“See? ‘Oh, crap’ was an appropriate response.”
“Aye, lass,” he said. “I think that sums up the situation admirably.”
Taking in a shaky breath, she sat up slowly and rubbed her temples. “I don’t understand, Emeric. How did this happen? How could I have traveled back in time?”
He sighed, glancing away from her earnest gaze. “I dinna have all the answers, Anna,” he confessed quietly.
She watched him with her big eyes, filled with uncertainty and a hint of fear. He felt the strongest urge to pull her into his arms and tell her everything was going to be all right. But he couldn’t make that promise.
“How did I get up here?” she asked, gesturing around the room.
“Ye fainted at the training ground. I carried ye.”
She raised an eyebrow, some of the spark returning to her eyes. “You carried me up here? To my bedroom? Did you tuck me in as well?”
The corner of Emeric’s mouth twitched in amusement. “Aye, lass. It would not do to have ye sprawling on the floor.”
Anna let out a sound that was half sigh, half laugh. She ran her hands through her hair and glanced back at Emeric. There was a glimmer of something in her eyes—perhaps a spark of determination?
“That’s twice you’ve come to my rescue. Perhaps you’re my knight in shining armor after all.”
“Perhaps,” Emeric agreed, a hint of humor touching his voice. “But I must admit, it was more instinct than chivalry.”
Anna stared at him before bursting into soft laughter. Then she winced, bringing a hand to her forehead.
“Are you alright?” Emeric asked.
“Yes,” Anna assured him, lowering her hand and offering him a weak smile. “Just a bit of a headache.” She ran her hands down her face. “All right then,” she said, throwing back the covers and swinging her legs to the side of the bed and climbing out. The movement was too quick and she swayed a bit, but steadied herself with a hand to the wall. “I need to figure out what to do next.”
Emeric rose, ready to catch her if she stumbled. “And what is that?”
She looked around and her expression wilted. “I...um...I don’t have the faintest idea.”
“I’ve been having some thoughts about that.”
“Thoughts, eh?” she muttered. “Hasn’t anyone ever told you thoughts are dangerous things?”
“Aye. Many a time. Yet, I persist in their indulgence.”
“Well then, out with it. What are these dangerous thoughts of yours?”
Emeric walked over to the table and poured them both a goblet of mead. Handing her one, he lowered himself into a chair by the fire, indicating that she should take the other. After a moment, she did so, watching him carefully, as though wary of what he might say.
Emeric turned his goblet in his hands, choosing his words carefully. He was unsure of how much he shouldreveal, how many of the Order’s secrets he dared risk exposing, but had to say something.
“I know where Lily and Oskar are,” he said, meeting her gaze.
She snorted. “So do I. About five hundred years away, by my reckoning.”
“No,” he replied. “They’re here. In this century.”
Anna gawped at him. “I beg your pardon?”
Emeric took a deep breath. “There are things ye dinna know, Anna. Impossible things. Except they are real all the same.” He took a sip of his mead and then met her eyes. “I’m a member of a military order called the Order of the Osprey. We fight Alba’s enemies, both mortal and...otherwise.”
“Otherwise? What does that mean?”
He glanced through the window, at the endless moorland stretching into the distance. “There are beings of immense power in this world that exist beyond the ken of humanity. They are the Fae and they are divided into two factions. The Seelie Fae work to preserve the balance and protect humanity. The Unseelie Fae do not. They seek dominion and would destroy us if they could. The Order of the Osprey serves the Seelie Fae, and that alliance means we are privy to certain...secrets.” He turned back to look at her. “Such as the secret of time travel. Yer friend Lily didnae meet Oskar in a bar in Edinburgh as she told ye. She met him here, in this time. And this is now where they reside.”
