It felt as though somebody had pulled a rug out from under her. She was falling, falling, her stomach rising into her throat and a strangled scream escaping her lips. She could see nothing, only darkness that seemed to go on forever.

Then something took her hand and she grabbed it fiercely, the warm grip the only thing anchoring her in place and keeping her falling forever into the endless dark...

The sensation stopped abruptly. She felt hard ground beneath her back and warm sunlight on her face. Something still gripped her hand and she clung on as she cracked her eyes open. A blue sky met her gaze. Swifts criss-crossed it high above. From nearby came the sound of water gently lapping against a shore.

What the hell? Bree squeezed her eyes shut, sure she must either be dreaming or hallucinating.

It’s not real, she told herself. The next time you open your eyes you will be in the museum.

She inhaled deeply, pulling a breath into her lungs to calm her nerves and then opened her eyes again. The blue sky was still there. The swifts were still there. The lapping of water was still there.

And there was something else, she realized, something warm beneath her.

She turned her head and was startled to find that warm something was Alexander Murray. He lay flat on his back with his eyes closed, and Bree lay pressed up against him, curled against his side with his arm folded protectively around her. Glancing down she realized that the grip that had kept her anchored in the darkness was his hand holding her own tightly.

Bree breathed deeply, determined not to panic. She carefully extricated herself from him and slowly stood. A wave of dizziness made her stagger and she flung out a hand to stop herself falling flat on her face.

When the dizziness passed, she looked around. The square was gone. The museum was gone. Hell, the whole city was gone. Instead she found herself standing in a wide field with a big loch on one side and thatched houses on the other. Above her stood an archway made of intertwined willow branches and ribbons that fluttered in the breeze coming off the loch.

Bree felt all the blood drain from her face. A new wave of dizziness threatened to send her staggering once more. She caught herself on one of the arch’s uprights and clung to it to keep her on her feet.

What was happening? Where the hell was she? And how, by God, had she got here?

Alex groaned. He sat up slowly, rubbing his temples. He looked rumpled, as if he’d just woken from a deep sleep and his eyes were a little unfocussed. Shaking his head, and his eyes widened as they came to settle on her.

“What are ye doing here?”

“Where am I?” she demanded. “What have you done to me?”

He didn’t reply. Instead he looked around slowly, taking in their surroundings and then sighed. His gaze filled with something she hadn’t expected to see: sympathy. That scared her more than anything.

“What?” she said. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I told ye not to come after me,” he said. “Why did ye not listen? This wasnae supposed to happen. Ye aren’t supposed to be here.”

The breeze picked up, swirling Bree’s hair around her head and bringing with it the sound of sea gulls out over the loch. A loch! Where were the cars and buildings? She should be in the middle of Edinburgh!

“Where is here?” she asked. “What happened?”

He climbed to his feet but came no closer, as though not wanting to scare her. “We are in Scotland but not where we were. Edinburgh lies many miles to the south east.”

“You mean you kidnapped me? Take me back, right now!”

“It wouldnae do ye any good if I did, lass. Ye would find Edinburgh very different to what ye expect. We are nay longer in yer time, lass. We are in mine. It is the year of Our Lord 1535.”

Bree stared at him. She felt a hysterical laugh building in her chest and clamped down on it. She clung tightly to the archway, fearing her knees might fold if she let go. “You’re crazy,” she said. “Time travel is impossible. I don’t know what your game is but I’m calling the police.”

Without taking her eyes off Alex she swung her purse off her shoulder and pulled out her cell phone. She should have called the police from the start instead of tearing after him the way she had. What had she been thinking?

Holding up her cell she dialed 999, the police emergency number, and pressed the phone to her ear. She heard silence for a moment before it let out a long beep. With a curse she glanced at the display to see that it was totally blank, indicating there was no signal of any kind. Her heart skipped. How the hell was she going to call for help now?

“Yer talking device willnae work here, lass,” Alex said. “Twill be many centuries before my people learn such craft. My ma has one, but it hasnae worked in years.”

