“What is that?” She asked, finding her voice.
He tightened his embrace. “The journey home, lass. ‘Tis up to us to get everyone there.”
“Us? But what are we to do? Where is home? Is it… in another time, Dallan?”
“Aye, lassie. I’m told we now ha’ the power to split time. Just like the Lady and the heathen.”
“That is how you came to me?”
He kissed her forehead. “Aye, Flower. But only after ye called me here.”
She looked up into his eyes. “I am glad you answered.”
Dallan let go a chuckle. “Yer not the only one, lass. Sleep now. ‘Twill be time to leave soon enough and I dinna want ye tired. I’ll take no chances wi’ ye.” He yawned and kissed the top of her head.
Renewed slumber came easily for him and soon his body relaxed, his breathing calm and even. Shona fought fatigue long enough to listen to him softly snore, the sound unfamiliar yet comforting. She smiled then snuggled closer and closed her eyes to lose herself in the comfort of his arms and let sleep again claim her.
It didn’t claim her for long.
When she woke, Dallan had loosed his hold on her. She still rested in the crook of his arm, but had the freedom to get up without disturbing him. She did, and slowly crept from the bed with a stealth she’d not known she possessed.
She stood a moment and watched him sleep. He was a striking combination of fierce warrior, peaceful slumber and raw masculinity, and the picture made her smile. She couldn’t believe she was now married to this man. But then, there had been so many things she found hard to believe over the past several days, some so fantastic she had questioned her own sanity. But circumstances, actions and the man slumbering on the bed before her made it all come to life, made it all true.
Shona reached a hand to her face and traced her features with a finger. She was not human. She was Muiraran. An entire race was her own, one she had never even heard of before. But others knew—Philip, Julia, the men who had helped Dallan. They all knew. What would be in store for them now?
She continued pondering as she sought her clothes. What of she and Dallan? They were wed, joined, connected in a way no one from her current century would or could ever believe. Well, with a few exceptions. Kitty would believe it.
Kitty…
Shona threw the Muiraran dress over herself and let it slide down her body into place, not bothering with the belt. She grabbed Dallan’s worn plaid and wrapped it about her shoulders before venturing from the room. She needed to find a phone. She needed to say goodbye to Kitty and perhaps gather a few of her things.
She ventured out into the hall and paused. What things? What could she take into a world she knew absolutely nothing about? She licked her lips and began to breathe harder than necessary. Swallowing, she realized what she would definitely need, no matter where or when she was.
She was hungry, furiously so, and knew she needed her music. But it was all at the house. She licked her lips again, ran a hand through her hair and headed down the hall, her breathing shaky now. She had not fed in a long while. The music from the symphony not enough to carry her through the night and into the next day.
Shona entered the room she, Dallan and the others had occupied the night before, knowing a phone was there. Her hands were shaking as she quickly dialed Kitty’s number.
“Hello?” answered a sleepy voice.
“Kitty?”
“Shona?”
Shona swallowed, half out of relief, half out of hunger. “Kitty, I am at the weapons shop downtown. I need to talk to you before I go.”
“Before you go? Shona do you know what time it is?”
“No.”
“And where are you going anyway? Geez, it’s only six-thirty.”
“Kitty, I am with Dallan. There is too much to tell you over the phone. I need to see you. Can you come here? I need to get home and get my music to take with me. There might not be any where I am going and I need some, now.”
“Shona? Are you all right? What’s wrong?”
“J… just come. Hurry, there is nothing here. No music.”
“Oh my Gaawwsh, that’s what’s wrong! Give me fifteen minutes!” There was a decisive click as Kitty hung up, the sound lingering in Shona’s ear. Her hunger growing, she set down the phone, sat in a nearby chair and listened to her own ragged breathing. Wrapping the plaid tighter about her shoulders, she began to softly hum, the sound soothing if not satisfying.
How foolish she was to have let herself go so long. But then what was she to do? How was she to know that the past twenty-four hours would change her life forever? What could have possibly prepared her for the truth as to what she really was? She shook her head, the answer sleeping alone now in the next room.
