My head hit the table, and I jerked upright. I’d been sitting in front of a computer for so long my eyes felt like a desert had replaced them. It even hurt to blink. And there was still so much more to do before I could shut the computer off and go to sleep.

Between training with Oliver during the mornings and then switching it up to sit in front of a computer while I watched lectures compiled to teach me everything from basic first aid to setting a broken finger, I was exhausted. The easy stuff, Paige had said, would only last for so long. The training would step up after every module I tested on and passed. I was, for the most part, learning at my own pace, but at some point, I would be working one on one with a senior medic.

What I did know was that I had no room in my head for anything but training and more training because each night, when I finally made it to bed and closed my eyes, I slept without dreaming.

“Hey, Nova,” Murphy called as she stuck her head in my room.

“Mmm?” I said, head tipping past my screen so I could look at her.

“Pack your bags. We’re going to Scotland for two weeks,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Scotland? What for?” I asked, confused by the turn of events.

She shrugged. “Don’t know. Don’t care. So long as it gets us out of here for a while, I’m game for just about anything.”

“Who else is going?” I asked.

“All of us are,” she answered. “Pack warm clothes; it’ll be cold there.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re speaking to the girl who has that covered.”

“It’s good to be home,” Airen said as we were practically blown into the church on a burst of wind.

“Ouch, shit, that hurt,” Jared said as he rubbed the side of his face.

“Watch your mouth. In case you didn’t notice the big cross out front, we’re in a church,” Paige scolded.

“Yeah, well, if Jesus hadn’t just tried to poke my eye out, I wouldn’t have said it. So really, it’s his fault I said it in the first place,” Jared fired back at her.

It wasn’t a very large room we were crowded into. No one could move much or they’d bump into something. Or like in Jared’s case, get poked in the eye by one of the various-sized statues set about the place.

“Follow me,” Aiden said, pulling open a well-aged door across the room. “We’ll get our stuff put in our rooms and then go find a place to eat. I don’t know about y’all, but I’m just about starved.”

“I know just the place,” Airen said as she went about describing food until we were all salivating.

“Ouch! What was that for?” Mark said as Paige giggled.

“With all this talk of food, I got hungry enough to take a bite out of you,” she answered.

“Airen, stop talking about food before Paige goes full-on cannibal,” Riley said, stifling a laugh when Paige gave her the middle finger.

“Excuse me,” Jared said, slapping at her hand. “But in case you haven’t noticed, we’re in a church.”

“No, we’re not. We’re under the church, so it doesn’t count,” Paige said, giving him a smug look.

“How long did Oliver say we were going to be here for?” Ace asked.

“A few weeks,” Mark answered. “Why?”

Ace put his arm around Riley’s shoulder and sighed. “It’s gonna be a long few weeks.”

“Oh, please, like it’s any different from when we’re in Chicago,” Paige said.

Aiden brought our group to a halt and opened the first door we came to. “Riley and Ace, this is you.”

Down the hall we went, Aiden stopping at each room and directing people off in pairs until it was just me, him, and Airen.

“Momentary peace,” he said, pulling Airen in and tucking her close to his side as we rounded a corner. “And this is you, Nova. Airen and I will be on the other side of the hallway, first door on the right.”

I let myself into the room, noticing how much it looked just like the one in Chicago. I dumped my bag beside the bed and stretched out, waiting for the others to tell me when they were ready to head out to eat.

The heat kicked on and the room warmed slowly, blowing soft tendrils that felt like the slightest touch of someone’s fingertips against my cheek. It was soothing after such a long day of traveling.

I dreamed about him. We were sitting side by side as a kaleidoscope of colors bounced around the sky as if dancing. Neither of us spoke, yet it was oddly comforting. Having his jacket brush against my own was enough. The sky changed as if dawn were breaking. The light gathered into a circle like a giant flashlight. It was almost blinding.

He rose to his feet, smiling when the outline of a person stepped in front of the light, dimming it. The form took on an ethereal glow along the shoulders and head, but didn’t come any closer. And then Eli was no longer beside me; he was standing in front of a woman. She smiled at him. I could see the curve of her lips as she spoke words only he could hear.