“Your ma?” Bree said. “I thought you said we were in the sixteenth century? So how the hell can your mother have a cell phone? Your crazy story has more holes in it than a tea-cozy!”

“My mother came from yer time. From the twenty-first century. She brought her cell phone with her. How else would I know what that device is?”

“You’d know because you have one of your own like everyone else in the twenty-first century!” Bree yelled. “You’re crazy if you think I’m going to believe your ridiculous story!”

Her voice ended on a shriek. She suddenly felt woozy. The ground tilted crazily and she staggered.

“Careful!” Alex yelled, surging forward.

But it was too late. She crashed to her knees and the flimsy willow-cane arch wasn’t enough to hold her up. It snapped with a popping sound and as the ground came up to meet her, willow twigs rained down around her.

***

Alex leapt forward as the lass went sprawling onto the grass. He caught her just before she hit the ground and gently lowered her the rest of the way. Her eyes had fluttered closed and her skin had gone pale. Kneeling over her, he gave her a cursory inspection. He could see no injuries and there were no signs of illness. The lass appeared to have been overcome by the recent turn of events and would likely make a full recovery.

Which was more than could be said for the archway. It had not been strong to begin with and the lass had managed to pull it down with her when she fell. Now it lay in a broken, tangled heap. He frowned. What, by the Lord, was he supposed to do now? The archway was the lass’s way home.

This had not gone according to plan. Bringing a lass back from the twenty-first century with him had never been part of the deal. What had she been thinking? Why had she followed him like that? Had she taken leave of her senses? And look what it had brought! Now she was in his time and it would cause Lord-alone knew what problems.

He reached down and brushed away a strand of hair that had fallen over her face. She looked peaceful now that she slept, not fierce and angry as she had back in her time. Lord, but she was a beauty.

Stop that, he chided himself. She’s going right back where she came from and the sooner the better.

He climbed to his feet and turned around slowly, scanning the area. He saw not a soul. Even the village appeared deserted. He pulled his sword from where it was stuck in the ground as he’d left it.

Alex frowned. Where was Irene MacAskill? Surely she would be eager to get the medallion back? After all, that’s what she’d sent him to the future to retrieve wasn’t it? But he could see no sign of the old woman.

“Irene!” he yelled. “Where are ye?”

His voice died into silence. There was no answer. Careful to keep the lass in sight, he did a quick scout of the area, wondering if Irene had gone down to the loch or was waiting somewhere nearby. Although he found Shadow happily munching on a bush down by the loch shore, he found no trace of Irene—not even footprints left in the wet sand.

“Curse it!” he growled to himself. Snatching Shadow’s reins, he led the stallion back towards the ruined archway and tethered him nearby.

Why wasn’t Irene here waiting for him? He cursed himself for a fool. He should have known better than to get involved with her and her schemes. His father had always said you should be careful when making bargains with the fae because they never quite meant what you thought they meant and things never quite turned out how you expected. As usual, he’d not thought things through. He’d acted on impulse without considering the consequences.

I never learn, he thought bitterly. I just make the same mistakes over and over.

He glanced at the lass. She began to stir. Her eyes opened and she lay there staring at the sky.

“Bree? Are ye well, lass?” Alex asked.

“I’m fine,” she said without making any attempt to get up. “I think I’ll just stay here for a moment. I’m going to wake up in a minute and everything will be back to normal.” She sat up and looked around, her face falling. “Oh. I didn’t dream it all then?”

“Nay, lass. This is nay dream.”

“Unless it’s a nightmare,” she muttered. With a groan she climbed to her feet and looked around, shading her eyes against the spring sunlight.

He watched her cautiously. Some color had returned to her cheeks and she didn’t look as though she was about to keel over again. He reached in his sporran for the medallion.

“Listen, lass,” he began.  “I know this must be mighty confusing for ye, but ye have my word—” He stopped abruptly as his hands closed on empty air. A shot of alarm went through him as he realized his sporran was empty. The medallion had gone.

