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N ineteen

C HRISTIANA SWAM IN the dark green pools that were Chase Noble’s eyes. She splashed and rolled, the water heating her body with its wet caress.

And then there was no water, only his strong arms holding her, his head dipping close to hers as they floated weightless together. He spoke her name, his warm breath fanning over her face, and it was as if they were the only two people in the world.

His mouth hovered over hers and she thrilled that at long last she would taste those full, smiling lips.

And in that instant, he was gone, evaporating in front of her as her foot touched down on a familiar gravel path.

“What are you doing here?”

Christiana froze in her tracks, staring straight ahead at the three women squatting in the shade of an enormous green tree.

She knew where she was. Her wonderful dream had carried her straight to the world of her Visions.

“You can see me?” she asked.

It was the first time any of the Norns had ever spoken to her. In fact, since none of them had ever even appeared to notice her presence when she’d traversed the Vision world before, she had assumed they couldn’t see her.

Skuld, Keeper of the Future, her face hidden in the folds of her veil, snorted her disgust. “Do I look to be blind? Of course I see you. What do you want here?”

“I come to travel the Vision world. I have a great need to see what I must do.”

“You’ve no right to see what’s to come.” The beauty in the middle—Verthandi, Keeper of the Present—spoke. “Live it. You will see it as it happens, as everyone is meant to do.”

“She has the right.” The eldest of the three, Urd, was Keeper of the Past. “In ages long past, Odin paid the price for such knowledge, and he’s chosen to pass it along to this one.”

“But she’s already seen that which is to come.” Skuld kept her head down, her fingers busily working at the loom in front of her. “I’ve nothing more to show her.”

“Please, there were so many paths the last time I was here.” How could she know what to do? How could she possibly make sure Chase walked the proper path?

“So many paths?” Verthandi laid aside the yarn she held, turning her gaze toward her sister. “You allowed her to travel the Maze of Possibility? What’s to be accomplished by that? Nothing. She might as well have wandered in the Paths of Possible Pasts. She could have been lost in there forever.”

Skuld shrugged. “She’s the one who pushed her way into that maze. I didn’t force her.”

“Now that you know the danger, why are you back?” Verthandi turned her gaze toward Christiana.

“Yes, why?” Urd echoed.

Guilt pooled in Christiana’s stomach. But feeling guilty was ridiculous. She had every right to be here. It wasn’t as if she were searching out something to aid only herself. It was the common good she sought. A way to stop Torquil from committing the evil he planned.

“I know why she’s here.” Skuld’s head swung her direction. “It’s because of him .”

Verthandi nodded as if now she understood. “She’s willing to risk the dangers of losing herself in the Maze again for the love of a man.”

“Love?” Christiana squeaked. “Absolutely not.” Love had nothing to do with any of this, despite the dream that had brought her here. Chase was the one who could save her from Torquil. She’d seen it. All that existed between them was a rescue—nothing more.

“And because you saw it, you forced it.” Skuld chided as if she’d read Christiana’s thoughts.

“You bargained with the Elf to bring him to your world. You placed him in danger for your own benefit. Best you search your heart before you return here again, youngling. Best you consider why you deny your feelings so vehemently, lest you end up here forever like us.”

With that, Skuld pulled the hood from her head, revealing herself for the first time.

Christiana recognized her instantly.

It was her own guilt-ridden blue eyes staring back at her that sent her running from the Norns screaming, their cackling laughter following her in her frenzied escape.

C HRISTIANA’S SCREAM SPIKED fear in Chase’s chest and had him on his feet, headed for her door.

“No need to get yerself all in a tizzy,” Orabilis assured him from the pot where she stood stirring. “Naught but a bad dream. The dwale does that now and again.”

Bad dream or no, Chase wasn’t taking any chances. Not with the potent combination of drugs she had flowing in her system.

“I think I’ll go check, all the same.”

“Do as you like. I canna leave the elixir I’m working on. No at this stage of boil.”

Chase pushed open the door and hurried to Christiana’s bedside. She lay on her back, the light of the fireplace glinting off the side of her face.

