Even if she’d wanted to fight it, she didn’t think she could have — there was something frighteningly powerful about the hand gripping her wrist. And besides, what other option did she have? Whoever had grabbed her, they were probably taking her to the surface, right? If they’d wanted her to drown, all they would have had to do was leave her where she was for another minute or two. So she kicked her legs, trying to help the mysterious disembodied hand out a little. As though responding to her efforts, the hand pulled her more firmly, accelerating their pace.
But she was starting to weaken. A bubble of air escaped her mouth as her lungs began to heave and burn, desperate for a mouthful of air that they couldn’t get. With panic really starting to take hold, she fought with all the energy she had. She was getting dizzy for lack of air, her brain starving, her whole body screaming at her to inhale. How are we still swimming? she wondered with what was left of her faculties. How could there have been this much water at the bottom of those stairs? Was all of this some horrible dream?
She must have passed out — just for a moment or two. Everything went strange and shimmery, and when her eyes opened again she realized there was air, real, blessed air against her face. She was gasping and wheezing for breath, her body convulsing as she spat out the water she’d inhaled… and she could see. Not much, though. Elena stared around, trying and failing to get her bearings. Where the hell was she? She’d expected a pool of water in the basement of the building she’d fallen into — instead, all she could see was dark, choppy water like the surface of a lake. Above it was the night sky, absolutely covered in stars, with the light of a full moon shining down on the waters. And beside her — her heart lurched — the dark shape of another human head, cut out against the waves. The hand was still gripping her wrist, tugging her along. And though her body was still weak, and she still felt on the verge of passing out, she obediently started to swim after the figure. Whoever it was, she had to trust them. They’d gotten her to air — now they needed to get her out of this freezing water before they both died of the cold. She’d seen some tragic cases of homeless people who couldn’t get shelter on the cold Baltimore winter nights — she knew how easy it was to lose your life at temperatures like these.
The swim didn’t do much to warm her up, for all that she tried to kick as powerfully as she could to get some heat into her muscles. But before too long, she saw a shape come into view ahead of them — a fishing dock, it looked like, all dark wood jutting out into the water. And beyond it, illuminated by the full moon above… Elena frowned, her mind refusing to take in what she was looking at. Stone steps? And above them… she tried to look up, but a wave of dizziness claimed her, and she almost sunk below the waves again. Coughing furiously, she swam forward, reaching out weakly to the steps. To her relief, they extended below the surface of the water, and she felt her feet meet solid ground.
Elena dragged herself up the stairs, the freezing night air almost worse on her skin than the water had been. Still, she knew she had to get out of the water fast. The next step would be getting some warm clothes to change into… but before she could think about that, she had to figure out who her savior was, give them thanks. She turned to the water once she’d reached the top of the steps, expecting to see whoever it was following her up to dry ground… but to her shock, there was nobody there. The water was empty — save for a couple of boats bobbing in the water down at the end of the dock. Where was the woman who’d pulled her out of the water? That was all she could remember — the woman’s long hair, black with the water and the darkness, and the slender line of her neck in the water…
Another wave of dizziness rose up around her and she fell into a coughing fit, more water forcing its way out of her lungs as she collapsed to the unforgiving rock beneath her. It seemed she’d inhaled more water than she thought, she realized weakly, struggling to rise to her feet… but it was no use. The last thing she saw as she fell flat to the stone and rolled over onto her back were distant pinpricks of light, for all the world like flames against the darkness.
