“One like her?”
“The Fae, lass. Irene MacAskill is one of the Fae.”
Anna sat back. What? Was he trying to tell her that the eccentric old woman who’d accosted her at the farmhouse was actually some kind of fairy tale creature who could travel through time? Ridiculous!
And yet...and yet...
“What are you talking about?” she stammered. “I don’t understand.”
Emeric blew out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. “Neither do I, lass. All I know is that Irene MacAskill has a habit of turning up when least expected, and turning people’s lives upside down. But she’s a friend of the Order for all that.” He leaned forward, clasping his hands together. “Whatexactlydid she say to ye, lass?”
Anna pursed her lips, trying to remember. In halting, stuttering sentences, she relayed everything that hadhappened to her from the moment she’d walked out of her job and decided to go see Lily, to the moment Emeric had stumbled over her trapped in that bog, leaving nothing out this time including getting fired and bumping into Irene MacAskill.
Emeric listened in silence but his expression grew grimmer as she spoke. Finally, when Anna had lapsed into silence, he said, “What made ye think Lily lived out here?”
“Because I followed the address she gave me.”
“And it was Lily herself who gave ye her address? With her own hand?”
“Well, not with her own hand, no. She sent me a text message.”
“A what?”
“A message. On my phone. A little electronic device.”
“Can ye be sure the message was from Lily?”
Of course it was from Lily! Who else would it have been from? But now she thought about it, the message, although it had been signed off by Lily, had come from a number she hadn’t recognized. She’d assumed Lily had just got a new phone.
“Hang on,” she said, putting her hands flat on the table. “What are you saying? That Lily didn’t send me that message after all?”
“If she did, why would she send ye miles in the wrong direction? As I’ve told ye, Lily and Oskar live in Edinburgh.”
“But...but...then who did send it? Irene MacAskill?”
He shrugged. “Perhaps. She’s Fae. Who knows why they do the things they do.”
Anna considered this, her pulse racing and her thoughts whirling. She felt suddenly like a rat in a trap. What exactly had Irene said to her?The balance is out of kilter because ye are not where and when ye are supposed to be, Anna Webster. But now ye have a chance to change that.
Her eyes flicked to Emeric and she found him watching her intently.Ye are not where and when ye are supposed to be.
“I...I don’t get it,” Anna said, shaking her head. “What would one of these Fae want with me?”
“I dinna know. I only know that if she spoke to ye, then she has a plan for ye, something she needs ye to do.”
“Like what?”
“I havenae the faintest idea.” He drained his tankard and thumped it down on the table. “Well, whatever Irene wanted, we willnae figure it out tonight. It will be getting dark soon. Time we were heading home.”
He pushed himself up from the table, his tall form casting a long shadow across the weathered wooden surface, and turned to the innkeeper. The man was busy wiping mugs with an old piece of cloth, but he looked up when Emeric approached.
“We’ll be needing our horses,” Emeric said, his deep voice carrying easily through the quiet tavern.
The man’s bushy eyebrows came together in a frown. “Which way are ye headed?”
“South.”
The innkeeper shook his head. “Then I have bad news for ye, friend. I’ve just had word that the river’s broken its banks. Islemere bridge is down.”
