did.”
“I suppose you environmental geeks can come up with all kinds of weird stuff to appease our overzealous environmentally conscious benefactors?”
Abbie smiled. “Job security. And no, I’m not going to just walk over there and introduce myself to that gorgeous man. What if he’s married?”
Karole sighed and continued down the food selection line. “Well, if he is, then shame on him for not wearing a wedding ring.”
“Some scientists don’t— in fact lots of scientists don’t wear jewelry! You know that. How many electrical burns have you treated in the ER over the years from electric arcs? Hum?” She bulged her eyes at her sister. “Or amputated what was left of a finger after a ring caught on a ladder spur and stripped the skin right off—“
“Okay. I get it.” Karole cringed. “But still, he doesn’t have that look.”
“What look? Do men have a certain ‘look’ when they’re married.” Abbie stole a glance toward him.
“Yes. They do. And they put off a certain vibe.”
“Certain vibe? Is that your medical opinion, Dr. Crossan?”
“Yes, it certainly is. Use that organ in your gut that only women have. Women’s intuition is real, sister. What does that organ tell you about your Dr. Perfect?”
Abbie sighed dreamily. “That he’s gorgeous…”
“Besides that?”
“He works in the QuCAD, that’s Quantum Chemistry Applications Department to you who seem to be out of the lingo loop, and he’s a PhD, and he has Extra Sensitive Information, Top Secret Clearance like you and me.”
“Well, duh. I knew he worked in the QuCAD from his red lab coat and that he’s a PhD from his striped badge.” Karole pressed her red ESI Top Secret Clearance badge to the point-of-sale scanner.
A pleasant mechanical voice responded when the transaction was accepted. “Thank you Doctor Karoley Crossan.”
Karole rolled her eyes. “Remind me to talk to Patrick about changing the spelling of my name in the dietary POS system. I hate being called Karoley.”
She looked at her badge. “Maybe you should talk to HR about implementing a bright red Ghostbuster’s circle-and-slash on the badges to indicate MARRIED.” Karole jerked as if she’d suddenly remembered something important. “Oh. I’m sorry go ahead, tell me what else you know about your dream man.”
Abbie smiled. “I know that Dr. Perfect remembers to eat lunch.”
“Okay… he doesn’t have you to pester him into taking a lunch break, what else?”
“Not yet.” Abbie smiled teasingly, then pursed her lips. “I don’t know…” Abbie sat her tray down and eased into the chair, her eyes remained on the chemist.”
“Will you just eat!” Karole unwrapped her sandwich.
“Okay.” Abbie leaned her chin on her palm, still staring across the room. She absently pierced her salad with an organic disposable fork and stuffed the lettuce in her mouth.
“Didn’t your dad teach you not to put your elbow on the table?” Karole pushed her sister’s elbow and caused her head to lurch.
“My dad is your dad and you know it was Grandma who taught us table manners. Besides, after you moved out, Dad always let me eat on the couch.”
“That’s because you were the number two child who was allowed to juggle knives while jumping off the roof onto a trampoline without a side net or helmet. I was the guinea-pig-first-born who would have been swaddled in bubble-wrap if it had been legal.” They laughed. “So you gonna go over and introduce yourself?”
“I might—” Abbie flushed with embarrassment. “Not.”
“Oh for heaven’s sake!” Karole leapt to her feet and marched across the cafeteria. “Excuse me.”
Abbie rushed up behind her, pawing at her shoulder but missing.
“Hi.” Karole stuck out her hand. “I’m Dr. Karole Crossan, from Medical. I don’t believe we’ve met. You are…”
He looked up startled, wiped his mouth, and then stood. His smile exposed gleaming white teeth behind perfectly formed lips.
“I’m Dr. Joseph Assad.” A hispanic accent rolled off his tongue like a cat’s purr. Abbie’s legs turned to rubber. She flattened against her sister’s backside, shoving her forward. Karole shoved back.
He leaned his head to look around Karole.
She grabbed Abbie’s coat sleeve and pulled her around to face him.
“Hi.” Abbie waved her hand like a windshield wiper set on high, then cleared her throat, and stood stiff as if drawing herself to attention. “Um, I’m Dr. Abbie Crossan. She’s my sister. I-uh, I’m in QuESO, um, Quantum Environmental Studies and Operations… I’m uh, a uh ge-geologist. I-yuh…I like your lab coat.”
He pursed his lips but smiled, as he turned his head slightly, keeping his amused gaze on Abbie. “Thanks. The facility provides them. I like your color selection for your hair. Rosa is… becoming on you.”
Abbie touched her hair, squeezing her eyes closed, then opening them. “I, uh, I like pink…” She pulled her pale-yellow Environmental lab coat closed over the pink Tinker Bell t-shirt she had chosen that morning. Would he think she had a childish fetish? If only he knew how crazy she really was about the famous Disney character. Her Tinker Bell collection was more than a hobby, it was a solid quest in life. Pink was the color
that made her feel happy.
As a geologist, she worked with dull, bland-tans, as she referred to her co-scientists’ personalities. Bright pink balanced her soul and kept her from turning into one of them. Not that she didn’t respect her fellow environmental workers, she just needed the effects of pink in her world.
Karole shoved her aside. “Well, we’ll be going. Just wanted to introduce ourselves.” She paused. “Say, we are getting together after work with some co-workers—”
“We are?” Abbie jerked her eyes toward her sister.
“Yes— for a drink, why don’t you and your wife join us?”
His eyes widened, a slight blush filled his naturally sun-kissed cheeks. “Oh, I’m not married.”
Abbie stepped in front of her sister. “Really? That’s great… I mean… me neither.”
Karole pushed her aside again. “Well, come join us. It’s simply an opportunity to meet others who work here. This facility is like a lost city. There are so many of us, and most are new to the area.” She chuckled. “We are all so focused on this Quantum Entanglement race we stay cooped up in our labs and don’t get out to meet people. You should join us. It’s a place on-site called The Oasis. It’s at the East Gate.”
“Oh. I don’t know…”
“Pleeease!” Abbie lunged around her sister. “I mean please say you’ll come. It’s not good to work, work, work. Right, Dr. Crossan?”
Karole looked at her sister with incredulous eyes. “Look, being a VEIL scientist is a focused and solitary life. I understand, but it’s not healthy. You should get out and be around people.”
He seemed to consider the validity of her advice.
“Listen, all work and no play— dull boy… you know? Doctor’s orders.” She took out a small note pad and wrote on it. “Here. This is a prescription for leisure time at The Oasis and no talking shop for at least Q2.”
“Q-2? Oh, two hours?” He smiled.