Page 9

C rystal looked into Cameron's cold gray eyes. There was no life or empathy there. it frightened her to the core as he held her at the waist. His breath smelled foul of whisky and decay.

"Let me go, asshole," she said.

"You know you like it, lass. All of you do. You pretend not to want it, to play games, but you secretly enjoy a big man like me. I desire you and what I desire I take," Cameron said.

His brother Billy laughed and drank from his mug of ale.

"Stop. Let me go, you jerk!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

This got the attention of almost everyone in the tavern. Some men looked on laughing while other villagers, especially the women grew uncomfortable. Crystal was about to dig her nails into Cameron's arm when suddenly there was a dirk at Cameron's throat.

"Let her go, Cameron, or I will slice your throat from one end to the other," Jamie said.

Crystal couldn't see him, but knew that he stood behind Cameron. Jamie's voice was like heaven to her as he came to her rescue. Though she hated the thought that she needed a man to intervene, she had subconsciously grown more frightened and on edge after the situation with Mason.

"Mind your own business, Jamie. This lass is mine. Go get your own," Cameron said.

Even with a dagger at his throat he wasn't going to back down. Crystal could tell he was an entitled narcissist.

"This lass is my business. Touch her and you will be answering to the Laird, and to the rest of us," Jamie said.

At that moment, the two other Watchmen who accompanied Jamie drew their short swords and walked to the table. Crystal noticed that Melanie and Elena also drew knives from their belts. The entire tavern seemed to be turned against Cameron, which was only good for her.

Cameron pushed Crystal off his lap and she almost lost her footing. The palms of her hands landed against the next table to steady herself. Cameron and his brother Billy stood up from their table. Cameron had an angry sneer on his face as he cursed the entire tavern.

"There, keep your stupid lass. I'll get me another. I don't think you can tell me what to do. That's not how I live my life. I do what I want when I want. You all don't know what I'm capable of. Come, brother, let's get out of this hell hole."

Cameron slammed back the rest of his whisky and his brother did the same with his mug of ale. Then they walked out the door of the tavern.

Crystal looked at Jamie who stood there watching Cameron until he was out the door. His kind demeanor had changed to that of a protector and capable man that you didn't want to mess with. Suddenly Crystal looked at him with fresh eyes.

She took in his attire again, the way he carried himself.

The brutal strength tempered with measured kindness and intelligence.

He was the epitome of a true Scottish Highland warrior.

Everything that Melanie and Elena had been telling her flitted through her mind again.

Jamie wasn't an actor playing a role. He actually was a guardsman, a member of this Watch, the police force of this time period.

Magic was real and she had been transported back in time.

She should have noticed it before. The way Jamie and the other men of the Watch were fiercely protective, not just of her, but of all these people here.

There was something almost barbarian about them, but in a good way, a manly way.

Not that they were sexist, they had been nothing but kind and respectful of her and of all the women in the tavern, that she noticed.

So different from the way guys were back home who were too self-involved and just looking for a hook-up.

Of course there were men like Cameron back home, Mason being one of them, but here it seemed there was someone to put a stop to that kind of behavior almost immediately.

Had someone like Jamie been there at the bar, Mason wouldn't have had a chance to drug her, she thought as the sound of horses galloping away from the tavern sounded from outside.

Jamie sheathed his dirk and looked at her. "Are you all right, lass?"

"Yes, I am. Thank you for your help."

"Tis my job," he said, a small smile on his lips.

"Oh, of course," she said, feeling slightly embarrassed for thinking he'd done it because he liked her. For a moment she'd forgotten that his act of chivalry wasn't one directed at her because of an interest in her, but because it was simply his responsibility.

"Are you sure you are not hurt?" His gaze traveled over her in a respectful way, as though looking to be sure she wasn't hiding some slight injury.

"I'm not hurt," she replied. She wanted to say more, but couldn't find the words as she was still trying to process that this man truly was a warrior and protector.

"I'm glad you're okay," Elena said as she moved closer to her and Jamie and keeping her voice soft, so not to draw any more attention their way.

