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He scooped them up with his vampire speed and settled them under one arm.
Jeremy said worriedly, “Right…come back now, Bobbie, before the portal closes.”
“Nae,” Devin answered for me. “She cannae go back just yet. I want to show her something on this side.”
“What?” Jeremy asked curiously. “Something that might help her figure out how to open the correct portal?”
“Perhaps,” Devin answered with ever a slight smile, and I wondered at it, but said nothing.
Jeremy frowned and seemed reluctant to let it go. “I have to leave. Mrs. Currin needs me and I can’t let her down, but are you sure you’ll be okay, Bobbie?”
“Don’t worry,” I answered. “I can reopen the portal if it closes, just as I did now—go do what you have to do and then we’ll meet and do the wards.”
“Aye, then, Jeremy, later,” Devin said, and took my hand with his free one. His smile was enigmatic before he offered, “First, let’s get these manuscripts stashed. I have a place apart from m’friends in the town, nae far from here.”
As it happened, it was only a five minute walk, but the difference in the landscaping was dramatic. The lush jungle vegetation softened and then vanished. A wide field of tall grass led into a pine forest whose earth was covered in pine-straw.
“How is this possible?” I asked, looking around. “We went from jungle into this beautiful if somewhat dark forest?”
“Conditions in this realm are varied, controlled by Fae magic. As it turns out, the Trinity Realm was dying a few hundred years ago. Apparently, a very potent Seelie Fae Prince discovered them and lent a magical hand. Ye could say he rescued the entire realm. The prince gave them everything they needed to prosper and survive.”
“Who was he?” I knew a great deal about the Seelie Fae. My aunt claimed my mother had been friends with a Fae princess. “I know,” I interrupted him before he could answer. “It was the legendary Prince Breslyn!”
He looked surprised. “Aye, but how the devil would ye know about him?”
“My Aunt Elle told me stories of the Fae she had learned from my mom…before the accident. I’ve heard amazing things about Prince Breslyn. He is a Fae legend. Wow, how exciting is this!”
Devin laughed and touched my chin. “There is an innocence about ye that confounds me.”
“What does that mean?”
“For one thing…yer beauty slays me, lass. I cannae understand what ye are doing here unattached. Surely ye have been courted and tried? Surely ye must know in this modern age about things beyond…those innocent eyes?”
“I am not innocent,” I told him gravely. “I am a modern woman…but you are right. I don’t have much experience with uhm…romance. Being an immortal witch has its drawbacks.”
We turned a bend in the forest path and a small cabin made of cedar and stone stood in the grassy clearing. A wide front porch with stone pillars ran the length of the cabin. On the raised porch two rocking chairs and a small table looked warm and inviting.
Everywhere you looked there were pots of colorful flowers and unusual herbs. I looked at Devin and asked, “Some of those herbs…you use for day-walking?”
“Aye, and other things,” he said mysteriously. He stepped up to the front door of oak and glass and opened it wide. “Nae m’castle, nae MacLeod, but it has served me well all these years.”
I stared in amazement and said, “I don’t know why, but I had some notion this was a primitive realm…you spoke, I think, once about a tribe?”
“Ah, family members are called tribes here, but their amenities are as modern as you have on earth.”
“But…you live out here alone?”
“Aye, early on, I decided that I should,” he said.
We were still standing at the doorway. He took my elbow and eased me inside. I felt bold as I stepped within and asked, “Why? Why live alone?”
“I am nae much of a joiner. I have always preferred to be on m’own…even when I was still a human.”
He stepped into the center of the open room. I had lagged behind still as I took it all in.
He smiled encouragingly. “Dinnae worry…I dinnae bite.” He grinned like a boy and I think, in that moment, I knew I was in love with a vampire.
He gave me space and walked over to a wall cabinet and set all the notebooks and journals inside of it.
