chapter 11
MOMENTS LATER, she opened her eyes. Face down, mouth full of sand, she pressed on the soft ground and tried getting up. Too weak. She spat several times to get rid of the grit. It took several seconds before her mind and vision cleared. Her pulse raced, and her breath still gasped as if she’d run a mile. “Oh God, oh God, oh God. Not again.”
At first, she thought she was back at the same Celtic island.
Not making any unnecessary movements, she lifted her head and looked around. Not the same place. A beach, a tropical beach by the looks of the palm trees, fruit trees and plants. Calm aqua blue waves stroked a warm shoreline and tickled her bare toes. She breathed in the salty sea scent. A rather beautiful and peaceful place, compared to the Celtic island—stormy cliffs and hostile men who wanted to burn her and Rory alive.
What ocean? What island? She looked at the sky and her mind whirled. Nausea threatened to make her ill.
Two giant orange globes glowed within a luminous bluish-purple sky. A sky also filled with brilliant stars. Like enormous moons, these spheres were at least ten times the size of Earth’s moon.
Where had the Sidhe sent her this time?
Although it was daylight and perfectly clear, she didn’t see a sun.
She blinked several times half expecting to wake up. The warm sand beneath her hands, the sound of gentle waves, and the sweet, earthy scent drifting on the breeze were not imagined. And those orange planets. Definitely, not a hallucination and not Earth.
She started breathing in and out, panting until her hands tingled and her chest tightened. Hyperventilating.
Stop it! Breath slowly. In. Out. You’ll pass out if you don’t stop. Hand on her chest, she tried to force herself to slow her breathing, then cupped her hands and breathed into them. Inhaling her own carbon dioxide finally calmed her a bit.
Her head ached. Her body felt cemented to the ground. A shuddering coursed through her body and traveled deep into her bones as her mind spun to land on a plan of action, but found none. This was beyond common sense, beyond the level-headed thinking of even her, as a scientist.
She was alone, thankfully. Sitting up, she realized she didn’t have her backpack. Great. No water or food.
Dragging herself to her feet, she noticed she wasn’t wearing her jeans and tee-shirt; she wore a silky green tunic that came to her knees. Odd material. It was soft and clung perfectly to her curves, but there were no seams that she could see.
And again, not her body. This body had much longer legs, a little curvier frame and larger breasts. Carolyn kept brushing something tickling her arms until she realized it was her hair—long and blond. Carolyn’s mind had dropped into another woman’s body. She didn’t understand the warped laws of physics that retained her physical form someplace in-between worlds and at the same time kept this person’s mind in-between too.
Voices. Shrill voices, screaming or laughing, she wasn’t sure. She froze, her gaze swept the beach, her breath rushing in and out.
Then a young boy about four years old, wearing a yellow jumpsuit, scrambled over the dunes and ran to the water a hundred yards down the beach. A woman wearing a green tunic ran behind him, scolding the boy and scooped him up before he reached the water.
With the boy in her arms, the woman turned and looked down the beach in Carolyn’s direction. Stunned, Carolyn fought back panic while her whole body shook.
The woman waved.
Shakily, Carolyn waved back. Thank God. The woman and the boy walked up the beach and were soon out of sight. Now what?
Carolyn strode up and down the beach, contemplating her next move, trying to decide if she should go after the woman. How would she explain who she was without scaring the woman or making her think she was crazy?
Carolyn plopped down on the beach again. She’d have to do something, hunger and need of shelter would force her into action. She gazed at the sky and gasped. “Oh my God.”
“Carolyn!” a man’s voice shouted.
Carolyn’s heart leapt to her throat. Running across the beach was a tall, lean man with blond hair wearing a red jumper-thing. She got to her feet and was about to run, when she realized only Rory would know her name—she hoped.
“Rory?”
He nodded.
She ran into his arms. “Thank God. I thought I lost you,” he said. “Since we didn’t enter the portal together, I was afraid we’d be separated.” His arms tightened around her body and pulled her close. Her panic eased a little knowing he had a connection to the Sidhe. Rory could get them back like last time.
“But we didn’t. It’s okay.” She squeezed his arms. “We’ll wait here until the Sidhe bring us back. Right?”
“I don’t know.” He studied their surroundings. “I’ve traveled through the portal to many places and have always felt the Sidhe’s presence. They’ve returned me to the stones when I’ve asked. But I don’t sense them now. Maybe we’re too far away?
“Where are we?”
