Page 26 of Time of the Warlord (Stones of Scotland #5)

S adie awoke to a pounding in her head that was like nothing she’d ever felt before. She almost screamed, but her lungs burned as well, and her throat was too dry to make any noise. She tried to sit up, but something heavy weighed her down. She thrashed against it - and then a cool hand pressed against her bare shoulder.

“Shh,” a soothing voice said. Soft. Female. “Stay calm, my dear. You’re safe and well.”

Sadie blinked hard, trying to make out the scene around her. A soft blanket of undyed wool rested across her legs. Plain wooden walls. A small window. And, as she looked to her side, a serene woman in a robe of dark wool. A nun?

“Where am I?” Sadie croaked.

“You’re in Dunadd, my dear,” the lady said, pushing her to lie back down. “This is the healers’ quarters, and I am Sister Sorcha. You’ve been rather unwell.”

Rather unwell? Sadie struggled to remember what had happened. Norah, and the stone circle, and the cottage, and the smoke, and -

“Norah!” she gasped. “Where’s my sister?”

The tiniest of frowns marred the woman’s smooth face.

“Now is not the time to speak of such things,” she said, her voice smooth and rich as fine wine. “You must concentrate on recovering, dear, or you will be no good to anyone.”

Sadie wanted to argue with the woman, but she struggled to muster up any kind of energy.

“Ciaran?” she asked plaintively. Surely he at least would tell her the truth.

The woman sighed.

“Very well,” she said. “We’ve had enough trouble keeping him out.”

She tugged the blanket all the way up to Sadie’s chin, then opened the door.

“You can come in now,” she called to someone in the room beyond. “She’s awake.”

Ciaran burst through the door so quickly that he almost knocked the healer out of the way.

“How are you?” he asked anxiously, rushing to the side of the bed, where he loomed over Sadie. “How are you feeling?”

“I think I’m fine,” Sadie said. Her voice came out as a harsh croak, but the words were true enough. She was certainly tired, and a little limp, but her body felt healthy enough. “What happened? Where’s Norah?”

Ciaran’s face darkened.

“That man hit you over the head with something hard,” he said. “You collapsed, and I rushed to catch you. By the time I knew you were safe, he’d gone - and taken Norah with him.”

“No,” Sadie breathed. That couldn’t be true. He couldn’t have Norah. Not when she’d heard all the terrible things he could be capable of.

“The other man from the cottage was injured as well,” Ciaran said. “We brought him back here and the healers are doing their best. He should survive, but there’s no way of knowing if the wound will go bad.”

“How long?” Sadie asked desperately. “How long was I unconscious?” She sat up straight, clutching the blanket to her.

“It’s morning now,” Ciaran said, his voice soft and gentle. “You slept all day and all night.”

“He took Norah a whole day ago?” Sadie asked, horrified.

Ciaran nodded in response.

“We have to find her!”

Sadie swung her legs out of bed, ignoring the healer’s horrified gasp as the blanket fell away.

“Sadie, you can’t go anywhere,” Ciaran said, moving to push her back into the bed. “You’re not well! And I swear I have men out looking for them. There’s nowhere that man can hide.”

“He can hide in the future!” Sadie shouted. “Can’t you see? He had enough power to take two people back! He and Norah will be a thousand years away by now.”

And then it finally happened. She couldn’t hold it in any longer, after everything that had happened. She burst into tears. Not subtle teardrops, but huge, screaming gasps that sent liquid pouring down her face. Ciaran wrapped her in his arms, cradling her against him.

“We’ll find her,” he murmured over and over again. We’ll find her, I swear it.”

“She’s gone ,” Sadie howled between sobs, unable to breathe properly. Her twin sister was gone, almost certainly dead. Sadie thought she had grieved for her a year ago, but she saw now that she had always been in denial, always believing that she would see Norah again. But now? The pain was so immense that she could barely hear Ciaran’s voice, right beside her ear.

He let her cry for a moment. And then he gripped her shoulder and shook her, hard.

“Sadie, stop this!” he said. “Norah is not dead. Why would that man take her back through time just to kill her? He could have dumped her body right there in the cottage and made a quicker escape.”

Sadie managed to control her breath long enough to stop crying. His words made a strange kind of sense. Why would Henry have taken Norah and killed her in the future? She was best left as an unexplained disappearance. It was Sadie they had planned to kill and dump.

“Maybe you’re right,” she whispered. “But if you are, I have to go after her. I have to find her.”

“I know you do,” Ciaran said, smoothing her sweaty, tear-damp hair out of her face. She felt a rush of shame that she’d ever doubted this man. If she’d trusted him, instead of running away with Matthew, things would be very different.

Oh, no. She hadn’t told him.

“Ciaran… Matthew vanished through the stones,” she said. “He escaped when Norah and I were captured. I’ve got no idea where he is now. Or when.”

Ciaran swore, quietly but viciously.

“Bethany won’t be happy to hear that,” he said. “But it’s what we suspected. The boy’s determined to test his powers and learn more about his heritage. I can’t blame him, but I wish he’d found a safer way to do it.”

Sadie shivered. Matthew must be about fourteen years old - not so young that he couldn’t cope, but still too young to be alone. She didn’t like the idea of him wandering twenty-first century streets on his own.

“Then I need to find both of them,” she said.

“You do,” Ciaran replied grimly. “And I’m coming with you.”