"Yes, I'm okay, just a little shaken up." Crystal glanced toward the door. "What an awful jerk that guy is."

"Cameron has been known to bully many in the village," Elena said.

"He and his brother are both awful," Melanie added.

"This entire day has been so strange and overwhelming—" Crystal started.

At that moment, she felt a sudden dizziness coming over her.

She had been unsteady when Cameron pushed her off his lap, but this was something different.

The events of the past twenty-four hours were catching up to her and leaving her light-headed and woosy.

She tried to take a step, but her knees buckled from underneath her, and she nearly fell over going limp, but strong arms caught her just in time and held her.

"It's all right, lass. I've got you," Jamie said. "You've been through a lot in the last day, it's bound to take its toll on you."

She looked into his gray eyes as his towering lean figure hovered above her. Electricity pulsed through her, radiating from where his hands held her firmly.

"Thank you," she murmured, feeling breathless.

"Come, lass, let's get you sat by the fire again. I can't have you wandering out there unsteady on your feet," Jamie said.

This time Crystal allowed herself to be taken care of. Storming out of the tavern no longer seemed like a logical plan after what had just happened with Cameron. Perhaps it would be better to stay with this group, at least while she processed everything that Melanie and Elena had told her.

Jamie kept his large, warm hand on the small of her back, guiding her back toward the table where she previously sat. Courteney still sat on the bench, watching everything. She stood up as Crystal and Jamie joined her.

"Are you all right, Miss?" Courteney asked.

"I think so. I need to sit for a moment."

"Of course, sit. It has been a trying day for all of us," Courteney replied.

Crystal sat down on the bench closest to the fire and leaned her elbows on the table. She was embarrassed by the fact that she had almost fainted like a true damsel in distress, something that a writer like her thought was very cliché.

"Here have some water." Elena appeared at the side of the table pouring a cup of water from a pitcher.

"I promise it's safe to drink, a couple of us have taught them to boil it before setting it aside to let it get to room temperature," she murmured, again keeping her tone hushed. She handed the mug to Crystal.

She drank it down fast. She had been drinking quite a bit of alcohol almost the entire day in order to warm her damp body, so the water was much needed. "Thank you."

"If you start feeling sick you must tell me," Jamie said gently.

"I think just a little light-headed. It's too much to process. I don't think that I'm ill though."

Jamie nodded and then took a few steps away to speak with the other Watchmen and with Melanie and Elena who had moved aside with him. Crystal did all she could to stretch her ear so that she could overhear what they were saying.

"I think that we've interviewed everyone who is willing to talk about the murder. Tis time we returned to the site and speak with the neighbors again," Jamie said. "What opinion have you, Rory?"

"Aye, tis a good plan," the Watchman on his left replied.

Crystal assumed his name must be Rory since he was the one who answered. Like Jamie, he was tall and lean, but muscular. He wore the same plaid design on his kilt and she wondered if it was their uniform. Rory.

"Tis getting late and the sun will be setting in a few hours. It might be best to put our attention toward the new arrival and get her situated, so that we can continue on with this investigation," Rory continued.

"Should we ride back to the Keep before nightfall? " Melanie asked.

The group was nudged away from where they stood by some other patrons and they moved toward the other fireplace across the room and out of the way.

Crystal could no longer hear what they were saying above the chatter in the tavern, which was disappointing since they were discussing her, but she was too tired to get up and join them.

She sat staring into her glass of water remembering everything that Melanie and Elena had said to her.

She was no longer in the twenty-first century, but in the sixteenth.

Not only that, she was no longer in the US, but in Scotland, where everyone except for her, Elena, and Melanie spoke with thick Scottish accents.

She was damn lucky that she even understood them at all.

None of these people were actors, they were all just real people, living their real lives. The whole thing was blowing her mind.

She closed her eyes to try to make it go away, thinking about her apartment at home and her computer where she wrote her books, and being at the bar waiting for her friend to text her.

Willing all of this to be a dream. Willing herself back to the bar.

Or hell, to a hospital bed after having suffered a drug overdose from that asshole Mason. Anything.

But when she opened her eyes she was still in the medieval tavern and nothing had changed.