“Where is it?” he demanded of Bree. Fury suddenly pounded through his veins. “Where is the medallion?”

She took a step back, fear flashing in her eyes before she lifted her chin defiantly.  “I told you I wouldn’t let you steal it. I snatched it off you in the square and dropped it. No doubt the police have retrieved it by now and its back in its rightful place!”

Alex stared at her incredulously and she stared defiantly back, arms across her chest as if daring him to argue. A cold, hard fury settled into his bones that reminded him of the battle-rage that overcame him just before a fight.

“Ye did what?” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Her defiant expression faltered for a moment. “I...I...couldn’t let you steal it. It belongs to the people of Scotland.”

He took a step towards her, his hands curling into fists at his sides. “It belongs to the Murray clan,” he grated. “Do ye have any idea of what ye have done? Ye have ruined everything!”

This last sentence came out as a shout. Shadow raised his head and looked at his master questioningly. Bree paled and took another step back.

“What...what are you going to do?”

The fear in her eyes gave him pause. He realized he was leaning over her and she was cringing away from him. He blinked and took a step back. He might have fallen far from what he once was but he’d be damned if he would resort to intimidating women, no matter how infuriating they were.

He scrubbed a hand through his hair and blew out a breath. The medallion was gone, trapped in the future, and there was no way to get there now that the arch lay broken. His stomach twisted and he felt his chance at redemption slipping away like grains of sand running through his fingers. He should have known it would end badly. He had no right to expect anything else, not after all he had done.

With an effort he gathered himself and forced his voice to calmness. “There is nay need to fear me. I willnae harm ye. As for what I am going to do, that is a very good question. I expected Irene MacAskill to be waiting for me to take charge of the medallion. It seems she is not.”

“That’s the second time you’ve mentioned her. What has Irene MacAskill got to do with this?” Bree asked.  “Is she the mastermind behind your little plot? Is that why she was at the museum?”

He looked at her. “Irene was at the museum? In yer time?”

When Bree nodded Alex let out a string of curses. Damn the woman! What was she up to?

“She got me the role at the museum in Edinburgh,” Bree said.  “But Director Michaels didn’t know her. Oh my god. What the hell is going on?”

“Yer guess is as good as mine, lass. It is clear we have become embroiled in some fae plot.”

She watched him, unblinking. “I don’t care what this is all about,” she said at last. “I don’t care if you’re part of some criminal gang. I just want to go home now please.”

Alex sighed. “I canna send ye home, lass. Without Irene I dinna know how. The archway brought us here but as ye can see, it willnae be sending anyone anywhere.”

Her eyes darted to the broken pieces of willow that had once been the archway. It lay strewn across the ground with only one half still standing upright. The villagers, who’d spent so much time weaving it for their spring celebrations, would not be pleased when they discovered its demise.

“That thing? You seriously expect me to believe that thing brought us here? Yeah, right.” She looked around.  “Is that a village over there?”

“Aye.”

“Good.” She started walking.

“Where are ye going, lass?”

“To find somebody who speaks sense!” she yelled. She jabbed a finger in his direction. “I’m going to find a phone, call the police and get you arrested for theft!” She carried on walking for a moment and then spun around once more. “And I’m going to add kidnap to that list and anything else they can throw at you!”

With that she stomped off towards the village. Alex watched her go for a moment. He was tempted to mount Shadow, ride off and leave her. She was wilful, headstrong, stubborn—and she had taken the medallion, ruining Alex’s hopes. If he left her here it was only what she deserved.

He shook his head. What was he thinking? He could no more leave her here alone than he could let Owen and his toughs take Irene’s coin earlier. Bree Martin might have ruined all his plans and caused him more trouble than he bargained for but until he figured out what to do with her, she was his responsibility. He would see that she was safe until she could be returned to her own time.

With a growl of exasperation he grabbed Shadow’s reins and started off after her. Lord save him from insufferable women!