Chapter 6
Elena woke slowly, and reluctantly, unwilling on some level to leave the deep, pillowy warmth her body was being embraced by. There was something wrong, she knew that much — there was an anxiety lingering in her mind that she knew she’d have to confront if she woke up any further. Much better to just drift down here, in this twilight, still mostly asleep, just conscious enough to be enjoying the warmth and the softness…
The warmth. That was what was niggling at her. It was so warm, where she was, how she was lying… and that seemed to be standing in contrast, somehow, to something she was trying to avoid thinking about. A distant memory, stirring, of icy cold, pressing in all around her, a terrible sense of pressure, choking her, forcing the breath out of her body…
Elena felt a frown cross her face as the residual fear of that memory pulled her more and more out of her sleep. A bad dream? Or something worse? She couldn’t quite put it together, couldn’t quite get her memories in order… hadn’t she been on her way to a crime scene with Billy? Just a regular day, investigating a murder. But what had happened then? What had brought her from there to here? She must be in her bed asleep, right? But why couldn’t she remember the rest of the day, the trip back to the station, the no-doubt insane amount of paperwork… no. No, all she could remember was getting out of the car, walking to the basement steps, and…
With a gasp, Elena sat bolt upright in bed, her gray eyes flying open as the memories hit her properly. Her hands flew to her shoulders, her chest, her face, an odd instinct surfacing to check that she was still alive, still intact. All still there — at least, as far as she could tell. But she’d fallen… the stairs had given way and she’d fallen straight down. Had she been injured? She wiggled her legs under the heavy blankets, relieved to discover that they obeyed her instructions without pain or hesitation. She wasn’t hurt.
Then what had happened?
“You’re safe, babe. It’s okay.”
An unfamiliar voice sent Elena’s head rocketing up. Sitting opposite the bed she was lying in were two women. They were around Elena’s age, but to her surprise they were wearing what looked like medieval clothing — one in a tunic, one in a dress with embroidery decorating the bodice. Elena peered at them closely, trying to figure out who they could be — residents of the tenement, perhaps? Had she caught them in the middle of a costume parade, or something? It hadn’t seemed like a particularly artsy neighborhood, but maybe the locals were putting on a Shakespeare production or something. It made about as much sense as anything else.
“Sorry, I must have been out of it,” Elena said, feeling her voice rasp uncomfortably as she spoke. She coughed a little, trying to clear it, and felt a strange pang of memory, the image of coughing out ice-cold lake water. Where had that come from? Had she dreamed about drowning, perhaps? “Where am I? Upstairs?”
“Uh, sort of,” the dark-haired woman said, tilting her head to the side with an amused expression. “We brought you upstairs from the dock.”
“The stairs gave way,” Elena said, though something about what the dark-haired woman had said didn’t quite seem right. “The basement stairs, I mean. It’ll need to be roped off. Is my partner okay? He was behind me.”
“We don’t know,” the blonde woman said. She seemed to defer to the dark-haired woman — Elena could tell by the way she kept sneaking glances at her that she had more authority in this situation. But what was this situation, exactly? “We didn’t see him.”
“Our car’s parked outside,” Elena said, trying to sit up in the bed — and then blinking hard as a wave of dizziness rushed over her. The dark-haired woman clicked her tongue and moved closer, pushing her back into the bed.
“Be careful. You’ve been through a lot. It’ll take you some time to adjust.”
“I’m not hurt,” Elena said a little impatiently. “I’m a cop, I’ve had worse. I need to find my partner. What time is it?”
“A cop,
” the dark haired woman said, raising an eyebrow at the blonde. “That’s interesting.”
“Damnit, I must have lost my phone,” Elena groaned, her hands in her pockets. She usually kept it within reach — but the pockets of her trousers were empty. To her dismay, her belt was missing, too — and she felt a pang of concern as she realized it wasn’t in the bed or on the bedside table. “My belt. Did anyone take my belt?”
“You weren’t wearing a belt when we found you,” the blonde woman said.
“Shit,” Elena hissed. “My revolver — I’ve got to find that as soon as I can.”
“It’s probably at the bottom of the Loch.”
“The what?”
“The Loch,” the blonde woman pressed on, seemingly intent on covering this point. Elena frowned at her, nonplussed. “We found you on the docks, soaking wet and coughing your lungs out. You came from the Loch.”
