Page 24 of Highlander’s Curse (The Daughters of the Glen #8)
Which was probably just as well since her whole hide-in-a-cave thing had pretty much bombed. Instead she was holed up in some bear cave with the man of her dreams, but instead of having a romantic tryst, they were waiting to be shot or eaten.
Though, in truth, as small as this place was, it would have to be a pretty small bear, so maybe eaten was a slight exaggeration. If they even had bears in Scotland.
And to think Colin had doubted the might of her imagination.
As if a crazed gunman and bear or lack of them weren’t enough for her imagination to practice on, there was also the fact that they were crammed into a hole in the ground. The weight of the mountain could simply collapse the whole thing on them at any moment, burying them alive.
“There’s only one thing to do.” Colin’s urgent whisper broke her line of thought. “Wish us out of here. Send me back to my own time.”
Not again. Not here. Not now. She simply couldn’t take being cooped up in this dark little tomb with Colin flipping out again. “You are not going to start up on that Faerie Magic, time travel crap again. We’re in a lot of trouble here, Colin. Try to hold it together for me.”
Because if he didn’t, she wasn’t sure she could.
“Listen to me, Abby Porter. Dinna you say a single word until I’ve finished, do you hear?
I ken the absurdity of what I say, but it’s the truth, every word of it.
Yer a descendant of the Fae. You’ve the power of their Magic and you used it to bring me to yer side that morning in Denver.
I dinna ken the reason why but that’s of no importance now.
That man out there is a Nuadian Fae. He took yer blood to share in yer Magic.
He willna give up and he willna go away until he finds us.
We must leave this place, Abby. It’s the only way. ”
His last words rang in her mind, a duplicate of what he’d said to her in her dreams.
Her body began to tremble uncontrollably and he tightened his arm around her, whispering into her ear.
“You’ve the power, Abby. Wish us out of here.”
“How the hell—”
His large hand clamped over her mouth and he held her close. Only as she heard the footsteps directly outside did she realize he’d stopped her in time to keep her from giving away their hiding spot.
“I know you’re close,” Jonathan’s voice called from somewhere outside. “I’ll find you. It’s only a matter of time, you know. Make it easy on yourselves and give up now.”
Whoever had first said you weren’t really scared while something was actually happening, but only after it was over, should have his butt kicked seven ways to Sunday.
Because whatever this mess was that she was in, it was happening right at this moment and Abby could confirm for a fact that she’d never been so frightened in her entire life.
Crazy guy in here demanding she wish them out of trouble; crazy guy out there taking potshots at them with a gun.
“How?” she whispered when Colin moved his hand.
“Wish it. Concentrate on sending me back to my own time. Wish us safely in our homes and say the words aloud.”
Insanity. But no more insane than sitting in a hole in the ground waiting to be murdered or eaten or crushed to death.
“I wish we weren’t here.” Though the words were more truthful than any she’d ever said aloud, nothing happened.
Not that she’d really expected it to.
“No,” he breathed into her ear. “You must wish for the places where we are to be. For the places we need to be. We’ll concentrate together. See it in yer mind. See us there in yer mind.”
How did he expect her to see a place she’d never been?
She closed her eyes while he held her close, snuggling her forehead against his chin as she formed a picture of the two of them together in her mind’s eye.
“I wish for us to be in a safe place. In whatever place you would most like us to be. I wish to be in your home, in your time.” There. That should make him happy.
She tried to imagine the place she felt most safe, with walls firmly separating them and the maniac searching for them. Walls, hell, she wanted Jonathan in a whole different place from them.
Try as she might, the only vision she could bring into focus was the one from her dreams, she and Colin in that huge bed, the room around them lit only by the dancing flames of a fireplace.
A thought flickered through her mind, allowing her to wonder if, when Colin concentrated, he saw them as she did, naked, limbs entangled in the great bed from her dreams.
“Wait.” His hands tightened on her shoulders. “What words did you say?”
She had no time to think about Colin’s question, as the ground around them began to shake. Her eyes flew open as he tightened his hold on her.
“Oh, shit,” she breathed. This was it. The mountain really was coming down on them.
Her view was mostly obscured by her position in Colin’s arms, but from what she could see, she’d almost swear they were being attacked by a swarm of bees. Fast-flying, multicolored bees dived all around them, sounding as if they pinged off the walls on every side of them.
She waited, expecting to feel the sting of attack any moment. Instead, it suddenly felt as if the ground had given way beneath them, the sensation one of falling a great distance.
Only the knowledge that Colin held her, his arms tightening around her yet again, gave her any measure of security as the black void closed in and reality slipped away.
Either the mountain had given way or all this had, in fact, been no more than a bad dream after all.