A dark look filled his blue eyes that weren’t Rory’s.
He didn’t answer, only frowned.
“What’s wrong?”
“The ley lines shifted away from the center of the stone circle. The energy is most powerful and unpredictable now as Samhain’s blue moon approaches. Could be why we were transported so far.” He gripped her arms a little too tightly. “And why this time is so dangerous.”
“Yes, but the ritual is tonight. We have to get back or it’ll be too late.”
Rory shook his head. “I don’t think we can.”
“What do you mean? You got us back the last time.” She said with disbelief in her voice.
“I asked the Sidhe to send me to you the first time. When I called them to take us back, I could sense their presence. I don’t sense them now. I don’t know where we are or what time in history. I don’t even remember entering the circle.”
“Right. You shifted into the deer. You wouldn’t remember. I heard the deer follow me. The Sidhe must know we’re here.”
“The Sidhe are tricksters. They may not let us come back or they may have decided three hundred years is not long enough retribution. Or they may be testing me.”
“A test? What kind of test?” she asked, impatient with his apparent amused appraisal of her body. She glared at him. “What? I know I look different. You have a thing for curvy blonds or something?”
“Ah, no, lass. I prefer your other form. It be a change is all.” He smiled.
“Why would the Sidhe test you?”
He shrugged. “To see if I be worthy, ready to be released of the curse.”
“When will you find out? I really don’t want to stay here any longer than necessary.”
“I’m sure I don’t know. I’ve sent thoughts out to them, but they’ve not responded. And I don’t feel my Glamour. We must be very far away.” He gave her a sorrowful look.
“Glamour?” she asked hopefully.
“My power. It allows me to communicate with the Sidhe and has other advantages.”
“So we’re stuck here? Wherever here is.” Her voice became shrill.
Marooned forever. She couldn’t comprehend the idea. The thought left a hollowness the size of a vast crevasse inside her. She could see the devastation in his eyes. They were both trapped. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly to calm herself.
There had to be a way. She touched his cheek, then kissed him lightly. “If we do get back in time, I’ll do the ritual. I can’t bear to see you suffer with this curse any longer.”
“No. Don’t you understand? We be on our own. I don’t know if the Sidhe will bring us back at all.”
Her gaze darted around the scenery, looking for a solution, like a trapped animal trying to find a way out of a cage. “But there must be a way.”
He shook his head.
She dropped to the sand, pulling her knees to her chest and bit her lower lip. “Any guess on where we are?” She forced her words to be steady and tried to sound hopeful.
“None.” He sat beside her.
“At least this looks like a nice place.”
“You aren’t suggesting we try to make this home?” He frowned, shaking his head.
“And what choice do we have?” She tried to keep her voice from going shrill again.
He muttered something that sounded like a curse in a language she didn’t understand.
She ignored him and tried another approach. “Look at that sky. Isn’t it amazing? It might not be a bad thing. Maybe here you’ll be free of the curse. It’s daytime and you’re human.”
He looked up and gave her a wry smile. “Because I’m not in the same realm as the Druid’s Circle. You don’t know what kind of danger we could be in here.” His mouth tightened as he looked around. “With the curse, we were safe. I had some powers.”
“What powers?”
He didn’t meet her eyes. “Healing, heightened senses, power of persuasion, strength…”
“Oh.” By the seriousness of his expression and the otherworldly predicament they were in, she was ready to believe most anything. “Benefits of the curse?”
He nodded.
She swallowed and took a long breath before speaking again. “I guess we’re on our own, unless the Sidhe tries to find you and brings us back or the ley lines shift and launch us someplace else. Anyway, I’m sure we’ll get back…”
“I wish you had heeded my warning.” He stood up and strode down the beach.
She stared at him. Bastard. He wasn’t going to blame her. She ran up next to him and grabbed his arm. “Wait. Don’t blame me. I waited at the circle to help you do the ritual. How was I to know the ley lines would shift?”
He raised his hand. “It’s all right, lass. Don’t blame yourself. Just leave me be now.”
She shook her head. Give up just like that? What was wrong with him? “No. If the Sidhe are so powerful, why can’t they find you?”
“I don’t understand the extent of their powers.”
She moved closer and rested her head on his shoulder. “Well, if we make it back too late, we can do the ritual next year.”
“No, lass,” he said softly. “There has to be a blue moon on the eve of Samhain.”
“And how often does that happen?”
“Once every eighty years.”