“I fell down some stairs in a tenement building just outside Baltimore,” Elena corrected her, raising an eyebrow.
“Nancy, give her time,” the other woman said in a low voice. “What’s your name?”
“Elena Cross.” She eyed the women suspiciously. “And yours?”
“I’m Anna, this is Nancy. We’re — well, we live here, at the castle.”
“The Castle? Is that like a nickname?”
“No,” the woman called Nancy smiled. “It’s — very literal. Look around you. Do you really think you’re in a tenement in Baltimore?”
Elena blinked. She had to admit, her surroundings — which she’d taken in when she’d awoken — weren’t exactly typical of Baltimore. The walls were rough stone, the furniture wasn’t exactly the kind of thing you got at Ikea, and there was an honest-to-god fireplace in the wall, complete with a crackling fire that was keeping the space cozy. And the sheets under her hands were soft, but irregular — not the kind of factory-produced thing she was used to. In combination with the strange clothes the women opposite her were wearing, she had to admit, the effect was rather jarring.
“Where am I?” she asked again, frowning. “Did you — bring me here, after I fell?”
“No. Like Nancy said — we found you downstairs, by the side of the lake, for all the world like you’d just crawled out. How much do you remember of the last little while, Elena?”
Elena looked at the dark-haired woman suspiciously. There was something altogether familiar about the way she was speaking — firm, reassuring, but inquisitive. It was the kind of voice you used in an interrogation when you were trying to coax as much information out of someone as you could. That voice — that air of quiet authority — along with the woman’s posture set off a suspicion in her mind.
“You’re military.”
The blonde woman’s face lit up and she covered her mouth with one hand as the dark-haired woman chuckled. “Good eye. Yeah, I am. Or I was, anyway.”
“My grandfather was a Marine.” She took a breath. “I remember the stairs giving way, that’s about it. That, and some weird dreams about water… someone dragging me through the water by my arm… and then I woke up here.”
“They weren’t dreams about water, Elena,” Anna said gently. “You were in the Loch. Pretty deep in it, from what I remember.”
“Someone pulled you out? Do you remember who?”
“A woman with dark hair.” Elena frowned. “Wait, how would I have gotten into a lake from the basement of a tenement? That makes no sense.”
“Oh, you’re going to love this,” Nancy murmured, and Anna shushed her.
“Elena, there’s no easy way to tell you this. You’re not in Baltimore anymore. You’re in Scotland. That’s Loch Ness out there.”
Elena glanced through the window that Anna had indicated almost on impulse, half-amused by the ridiculous prospect. But to her surprise, there was a huge lake outside the window, stretching as far as the eye could see. She stared at it for a long moment, not quite understanding, her mind still muddled with sleep and exhaustion and confusion at the strange setting she’d found herself in. “You brought me to —”
“We didn’t bring you,” Nancy interjected. “Someone did, but it wasn’t us.”
Elena opened her mouth to pursue that line of conversation — but before she could, the door behind them creaked. She whipped her head around to see a third woman entering the room to join them — but this woman was older, with silver eyes and a long braid. She, too, was dressed in the strange period clothing that Anna and Nancy were wearing, and she had a wooden bowl on a tray in her hands. When she spoke, Elena realized with surprise that she had a strong Scottish accent.
“Ah, I see our visitor’s awake. Good to see you’re feeling better, lassie. I’m Maeve,” the woman smiled, and despite Elena’s growing confusion — and irritation — with her situation, there was something so kindly about the smile the woman gave her that she couldn’t help but soften a little.
“This is Elena,” Nancy said. “We’re trying to explain where she is, but she’s not —”
“Plenty of time for that,” Maeve said simply, gently placing the tray on the table beside Elena’s bed. “It’s quite a shock. I’m sure you both remember.”
“Let me get this straight,” Elena said, wanting to take control of the situation. “You’re telling me that in between falling down those stairs and waking up here, I’ve somehow been transported halfway across the planet? To Scotland? And I’m supposed to believe that?” She was speaking more sharply than she wanted to, a lot of her anger and confusion coming through in her voice.