Dallan. Perhaps she should wake him? No, he was exhausted. She could listen to Kitty’s car radio if nothing else, run to the house, get what she needed and be back before he woke up. He’d risked life and limb for her; the least she could do was let him get some much needed rest.
Shona continued to sing to herself as she got up and went to the front display room to wait for Kitty. Once there, she thought about waking one of the others and telling them what she needed. But where were they? She and Dallan appeared to be the only ones in the building.
Curious, she went down the hall to the fencing room. No one. Where had they all gone?
She returned to the front display area and continued to wait. After several more minutes and a weary rendition of Mozart’s Concerto in G, Kitty pulled up in front of the shop.
Shona staggered to the door, fumbled with the lock and quickly went outside to Kitty’s car. “My house, quick,” she rasped as she crawled into the front seat.
Kitty looked at her, eyes wide. “Geez, Shona. What’s wrong? And what are you wearing?”
Shona glared at her and reached for the radio. The music came on to hit her full force and she let out a groan, its sounds fast and vigorous.
Kitty yelped and quickly switched stations. “No way am I letting you listen to Buddy Holly! Not after everything I’ve been told! You’d better stick with classical.”
No sooner had Kitty spoke, the station she searched for tuned in and Shona immediately calmed. Her brows raised in recognition and she moaned with satisfaction, “Debussy…”
“Yeah, whoever. Just be sure you watch what you listen to. Your dad called me last night and told me everything!”
Shona, eyes closed, absorbed the music greedily, her body all but arching with her need. After several moments, she was finally able to speak again. “Everything?” She reached to turn the radio’s volume up.
Kitty watched concern in her eyes. “Everything. Geez, Shona, why didn’t they tell you?”
“They didn’t know.”
Kitty sighed. “They’re both at the house. They’ll want to say goodbye.”
“I know. Please, let us go. I need to be back s… soon.” Shona turned the volume up even higher.
The music blaring, Kitty ground the car into gear and started for the Whittards; never once taking notice of the car that followed nor Dallan’s desperate cry of warning from the roof high above.
* * *
Dallan cursed in Gaelic and spun to face a recently awakened Lany and Angus. “Where’s the heathen?” He turned desperately back to the roof ’s edge. Shona and Kitty were at a stoplight half a block up the street, Julia’s car several behind the women. Dallan began to run to the stairs.
“What’s wrong?” Lany asked his own voice bordered on panic.
“Shona. Kitty. That woman is following them in a car.”
“Car? Wait a minute the Maiden is in a car too?”
“Aye, with her wee friend!” Dallan tossed out and flew down the stairs, Lany and Angus close behind.
The men ran out the front door of the shop to the street. Kitty’s car was already several blocks away at the next light, Julia not far behind. Dallan looked up one side of the street, then the other before turning desperately
to Angus. “Have ye no a car? We’ve got to follow her!”
Angus shuffled his feet a few times, drawing in his lower lip with his teeth. “I’m sorry lad, I always takes the bus.”
Dallan made to sprint after the retreating cars, the light green now. Lany grabbed him and roughly pulled him back. “What do you think Julia will do if she sees you following that way? She’ll pick you off so fast you won’t know what hit you!”
Dallan’s face was a mix of desperation and murderous rage. “Shona! That woman will hurt her, I know it! I wilna stand here and do nothing!” His eyes scanned the street, the cars now approaching a bend in the road which would put them out of sight.
Lany followed his gaze and silently cursed the absence of Kwaku and the others. “Okay, you’re stronger now and should be able to keep up with them. But under no circumstances are you to let Julia see you. If she does, she’ll kill you.”
Dallan nodded and started off again only to be grabbed by Angus. “Stop! Ye’ll no ha’ to chase her, lad. Look! ‘Tis Tomy! We can use her car!”
Before he’d even finished speaking, Tomika Ashby pulled alongside the curb to deliver Mother MacNab, her eyes wide at the men’s desperate looks. Angus opened the passenger side doors and hopped into the front seat. Lany jumped into the back, Dallan close behind.