When she stepped back, he tried to follow her, but she shook her head. With radiant fingers, she brushed the side of his face just like Noni used to do to me when I was little. He nodded and backed up a step, and then she was gone. Taking the light with her.

He turned then and walked toward me, but he didn’t stop. He kept walking until the edges of his jacket blurred and his body wavered as if he was no more than a projected image.

“Eli?” His name came from me, but I hadn’t spoken it.

He turned in a full circle, looking. His lips moved, but there was no sound.

It felt as though I’d been anchored to the ground. I fought an invisible hold. His name bounced between us, and he spun in the opposite direction.

I was paralyzed, unable to move. Unable to go to him and make him see me.

I’m here. I’m right here. See me, Eli. Look at me.

He stopped, took what looked like a deep breath, and closed his eyes.

I felt the tears escaping from the corners of my eyes. I’m right here, my thoughts whispered between us.

He turned and looked right at me… right through me. And then he was rushing toward me, carried by some unseen force that propelled him across the ground without touching it. When he was mere feet away, his image distorted and then exploded, leaving nothing but sharp flashes of color like glitter that faded into the velvet darkness of the stars. Night had fallen again, and it had taken him with it.

“Let me get this straight… they sent us to Scotland to archive files and clean?” Murphy huffed.

Aiden just shrugged. “That’s what Oliver said when he called.”

“Did we do something to piss someone off?” Riley asked, making a face at the stacks of paperwork she prodded with her finger.

“I think they’re trying to get us all out of Chicago for something,” Jared said, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

“It doesn’t matter why they sent us. They sent us, so we’ll do what they asked us and get it over with,” Ace said, coming to the middle of the room. “Let’s figure out who’s going to do what, so we can get started.”

“I’m allergic to dust,” Jared said. “Guess that means you’re on your own.”

Mark laughed. “Leave it to you to try to wiggle out of doing actual labor.”

“Remember that time Riley made Jared do the laundry, and he put dish soap in the washing machine?” Josh asked.

The room broke out in laughter.

“Ha-ha, very funny,” Jared said, rolling his eyes as they kept on.

“Oh, come on, Jared. You know it was funny. Well, it was funny until Eli came through the door and slipped. You gave him a concussion, if I remember correctly,” Mark said, wincing as he shook his head. “I’m sorry, guys.”

“You shouldna be sorry for talking about Eli. He was family, and family shouldna be forgotten,” Airen said, pulling a filling cabinet drawer open. “People we love die all the time. That’s life. It sucks, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“Here, put it on, dickhead,” Aiden said, tossing a surgical mask at Jared.

He caught it in one hand, and then spun the elastic band around his finger. “Hey, Murph… wanna go play doctor?”

“Oh my God, Jared… really?” she asked, blushing.

“Beats cleaning,” he answered, pulling it over his nose and wiggling his eyebrows at her.

“Nova, come help me with the shredding,” Paige said, gesturing to the pile stacked along the wall beside the paper-chewing beast.

I found it odd that we’d been sent to Scotland to clean. It seemed a waste of money to send so many people for a project that could have been done by two people over the course of a week.

“I think that might be a record,” Riley said, leaning on the broom handle as she surveyed the floor.

“Of what? How much dust was collected, or how much was inhaled?” Josh asked.

“Oh, inhaled… definitely inhaled. I think I have a dust bunny stuck in my throat,” Riley answered.

“Man, I’m starving. Let’s get something to eat,” Jared said.

“Hey, can we go to some place that serves haggis? I want to try it,” Aiden asked.

Riley turned clammy looking, dropped the broom, and bolted.

“Was it something I said?” Aiden asked, looking at the confused faces around us.

Ace picked up the broom and carried it over to the corner where he leaned it against the wall. “Nah, she thinks she might be coming down with something. She hasn’t felt well for the last couple of days.”

“Okay, no haggis then, so who else has any ideas?” Aiden asked.

“I don’t care as long as it’s food,” Jared said, rubbing his hand over his stomach.