“I know how it sounds,” Anna said simply. “So here’s the worst part — you’re not just in Scotland. You’re also in the sixteenth century.”
Elena could feel her heart pounding with fear and anger. None of the three women seemed to be lying, that was what was frightening. Their story was absolutely ridiculous… but they believed it completely. Had they been brainwashed, or something? Could this be some kind of cult? What was going on here? Could this be linked to the murder of the two men that Elena was investigating? Her head was reeling — she felt dizzy, disoriented and weak, and despite how confused she was about what was going on, a part of her desperately wanted to fall back to sleep. To her chagrin, she realized her eyes were sagging shut. The woman who’d introduced herself as Maeve gave her a fond smile.
“We ought to leave Elena to get some more rest, I think. That’s more than enough information to be getting on with. Dear heart, there’s some stew there — eating will help restore your strength, if you can stomach it. And if you need a change of clothes, there are some in the dresser for you that should be about your size. Anna, Nancy, let’s let her rest.”
The door clicked shut behind them, and Elena sagged back against the pillows. And although she wanted nothing more than to jump out of bed and figure out just what the hell was going on here, Maeve had been right… she was exhausted. Before she knew it, she felt herself drifting off to sleep again, her mind circling wildly into the darkness.
Chapter 7
It couldn’t have been much more than an hour that she slept for — when she woke, the light in the room was still the same, and the fire crackling in the grate had only burned down a little. But she felt a lot better after sleeping a little… and a little embarrassed at how she’d nearly lost her cool with the women who’d been visiting with her. For all that their story was downright strange, she got the impression that they’d legitimately been trying to help her… and after all, they had taken care of her. Something had happened, that was for sure — something that had exhausted her. Could her memories of swimming through that pitch-dark lake really be true? She glanced out the window, frowning to herself… sure enough, the dark waters out there looked strangely familiar. But if the swim in the lake had been real, how on earth had she gotten there?
And who had been the woman who’d been there with her? The woman who’d taken her by the arm and pulled her to the surface? If it wasn’t a dream, then that woman had saved her life. She didn’t even k
now her name… hadn’t even gotten a proper look at her face in the dark of the night. Surely it couldn’t be real.
A gurgle from her stomach distracted her, and Elena sat up a little in bed. She could smell the stew that Maeve had left on her bedside table, and though she looked at it with some suspicion, it wasn’t long before her resolve cracked. She was ravenously hungry — it felt like hours since the coffee in the car with Billy, and she regretted not finishing the whole pastry he’d brought her. But she was never that hungry in the mornings. Well, she was hungry now… and though she didn’t really trust her hosts, she figured that if they’d wanted to harm her, they’d had plenty of opportunity to do that while she was asleep. The stew was probably safe. A lot safer than starving to death, that was for sure.
It was also delicious. Still mostly warm — her nap had definitely not been that long — it was perfectly seasoned, full of tender chunks of meat as well as perfectly cooked vegetables. She could feel it restoring her strength as she ate, and by the time she’d cleaned the bowl, she was feeling like she was in a much better state of mind to deal with her situation. First, a quick check of her supplies. Sure enough, her whole belt was gone — that meant her service revolver as well as her badge. That gave her a pang of grief… it would be a hassle to get it replaced, and besides, she was quite fond of it. What had the women said — it was probably at the bottom of the Loch? Well, she didn’t much fancy going for another swim to retrieve it, sentimental or no.
Her phone was gone, too, which was frustrating. Billy was probably worried sick about her, wherever he was. Would word have reached her family yet that she was missing? It was frustrating not to be able to let people know that she was safe — she knew how worried cops got about other cops going missing. A lot of horrible things could happen to police in Baltimore.
Swept By The Highlander: A Scottish Time Travel Romance-Highlander Forever Book 3 Page 4