“What is goin’ on?” Tomy blurted, confused.
“Quick, lass,” Angus began. “Follow Julia’s car up yonder. There’s trouble!”
“What? What kind of trouble? What’s goin’ on?”
Dallan leaned forward in what little space was left, his breathing now ragged, and gripped Tomy’s shoulder. “Go, lass. Shona and Kitty are in danger. Follow them, but stay far enough behind so Julia can no see ‘tis us that’s with ye.”
Her eyes locked with Dallan’s. “Lordy, you’re serious!”
“Don’t debate, just go!” Lany told her through clenched teeth, wedged between Mother MacNab and Dallan.
Tomy’s foot hit the gas pedal hard and the car spun out from the curb. Everyone lurched back, then forward, the motion eliciting a gleeful “Whee!” from Angus’s mother.
Dallan, his brow now bathed in sweat, his voice shaky, glanced at her and frowned. “Be careful, lass. The old woman canna take the ride.”
Tomy smiled and whispered, “Wanna bet?”
Angus turned to the back. “Mother’s fine. Dinna worry about her. How are ye doing, lad? And how did Julia know where we were?”
“Not too hard to figure out, Angus,” Lany began as he noticed Dallan’s tight lipped expression. “Not if she followed Kitty to the shop. The question is where are Kitty and the Maiden going? Angus, the windows…”
Angus pressed some buttons on a panel and the windows of the car all opened by themselves. Dallan’s eyes widened slightly as he watched them descend into the doors. His body visibly relaxed as he leaned his face into the open air and took a few deep breaths.
Lany touched his leg to get his attention. “To Shona’s house?”
Dallan took another gulp of air, “Aye, most likely. When I woke up and dressed, Shona was wandering about. I thought perhaps she’d gone up to the roof looking for Zara. Then I heard the music coming from the street. Saints I forgot about her music. Her heart’s probably starving!”
“Don’t worry about that—Kwaku and Zara are getting her what she needs. She was resourceful calling Kitty. She didn’t know where else to get fed.” Lany lowered his gaze and his voice. “We thought she’d sleep longer. Kwaku figured there was enough time to go to Angus’s, get what we needed and be back before either of you woke up.”
Dallan nodded and leaned into the front seat. “Can ye still see them, lass?”
“They’re not far ahead. Don’t worry, I know how to get to the Whittards.”
Lany leaned forward. “Excellent! Take us within a block of the house and drop us off. We’ll take care of things from there.”
“Aye, lass. Then bring me mother back to the shop and wait for us. Ye’ll be safe there.” Angus added.
“Safe?” Tomy’s voice squeaked. “What in tarnation is goin’ on?”
“At this point,” Lany began, his voice wedged between sarcasm and panic, “don’t ask.”
* * *
Julia followed Kitty’s car with a broad, sadistic smile. She would have her prize. She’d come too far, been through and done too much to be stopped now. Most of her real memories had revealed themselves, the false ones Philip's Muiraran wife placed in her head quickly fading. As a result she realized she'd spent some of the best years of her life working on Shona. And apparently not just in the current century she was in. Her whole life had been dedicated to searching out and discovering the Muirarans. If Philip knew a way to get her out of her own time, her memory of it fairly in tact, and bring her here to guard and train Shona, then he might be persuaded to take her back. Wouldn’t it be something if she returned with a Muiraran? If she had one, she would have full claim to the discovery.
Even better, she would have Shona to experiment with. Her smile grew as she drove on.
She backed off a little, not wanting to get too close. She didn’t want Shona to sense any danger or let her know she followed. Nothing to worry about by staying out of sight. She was sure they were heading for Evan and Maggie’s. The Whittards would be no problem once she got there. After all she’d brought the tranquilizer gun, not to mention her own.
She rounded a deserted corner and stopped a moment to let Shona and Kitty get some distance on her. She wanted them in the house when she got there; all the better for surprise. Julia counted the seconds on her watch. Twenty, forty, sixty…
Julia suddenly spun out, never guessing how all her plans were about to change.
