Ruby’s mouth moved, but no words came out. “But...but...you’re not—”
“Not what? Some little thing with wings that flits around sprinkling fairy-dust?”
Ruby snapped her mouth shut. She suddenly felt a little woozy. She glanced around, expecting to have been transported to an alternate reality, but she was still standing in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh.
Talking to a Fae.
She cleared her throat. Took a deep breath. Tried to drag her thoughts into some kind of coherence. “So it um...worked then?”
She was, quite frankly, stunned by the words coming out of her mouth. What had happened to steady, dependable Ruby?ThatRuby would never even have entertained the idea of the existence of the Fae, let alone be standing here speaking to one as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
Irene MacAskill cocked her head. Her gaze was deep and penetrating, like she was looking right down into Ruby’s soul, seeing things that Ruby would rather keep private.
Irene tapped her hand on her chest. “It’s what resides in here that called me. That and the currents of time and destiny that swirl around ye.”
“What do you mean?”
“We all have a path to tread, my dear,” she replied, clasping her hands together. “We all have a place in the grand tapestry that we call life. We are all threads in that tapestry. But sometimes some of those threads come loose, or are woven into a place they weren’t meant to be. When that happens, the Balance shifts, and the tapestry itself can begin to fray—unless those threads are woven back in to where they are supposed to be.”
Ruby shook her head. “Nope. None of that made the slightest sense.”
Irene laughed, a rich, deep sound that seemed to echo up from the earth. “It will, my dear. In time. When ye have found yer place in the tapestry and the person who will help ye weaveyerself back into it, ye will know what I mean. But for now ye wished to ask me a favor did ye not?”
A favor? In the confusion of the last few minutes, Ruby had almost forgotten what had started all of this. “I...yes... I have a cousin, Charlie Douglas. She was sent into the past by the Fae. Byyou, actually, I think. Well, I would like to visit her.” She lifted her chin and met Irene’s dark gaze. “I would like you to send me back in time so I can see my cousin.”
And escape my life, a voice whispered in the back of her mind.And the car crash it’s become.
Irene regarded her steadily. Her face was a map of wrinkles, concentrated around her eyes and mouth, which suggested she liked to smile a lot. She was, Ruby had to admit, not what she had expected a Fae to look like. She wasn’t quite surewhatshe’d expected mind you, but someone who looked like somebody’s kind old granny was definitely not it. Yet for all that, there was something about Irene MacAskill, something that suggested an ages-old wisdom and a deep, abiding compassion.
At last, the old woman spoke. “Is this truly what ye wish, Ruby Douglas? I know ye believe this will be an escape, but it willnae. If ye do this, ye will face hard truths and even harder choices. What ye think ye want and who ye think ye are will be thrown into chaos. But if ye have the strength to see where yer true thread in the tapestry lies, then ye may find what ye are looking for after all. What say ye?”
Ruby swallowed. Was she really going to do this? Part of her was appalled. But the larger, louder part of her screamed for some kind of release, some way to escape from everything that had happened in the last few weeks.
And besides, how bad could it be? She was going to see Charlie. She would visit with her cousin, get some perspective, and then come home and have a fresh start.
She straightened her shoulders and faced Irene MacAskill. “I’m sure. I want to do this. Ineedto do this.”
Irene regarded her for several heartbeats more before finally nodding. “Then all ye need do is step through the arch.”
Ruby turned and saw that an arched wooden pergola rose behind her. Honeysuckle was growing up both sides of it, its flowers beginning to fade with the season. Then Ruby noticed something else. The space beneath the arch was obscured, blurred, like misted-up window panes. What the—?
She glanced at Irene. “Just walk through there? It’s as simple as that?”
Irene smiled. “As simple as that, lass. I told ye ye didnae need yer silly incantations.”
Ruby faced the arch.Turn back!A voice screamed in her head.This is crazy.
But she ignored the voice. Taking a deep breath, she stepped through.