He dropped to his knees and, without thought, reached out to run his thumb over the shiny spot on her cheek.

Wet with tears.

She turned toward him, her eyes wide open.

“You screamed. Are you in pain?” The idea of her lying here in the dark, alone, hurting, was almost more than he could stand. “I can go get you some more of the dwale that Orabilis gave you before.”

“No.” She placed a restraining hand on his forearm. “It’s no my leg but my Visions that trouble me now.”

“Visions?”

She tightened her grip on his arm. “I have little hope you’ll accept what I say. It’s a leap of faith for any man. But you must hear the truth, whether or no you believe me.”

“I’m all ears.” At her frown, he tried again. “I meant to say, I’m listening. Tell me whatever you need to.”

She scooted up to sit on the bed, her expression serious in the faint flicker of firelight, her arms crossed protectively in front of her.

“I’ve the gift of prophecy, come to me through my father’s bloodline. I have Visions of what’s to come. At least, I do when Skuld permits it.”

“Who is Skuld?”

“One of the Norns, the three goddesses who weave the tapestry of our fates. Skuld determines what it is to be, and it is within her world that I travel the Visions to see what is to come.”

Chase’s first instinct was disbelief. But he, the son of a Faerie, living seven hundred years out of his own time, knew better. The world was filled with Magic beyond mere man’s ability to imagine. And only accepting that fact saved his sanity.

“So it was one of those visions, something you saw happening in the future, that frightened you as you slept?”

Christiana shook her head. “I’m no sure whether what I saw was Vision or merely a phantom brought on by a nightmare.

Traveling to Skuld’s world has been difficult since .

. .” Her words stopped as if she changed her mind partway through the thought.

“It’s why I came to see Orabilis. I needed the herbal elixir she prepares for me in order to control the Visions.

I canna seem to manage them on my own anymore. ”

“Maybe it’s whatever is in that elixir that makes it difficult for you to concentrate.”

Again she shook her head. “It’s no a matter of concentration.

It’s much larger than that. And as to whether or not it was a true Vision that awoke me, it’s of no import to what I must say to you.

Although, that which I just experienced did confirm that I canna in good conscience hold my tongue any longer. ”

He waited, allowing her the time she needed to collect her thoughts.

“Yer in danger here.”

“In danger? From what? That little old woman in the other room?” He seriously doubted that.

“No, I dinna mean here in Orabilis’s home.

For a fact, this is the safest place for you to be in all the land.

” Her hands tightened around her upper arms, her fingers visibly biting into the tender flesh there.

“It’s yer presence at Tordenet of which I speak.

Yer in danger as long as you remain there.

You and yer brother both. Yer in danger, and it’s my fault for bringing you there in the first place. ”

She looked close to tears and she shivered as if she were freezing.

“Listen to me. You just had a bad dream.” He rose to his feet and pushed her gently back down onto the bed, pulling the covers up to her chin. “What you need right now is to sleep to allow your body time to heal.”

“I must warn you,” she began.

“Then consider me warned. And believe me on this, you didn’t have anything to do with my being at Tordenet. Hall and I made that decision on our own.” Or Hall had, anyway. He’d just tagged along because what else was he going to do but go where the Faeries sent him?

“But I did,” she protested. “You dinna ken the whole of it.”

“Then tomorrow, when you’re all rested, you can fill me in on the whole of it. But for now, you need your sleep.”

“I dinna want to sleep. I dinna want to see those apparitions again this night.” Already her eyelids drooped, belying her protest.

She reached out a hand and he took it. Soft and smooth, it fit his grasp as comfortably as if it were meant to be there.

Again he dropped to his knees, meeting her gaze at eye level.

“Don’t you worry about a thing, Christy.” The name Orabilis had used fell easily from his lips as if he’d known it always. “I’ll stay right here to guard you while you sleep. Whatever came after you before has no chance of getting to you with me here. I promise.”

She smiled, her eyes closing even as the corners of her mouth curved up and he was lost, determined to spend the whole night right here, protecting her from the hallucinations that plagued her dreams.