* * *
“Watch out!” Angus shouted.
Too late. Tomy rammed into the rear end of the car coming onto the road. There was nothing she could do. The fool had pulled right out in front of her. “Lordy!”
Angus quickly turned to the back. “Mother? Are ye all right?”
Mother MacNab peered at him through her thick glasses. “Who was out all night?”
“He said, are you all right… never mind. She’s fine Angus.” Lany turned to Dallan then followed the Weapons Master’s piercing glare. “Uh-oh…”
“I’ll take care o’ this. Get to the house. Make sure Shona is safe.” Dallan studied his door, found the handle and pulled.
Lany grabbed his arm. “Dallan, in all probability she’s armed.”
“I well ken she might be. But I’ll no ha’ her following us or my wife.”
“Be careful, lad. After last night, I’d put nothing past the witch,” Angus added as he looked nervously at the car in front of them.
Tomy, finally done putting two and two together, let out a gasp. “My Lord, Julia? Shona’s Julia? What is goin’ on? Are we talking guns here? Did I hear you right?”
Dallan glared at her. “Take them to Shona’s. Do whatever Master Lany tells ye, lass.” He then turned to Julia’s car. She had gotten out and was standing near the rear driver’s side, acting as if inspecting for damage. It was not a hard task, as a rear door was missing and the trunk hood askew from the previous night when Dallan pried it open.
Dallan got out of Tomy’s car and leaned casually against it.
Julia looked up at him. “I hope you have insurance.”
“I hope ye no ha’ any kin.”
“My, aren’t we in a threatening mood this morning?” Julia said sarcastically as she quickly pulled a gun from her purse. “Stand away from the car.”
Dallan listened to Lany mutter something about ‘knowing better’ and did what she said. Julia smiled with satisfaction and shot Tomy’s front tires, the gun’s silencer keeping any curious ears from hearing anything. Though no houses could be seen she knew there were a few just around the bend in the road.
Tomy, however, did manage a healthy scream of anger. “What do you think you’re doin’? Are you crazy?”
Julia rais
ed the gun and aimed it back at Dallan. “Shut up, Tomy. You," she raised the gun higher. "Come here… slowly, and get in my car.”
Dallan glanced at Lany in the back seat, then back to Julia. Lany could take care of Shona while he took care of Julia. He began to move toward her.
“Get your hands up where I can see them. In fact, put them behind your head.”
Dallan hid a smile and followed her directions. Go to the car, back in, take the gun from her and they could be on their way again. He stopped when he reached the missing rear door. Julia, he noted, had backed herself out of his reach.
“Get in,” she ordered coldly.
He shrugged. She was too far away, he had to get her closer. “I dinna think yer car is safe to ride in. Cold too, from the looks o’ it.”
Julia’s eyes narrowed. “I said, get in.”
“No.”
Her mouth pressed into a line of rage and she took a threatening step forward. “I want you to get in that car.”
He looked about himself as if confused. “Now?”
She took another step and raised the gun higher. “Now!”
He watched Lany grimacing out of the corner of his eye. “I dinna like cars.”
“Get in!”
She wanted him alive that was certain. If not, she’d have shot him by now. Dallan shrugged again and backed into the opening, his hands still behind his head. He sat slowly and calmly watched Julia’s face light with satisfaction, then raised a curious brow.
“Get all the way in, please,” she ordered, coming closer.
He complied with her wishes and now sat in the car, his head bent slightly in the closed space. “Now what? We go for a ride?”
“No.” Julia surprised him and put the gun in her purse, simultaneously pulling out another one. “You take a nap.”
Dallan’s eyes narrowed slightly as he recognized what she held.
She smiled. “If I can’t deliver Shona, you’ll do just as well. And you know something? I love paybacks.”
“I gathered ye’d be the type that ‘twould.”
She thought on that a moment then shot him twice.
Time Masters Book One; The Call (An Urban Fantasy, Time Travel Romance) Page 48
